Putin 'to pardon' jailed former oil tycoon Khodorkovsky

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will soon pardon jailed former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Mr Putin said he had received a request from Khodorkovsky - in custody for a decade - to pardon him on humanitarian grounds as his mother is ill.
Khodorkovsky's representatives said they were unaware of any such request.
The ex-tycoon's supporters say he is a political prisoner and he has long insisted his innocence. He is currently due to leave jail next August.
Mr Putin's comments come a day after Russian MPs backed a wide-ranging amnesty for at least 20,000 prisoners.

Speaking to reporters after his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Mr Putin confirmed the amnesty would apply to the two members of punk band Pussy Riot still in prison and Greenpeace activists detained for their protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.Analysts say Mr Putin may be trying to ease international criticism of Russia's human rights record ahead of February's Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.