History demands the west deploy every legal and financial weapon against Putin | Mikhail Khodorkovsky

His regime and all those complicit in war crimes must be held accountable - starting now. Ukrainians are fighting for their lives

When Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked, criminal invasion of Ukraine, he shot himself in one foot. When he threatened to use nuclear weapons, he blew off the other. His regime has chosen a path of self-liquidation. The only question is how much damage it will do before its demise.

Ukraine, of course, is now the main target of Putin's barbarism. I salute the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their leadership. Ukraine, an independent sovereign democracy, is not a part of Russia; but, as is the case for many Russians, Ukraine is a part of me. My grandfather, killed defending Moscow from fascist invaders in 1941, was from Zhytomyr in Ukraine. Today the invaders attacking his homeland are Russian. My grandmother was from Kharkiv. When I see the bombing of her city, it rips my heart in two - my motherland bombing the land of my grandmother.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is founder of the Open Russia movement, former Yukos CEO and Amnesty prisoner of conscience