MOSCOW, November 29 - RAPSI. Former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky has appealed his eight-year prison sentence for oil theft and money laundering, the Khodorkovsky press center reported on its website.

In late 2010, a Moscow district court sentenced Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to 14 years in prison for oil theft and money laundering. They were expected to be released in 2017, taking into account the time they had served for their convictions from their first trial in 2005. However, on May 24, the Moscow City Court reduced their sentences by one year. The two are now expected to be released in 2016.

The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile cases in Russia in recent years. In early 2000, the Russian authorities cracked down on YUKOS for financial crimes. At the time, YUKOS was Russia's largest oil company. YUKOS later went bankrupt and its assets were appropriated by the state-owned Rosneft.