Putin’s Pardon of Tycoon Buoys Russia Before Sochi Games

Former oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky was released from prison after a surprise pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which stands to buoy the Russian leader’s sagging human-rights record just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics.

The former owner of Yukos Oil Co. and once Russia’s richest man was released from custody after Putin signed a pardon today, the prison service said in a website statement. He applied for travel documents upon his release and left the country for Germany, where his mother undergoes treatment, it said.