Yukos boss faces new fraud claims

The former Yukos boss is currently in a Siberian prison camp

Former Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky is facing new charges of embezzlement and money-laundering.

Russian prosecutors have accused the former oil tycoon of misappropriating 350 million tonnes of oil and laundering billions of US dollars.

Lawyers representing Mr Khodorkovsky have dismissed the charges as absurd.

Mr Khodorkovsky is currently serving an eight-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud in a case critics of the Kremlin have said was politically-motivated.

Russian authorities have always denied such claims.

News of the latest charges have dampened hopes that the Kremlin may have been planning to pardon Mr Khodorkovsky.

Shortly before he left office, former President Vladimir Putin had hinted that his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, could pardon the former oil boss.

Meanwhile, speculation has suggested that Mr Khodorkovsky may turn down such an offer, as accepting a pardon would mean having to admit guilt over charges that he has always denied.

Yukos, once Russia's biggest oil company, was declared bankrupt in 2006 and ceased to exist as a legal entity in November 2007.