MOSCOW: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Kremlin opponent who spent a decade in prison, on Saturday launched a movement to bring together pro-European Russians to challenge strongman Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

Once Russia’s richest man, Khodorkovsky was released from prison late last year and is now based in Switzerland. He urged his compatriots to pull together to be able to influence the fate of the country.

“A minority will be influential if it is organized,” he said as he announced the launch of his new movement called Open Russia.

Khodorkovsky stressed that his new project, dubbed after his eponymous charity that was shut down after his imprisonment, would be an online “platform” for like-minded people, not a political party.

Upon his release from prison Khodorkovsky vowed to stay out of politics. But his new project appears to belie his political ambitions.

The soft-spoken former head of the now defunct Yukos oil firm said all those supporting a pro-European course for Russia should unite ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 2016.

The launch of the group comes as Kremlin critics say the country, locked in a dramatic confrontation with the West over Ukraine, is hurtling toward political and economic catastrophe.

The West and Kiev accuse the Kremlin of invading Ukraine and threatening stability of the entire Europe.