Mysterious deaths among oligarchs amid Ukraine war: Putin reportedly approved 'liquidation'
Created: 05/07/2022, 09:31
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
In the midst of the Ukraine war, several oligarchs have perished under questionable circumstances.
Is it about Putin's long arm?
Munich - The Ukraine conflict, which has been going on since Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, entered a new chapter when Russian ruler Vladimir Putin launched what the Kremlin called a "special operation" on February 24 announced to Ukraine.
His troops marched into the neighboring country.
Even after more than 70 days, there is no end in sight to the Ukraine war.
This map shows where the Ukraine war is raging.
The horror of the western world was followed by tough sanctions against Russia.
The aim is to put the Russian economy and thus Putin under pressure.
The sanctions were also aimed at oligarchs close to Putin, most of whom have billions in assets.
In the background of the Ukraine crisis, however, the oligarchs are now increasingly criticizing Putin - and at the same time mysterious deaths.
Coincidence or is Putin's long arm involved here?
Ukraine war: Protosenya, Awayev, Melnikov - mysterious deaths among Russian oligarchs
In just under three months, a total of seven oligarchs have died under mysterious circumstances.
On April 19, for example, when the Spanish police arrived at his villa in the north-eastern Costa Brava, the Russian multi-millionaire and former deputy chairman of the Russian gas company Novatek, Sergei Protosenya, wanted to check on his well-being
New York Post
reported.
Protosenya's 53-year-old wife, Natalia, and his 18-year-old daughter, Maria, whom he called "princess," were stabbed to death.
The Russian oligarch himself was found hanged in the garden.
Right next to him: a bloodied ax and a knife.
According to the New York Post
, there were no traces of blood on the multimillionaire's body, citing
the Catalan newspaper
El Punt Avui
.
Nor was there a farewell letter - so nothing that points to suicide.
Another detail: fingerprints on the ax and knife were
wiped off , according to information from the US newspaper
The Hill .
Just a day before Protosenya's death, former Kremlin official and Vice President of Gazprombank Vladislav Awayev was found dead in his Moscow apartment.
He died from a gunshot wound and had a gun in his hand, the Russian state agency Tass reported.
Similar to Protosenya, Awayev's wife Yelena and his 13-year-old daughter Maria were also found dead - also shot dead.
Stunningly similar and mysterious circumstances were discovered in the case of the deputy general director of the Gazprom Center for Corporate Security Alexander Tyukalov, the head of the transport department of Gazprom-Invest Leonid Schulman, or the chairman of the medical concern Medstom Vasily Melnikov.
Are these cases domestic violence, extended suicides, or is there something much deeper behind them?
Ukraine war: Putin is said to have approved the assassination of several oligarchs
Although the Russian media reported that these were suicides, experts outside of Russia clearly have a different opinion.
"There's a purge going on," Swedish economist and Russia expert Anders Aslund told the
New York Post
.
The expert referred to his sources in Russia.
According to Aslund, Russian intelligence services produced two lists of the names of executives in the country's energy industry who Russia believed would leak information funding Russian operations abroad, including the invasion of Ukraine.
"The lists were presented to Putin by the FSB, and Putin approved the liquidation of anyone on those lists without looking at them," Aslund explained.
"Putin finances many of his operations through Gazprom and Gazprombank, and the executives who work there know all about the secret funding," the expert said.
In fact, most of the deceased have ties to the oil and gas sector of Russia.
A sector that Aslund describes as "the most corrupt sector".
All of these deaths involved “big money”.
War in Ukraine: Oligarch Tinkov assembles bodyguards against possible Putin assassination
Meanwhile, other Russian oligarchs abroad are now concerned about their safety, including Oleg Tinkov, founder of one of Russia's largest credit institutions, Tinkoff Bank.
He did not shy away from criticizing Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine and described it as a "massacre" shortly after it began, as reported by ntv.
He wrote on Instagram that 90 percent of Russians were against the war.
The army's failures are due to corruption, the oligarch said.
On the list mentioned by Aslund, he too may now have taken his place.
Therefore, Tinkow wants to protect himself.
The Russian billionaire, who lives in Tuscany and Switzerland, did not want to comment on the deaths.
"But what I do know is that it is very important to protect yourself," ntv quoted him as saying from his interview with the Italian newspaper
Corriere della Sera
.
He said he was assembling a group of bodyguards to protect his family.
He is not afraid for himself, but he is worried about his family: "What I said had to be said.
I am afraid for my family.”
Although Tinkow called the information about the deaths speculation, Protosenya's son Fedor seems to be sure about the matter.
He is convinced that his father could not have taken the lives of his mother and sister.
“He loved my mother and especially Maria, my sister.
He would never harm them," he said, according to the
New York Post
, adding, "I don't know what happened that night, but I know my father didn't hurt them."
(bb)