A court battle is under way in London between two of Russia’s highest-profile billionaires. Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea Football Club, is accused of blackmailing Boris Berezovsky, the so-called “godfather” of Russian oligarchs, to the tune of more than £2 billion, or more than $3 billion. The court heard yesterday that Abramovich muscled a fortune in cheap shares out of his former mentor—by threatening to have Vladimir Putin seize his assets if he didn’t comply.
