Russia’s richest man is behind bars. Mikhail Khodorkovsy’s dramatic arrest comes amid deep tensions between the government of President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s oligarchs.

Mr. Khodorkovsy has financed opposition parties in advance of the December parliamentary elections and some Kremlin-watchers are speculating that this is what drew the ire of President Putin.

The arrest comes at a time when Russia has been working hard to establish itself as an alternative to the Middle East for oil. It also raises concerns that President Putin is reverting to the vengeful tactics of his former employer, the K.G.B.

Tonight, On Point: Big Money vs. Big Putin.

Guests:

Scott Peterson, Moscow correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor

Anders Aslund, Director of the Russian and Eurasian Program and Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace

Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, author of the forthcoming book “The Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold”;Marshall Goldman, Professor Emeritus of Russian Economics at Wellesley College, Associate Director of Russian Studies at Harvard University and author of “The Piratization of Russia: Russian Reform Goes Awry.”