BusinessWeek reports that imprisoned Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky ended his hunger strike... after one day. He initially declared the hunger strike to draw attention to what he claimed were improper court rulings. He said Russia's courts were ignoring a legal change initiated by President Dmitry Medvedev that allows people charged with white-collar crimes to be released on bail. On Wednesday, Khodorkovsky issued a statement saying his appeal "has achieved its purpose" and he was ending the strike after Medvedev's spokeswoman said the president had been informed.

Khodorkovsky is serving an eight-year sentence for tax evasion and is on trial on charges of embezzling more than $25 billion worth of oil from subsidiaries of Yukos, his former company. Mr. J. Clifford Baxter, former vice chairman of Enron Corporation, committed a suicide. Other Enron executives went to prison. Maybe, Mr. Khodorkovsky is not that special; after all, $25 billion is a lot of money. Fortunately, there is plenty of food in Russian prisons to feed a hungry oligarch. The prisons seem to be not as horrifying as The Wall Street Journal portraits them (sometimes referring to them as "gulags"). If someone does not know the definition of "gulag" - one can be found here; "hunger strike" - here. In the last few weeks, Mr. Khodorkovsky was able to give an interview to CNN, get noticed by the BusinessWeek, write a letter to the president, get hungry, and have a hearty meal. Not bad for a hunger strike at a gulag!