New Delhi. Many critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin
Died mysteriously, many of them were either poisoned to death or shot outright. A new name on the list of critics is Yevgeny Prigozhin. Earlier, several opposition figures in Russia included former Deputy PM Boris Nemtsov, Sergei Magnitsky and Anna Politkovskaya, whose deaths have been questioned over Russia. The death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has fueled speculation of Kremlin involvement in the plane crash.
Prigozhin attempted a coup against Russian President Vladimir Putin nearly two months ago in June. The death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash joins a long list of dissidents, political opponents and prominent Russians who have been targeted or killed under mysterious circumstances. Over the past two decades, many commentators, opposition leaders, journalists who have criticized President Putin or gone against the Kremlin have lost their lives opposing the Russian president’s 23-year rule.
Private jet crashes, plane falls from sky, no survivors
Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a tragic accident. His private jet was on a regular flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it suddenly crashed. Prigozhin’s possible death was confirmed by announcements from Russian officials and a Telegram channel linked to the Wagner group. Video footage of the plane falling from the sky and burning on the ground also surfaced. Accompanying him on the aircraft was Dmitri Utkin, believed to be his second-in-command at Wagner Group. Other passengers killed included Valery Chaklov, head of Wagner Security, Yevgeny Makaryan, Prigozhin’s bodyguard, and other employees of the Wagner Group.
Several prominent figures were given a specially prepared Russian poison
Alexander Litvinenko: The former spy and Putin rival died in London in 2006 of acute poisoning with polonium-210. Shortly before his death, he spoke to reporters about the FSB security service that still operates Soviet-era poison laboratories. An investigation into the death later revealed that Litvinenko was killed by Russian agents, with Putin’s approval suspected to be involved.
Sergei Skripal: A former Russian military intelligence officer was also poisoned using a nerve agent called Novichok, like Litvinenko, although he survived. According to The Guardian, Novichok is a type of poison produced by Russia in the 1970s and 80s. The substance was developed by the Soviet Union to circumvent international restrictions on chemical weapons.
Alexei Navalny: The main Russian opposition leader, who is currently in prison, fell seriously ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August 2020. He was later flown to Germany for treatment where he was found to have been poisoned with Novichok.
Some other Russian leaders killed: Russian security services have poisoned many civilians. Several Russian citizens were also poisoned, including writer Dmitry Bykov and art institute spokesman Pyotr Verzilov, some of whom were flown to Germany for treatment.
Death in a shootout
Anna Politkovskaya: In 2006, Politkovskaya, a journalist for Novaya Gazeta who reported on human rights violations, was murdered outside her flat in Moscow. Five people and a former police officer were convicted of his murder. Criminals hired guns and received orders to kill them.
Boris Nemtsov: Prominent opposition leader Nemtsov was assassinated in central Moscow in 2015. He was shot four times in the back by an unknown assailant in front of the Kremlin. Later investigations revealed that he had been monitored by FSB agents for almost a year before his murder on the bridge.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili: Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen who fought against Russia during the Second Chechen War in the early 2000s, was shot twice in the head in a park in central Berlin in 2019.
No such death has been reported yet
Boris Berezovsky: Boris Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider turned Putin critic, was found hanged in the bathroom of his home in 2013. He himself went into exile in the UK in the early 2000s.
Mikhail Lesin: Mikhail Lesin, the founder of the English-language television network RT, or Russia Today, was found dead in 2015 in a Washington hotel room where he had been invited to attend a dinner.
Kirill Stramosov: The Russian-installed deputy governor of Ukraine’s Kherson province died mysteriously in a car accident in 2022, the day the Ukrainian army liberated the city of Kherson. Stramosov was one of the most prominent supporters of the Russian occupation, but he publicly said that Putin’s close friend and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu should shoot himself.
3 people including Pavel Antonov died in Odisha In early January, three Russians died under mysterious circumstances in the coastal state of Odisha in a fortnight. A millionaire businessman and an MLA are also among the dead. Pavel Antonov, one of the three Russians, was in the news last year for criticizing Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
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Tags: Russia, Russian news, Russia Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin
First published: August 28, 2023, 05:00 IST