Boris Berezovsky, one of the most outspoken critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, drew the fury of Russian prosecutors on Friday, after he said he was financing attempts to overthrow Putin.

The Russian oligarch, who lives in exile in London, told The Guardian he was plotting to oust Putin in a palace coup, using people close to the Russian president.

"There is no chance of regime change through democratic elections. If one part of the political elite disagrees with another part of the political elite - that is the only way in Russia to change the regime. I try to move that," Berezovsky told the paper in an interview.

Russia's prosecutor general, Yuri Chaika, has already ordered a criminal investigation against Berezovsky.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asked British authorities to rescind Berezovsky's status as a political refugee, the stumbling block that prevents his extradition to Russia.

But Berezovsky said he had no worries of losing political asylum, not after the high-profile poisoning of former Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko last year.

Litvinenko defected from Russian secret services, claiming he was ordered to kill Berezovsky and was another political refugee in London.

Berezovsky, 61, built his GBP 850 M fortune through a variety of business ventures in the car industry, air transport and media.

He was also one of Putin's main backers before the 2000 general elections, bankrolling his campaign and providing favourable coverage from the media outlets he owned.

But the two clashed after Putin immediately made clear his intention to take back control of the economy from the oligarchs and Berezovsky was force to flee to the UK in 2001, where he has lived since then.