In Russia only those who are loyal to the people in power can become wealthy.

The Khodorkovsky case is typical of the "oprichnina" - the system of oppression.

The citizen lives in each of us. In the days of Brezhnev, Andropov, Gorbachev and Yeltsin, I was constantly trying to suppress the responsible citizen in me. I told myself that I was, after all, an artist.

In Russia one can be as pure as can be and still lose everything in a flash and end up in prison.

I'm not a prophet or a teacher, I just ask questions. I don't think a writer should be a teacher, but should know how to pose the questions and explain the problems.

The worst thing that can happen to Russia is indifference in the West - that is, if it were interested in nothing but oil and gas.

Nothing has changed in Russia since Ivan the Terrible when it comes to the divide between the people and the state. The state demands a sacred willingness to make sacrifices from the people.