The mysterious fates of Vladimir Putin’s critics and rivals | EUROtoday

The late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a deadly toxin throughout his detention in a harsh Arctic penal colony two years in the past, the UK and its European allies have concluded.

Analysis of samples conclusively confirmed the presence of Epibatidine, a toxin present in poison dart frogs in South America and never naturally present in Russia, in response to a joint assertion issued on Saturday.

Speaking on the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, British international secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned all of the obtainable proof pointed to Moscow, which insists it had no function within the opposition chief’s sudden demise in February 2024.

Navalny’s allies have lengthy held Vladimir Putin accountable, scrutinising the secretive investigation within the days after his demise and his earlier poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020.

The 47 year-old was only one in a protracted line of Kremlin critics who’ve been jailed, silenced and met brutal ends through the years.

Assassination makes an attempt towards rivals have grow to be frequent all through Putin’s 25-year grip on energy, starting from unexplained airplane crashes to mysterious falls from home windows.

Below, we take a look at a few of the high-profile deaths and mysterious incidents involving those that have defied the Russian chief through the years.

Alexander Litvinenko: Former KGB agent poisoned with radiation

In 2006, Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko grew to become violently ailing in London after consuming tea laced with radioactive isotope polonium-210. Within weeks, he was lifeless.

Litvinenko – a former agent of the KGB and its successor – had attracted Putin’s ire after leaving Russia in 2000 and resettling in Britain to put in writing.

Shortly earlier than his demise, he had been investigating the taking pictures of a Russian journalist and alleged hyperlinks between the intelligence service and organised crime.

A British inquiry later discovered that Russian brokers had killed Litvinenko. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights dominated Russia was liable for the homicide by radiation poisoning. The Kremlin rejected the ruling as “groundless”.

“You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world, Mr. Putin, will reverberate in your ears for the rest of your life,” he mentioned, amongst his last phrases earlier than his demise that November.

Yevgeny Prigozhin: Killed in airplane crash after main mutiny

Yevgeny Prigozhin had an astonishing rise from Putin’s private chef to move of the infamous Wagner Group non-public navy firm in Ukraine earlier than dying instantly after making an attempt an revolt in 2023.

Prigozhin had been outspoken in his criticism of Russia’s defence ministry as his mercenary forces have been hurled at frontline positions for Moscow’s acquire.

The break up culminated in a dramatic rise up in June 2023, by which Wagner troops turned towards Russian positions in a so-called “march for justice” towards the federal government.

The mutiny promptly got here to an finish 125 miles south of Moscow, and Prigozhin organized a cope with Belarus to retreat into exile. But precisely two months after the rise up, Prighozin and 9 different individuals have been killed when a enterprise jet crashed north of Moscow.

The Kremlin denied any involvement within the downing of the plane and claimed hand grenades may have been let off by drunk passengers.

Sergei Skripal: Ex-Russian agent poisoned in Salisbury after working for Britain

Once a high-ranking Russian spy, Sergei Skripal was poisoned in Salisbury in 2018 after working for Britain.

Skripal and his daughter Yulia fell ailing and spent weeks in crucial situation after being poisoned with Novichok on British soil, in response to the authorities. The pair in the end survived the assault.

The Kremlin denied that Russia was in any approach concerned within the poisoning, describing British accusations that an assault had been authorised by senior Russian officers as “unacceptable”.

However, researchers recognized two alleged Russian navy intelligence brokers who have been accused of finishing up the tried assassination.

The pair subsequently appeared on Russian TV in an ungainly interview by which they claimed to have been visiting Salisbury Cathedral.

Ravil Maganov: Fell from window after criticising Ukraine warfare

Ravil Maganov, the chairman of the board of Russia’s second largest oil producer Lukoil, met his finish six months after he brazenly criticised the warfare in Ukraine.

In a press release in March 2022, the board referred to as for the “soonest termination of the armed conflict” and expressed “sincere empathy for all victims”.

It added: “We strongly support a lasting ceasefire and a settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.”

In September that 12 months, 67-year-old, Maganov died after apparently falling from a sixth-floor window on the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.

Russian state information company Tass claimed his demise was a suicide.

Boris Nemtsov: Former governor shot lifeless on a bridge in entrance of his girlfriend

The former governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and deputy prime minister beneath Russia’s first President Boris Yeltsin was gunned down on 27 February 2015.

He was shot 4 instances within the again on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow beside his Ukrainian companion Anna Durytska.

Only hours earlier than, Nemtsov had spoken publicly towards Russia’s warfare in Ukraine. It had then been a 12 months since Russia’s annexation of Crimea. When he was killed, he was serving to to arrange a rally towards the Russian navy incursion.

Five males from the Russian area of Chechnya have been convicted over his killing. His allies mentioned it was an try to shift the blame from the federal government.

Anna Politkovskaya: Journalist killed at house on Putin’s birthday

The New York City-born Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was killed within the elevator of her residence constructing on 7 October 2006 – Putin’s birthday – on the age of 48.

She had gained widespread approval for her reporting on the Second Chechen War, which lasted between 1999 and 2005.

The killing garnered worldwide consideration and it wasn’t till June 2014 that 5 males have been sentenced for the killing, nevertheless it stays unclear who ordered the homicide.

Putin mentioned after her demise that her reporting work was “extremely insignificant for political life in Russia” and that her homicide led to “far greater injuries and damage than her publications”.

Sergei Magnitsky: Whistleblower died in jail days earlier than launch

Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax adviser who uncovered corruption, was detained with out a trial and died in jail simply seven days earlier than he was set to be launched beneath the regulation that suspects will be solely be held for a 12 months behind bars with out trial.

At the age of 37, he died after 358 days in jail, the place he was denied medical care and he was later discovered to have been assaulted shortly earlier than dying.

He revealed corruption and misconduct by authorities officers throughout his work for a shopper – Hermitage Capital Management. He was arrested in 2008 and died on 16 November 2009.

His demise led to investigations into theft, fraud, and violations of human rights. The tax adviser alleged that enormous sums of cash have been stolen from the state by officers.

American-born British financier Bill Browder, the co-founder of Hermitage, was expelled from Russia in 2005.

After Magnitsky’s demise, he efficiently lobbied for a variety of governments to move the Magnitsky Act, which punishes Russian human rights violators. President Barack Obama signed the US model into regulation in 2012.

Boris Berezovsky: Oligarch discovered lifeless after evading Russian probe

Businessman, oligarch and authorities official turned Putin-critic Boris Berezovsky was discovered lifeless within the UK on 23 March, 2013.

While his demise was initially deemed to have been a suicide by hanging as there was no proof of a violent battle, a coroner subsequently recorded an open verdict.

Berezovsky – a good friend of Litvinenko – grew to become a really rich man when he gained management of Channel One, the primary Russian TV channel. In 1997 he was estimated to be value $3bn.

He had assist fund the Russian political get together Unity to get Putin elected and was elected to the State Duma himself in 1999 as a loyalist. But he grew to become a Putin critic after the 2000 election and ended up leaving Russia for the UK.

In 2003 he was arrested by British police on Russian fees which alleged giant scale fraud. But he managed to struggle off an extradition request and was granted political asylum.

He was subsequently convicted by the Russian courts in absentia for alleged embezzlement of £4.3m from the airline Aeroflot. He mentioned of the proceedings: “This was not a trial but pure farce.”