Arrested oil tycoon resigns as Yukos head

Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, arrested on charges of fraud and tax evasion, has announced his resignation from Yukos, saying the move is a bid to save the oil giant from an escalating criminal probe that has seen top shareholders imprisoned and a large chunk of its stock frozen.

“As the leader, I must do all I can to free our work collective from the blow aimed against me and my partners,” Khodorkovsky, who turned Yukos into Russia’s largest oil producer, said in a statement last night. “I am leaving the company.”