by Aliza Davidovit

“I was influential in humanitarian, political, and social life in Russia and they were terrified I’d influence young minds,” explains Moscow-born philanthropist Leonid Nevzlin of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s efforts to secure his capture. Putin has locked up Nevzlin’s partner Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a prison colony near Siberia for eight years, expropriated their multi-billion dollar oil company, Yukos, and hurled charges against Nevzlin for the commission of crimes ranging from tax evasion to the poisoning of Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko. These charges are largely dismissed in the West and are considered harsh payback for Nevzlin’s financing the campaign of Irina Khakamada, a liberal democratic candidate who ran against Putin in the 2004 presidential election. Nevzlin fled to Israel in 2003, and has tackled his obstacles with courage and integrity, motivated not only by the tenacity of his people but also by his will to survive.