ANALYSIS – ‘MURDER, INC.' – Falling or jumping from high-rise buildings is a growing death of choice among Russian oligarchs and other elites.
But dying in more mundane ways, such as being stabbed or shot, is also becoming popular. Since Vladimir Putin – a former KGB officer – invaded Ukraine just over a year ago, dozens of high-profile Russians have died or been killed mysteriously.
The long list of deaths ranges from oligarchs to scientists, even generals.
In December 2022, The Atlantic labeled the phenomenon “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome.”
Putin has been killing opponents and dissidents for some time, and not all these deaths can be attributed to Putin, but many experts believe Putin is on a roll and behind most of them.
As The Sun reports, Putin is “presiding over a “mafia” state where murder is a tool used to defeat his enemies and to scare his uneasy allies into keeping in line.”
Jon Sweet, a retired U.S. Army Military Intelligence Officer, and Mark Toth, a national security analyst, described Putin as running a “modern-day FSB [Russia's domestic security service] version of Murder Inc,” reports The Sun.
‘Murder, Inc' refers to the U.S. mafia crime syndicate that was responsible for over 1,000 contract killings in the Prohibition-era 1930s U.S.
Those who see the deaths as part of a Kremlin purge point to a rabid speech by Putin in March 2022 about “Fifth Columnists” in Russia.
The enraged Putin reportedly went on to rant that there are “scum and traitors” that need to be “purified” and “killed” within Russia.
Professor Anthony Glees, an intelligence expert from the University of Buckingham, notes in The Sun: “There are two kinds of victim, as far as we can tell: those who are opposed to Putin's Ukraine policies, frequently involved in big Russian corporations.”
“And those who Putin believes have double-crossed him, oligarchs from the world of business who have taken the money but not done his bidding, whether kept cash not meant for them, or opposed him politically, or perhaps both.”
And since then, the bodies have really piled up.
Most recently, The Sun adds: “Sergey Grishin – the so-called “Scarface” oligarch who sold Meghan and Harry their California mansion – died this week from sepsis after criticising Putin.”
Meanwhile Russian scientist Andrey Botikov – who created the “Sputnik V” COVID vaccine – was strangled with a belt in his apartment just last week.
On February 16, Marina Yankina, 53, head of the financial support department of the Ministry of Defense for the Western Military District, was found dead after falling from a window on the 16th floor of a high-rise building.
On February 1, Tass reported Vladimir Makarov, 72, the former Russian police general in charge of cracking down on anti-war protesters, was found dead, in an apparent suicide, following his dismissal by Putin.
And here are just a few more deaths from January-December 2022.
On December 27, Pavel Antov, a Russian sausage tycoon and politician who criticized the Ukraine war, supposedly died days after his criticism in a fall from his third-floor window at his luxury hotel in India where he was celebrating his upcoming 66th birthday.
Vladimir Budanov, described as Antov's companion, was found dead in his hotel room just days earlier.
In November, Vadim Boyko, a Russian colonel tied to Russia's military mobilization, was shot five times in his office. Despite being left riddled with bullets, however, the military chief's death was deemed as self-inflicted.
Before that, Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil, died on September 1, 2022, after falling from a hospital window in Moscow.
Russian state news reported the 67-year-old had committed suicide.
Lukoil is among the few Russian companies to publicly call for an end to the Ukraine conflict. Seven other Russian businessmen, most with ties to the energy industry, have also died suddenly in recent months.
In July, Yuri Voronov, 61, head of a logistics company that held lucrative contracts with Gazprom, the energy giant, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head at his home in the exclusive Vyborgsky suburb of St Petersburg.
Pay attention. This uber-expensive neighborhood has a high death count.
Investigators attributed Voronov's death to a “dispute with business partners.”
Vladimir Lyakishev, the co-founder of the Bratya Karavayevi restaurant chain, was found dead on May 4 in a Moscow apartment. He died from a gunshot wound to his head.
In April, Sergey Protosenya, a former executive at the gas producer Novatek, which Gazprom partially owns, was found dead with his wife and daughter at his home in Lloret de Mar, a Mediterranean resort near Barcelona.
Also in April, two more Russian businessmen died in apparent murder-suicides. Vladislav Avayev, former vice president at Gazprombank, was found dead in a Moscow apartment with the bodies of his wife and daughter.
Investigators say the banker had shot his family before committing suicide.
In late March, another billionaire, Vasily Melnikov, was found dead alongside his family in Nizhny Novgoro, according to Russian media.
The 43-year-old Melnikov was stabbed to death with his wife and two children.
Then there was Mikhail Watford, a Ukrainian-born Russian billionaire, who was found dead in his home in Surrey, England, on February 28.
Surrey Police are not treating his death as suspicious, but Russian intelligence is good at hiding its handiwork when needed.
On February 25, the day Putin invaded Ukraine, another top executive at Gazprom was found dead in the same exclusive Vyborgsky suburb of St Petersburg that Voronov died in later, in July.
Alexander Tyulakov was found dead in his garage. According to the Russian press, Tyulakov died by suicide.
Finally, a few weeks prior to the launch of the assault on Ukraine, on January 30, 2022, Leonid Shulman, a top executive at Gazprom, was stabbed to death in his home in (yes, you guessed it) the exclusive Vyborgsky suburb of St Petersburg.
The 60-year-old Shulman was the head of transport at Gazprom Invest, the investment branch of the energy conglomerate.
Please note this is an incomplete list.
Some will argue that some of these mysterious deaths were unrelated to Putin, and perhaps caused by other nefarious agents in the Kremlin, or battles between lesser rivals, but that is likely only if you believe Putin isn't in total control. Otherwise, Putin is running Russia's modern-day ‘Murder, Inc.'
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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It appears Bill and Hillary have shown Putin what to do with those whom cross you.
How many folks have been murdered by our CIA? Or how many folks have been killed by “Doctor assisted suicide?” That’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one!
So we are more concerned about Putin? What’s that scripture about people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?
Putin may have a death toll….but it pales in comparison to the Clintons.