Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumMysterious rash of Russian deaths casts suspicion on Vladimir Putin
A former member of the Russian parliament is gunned down in broad daylight in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. A longtime Russian ambassador to the United Nations drops dead at work. A Russian-backed commander in the breakaway Ukrainian province of Donetsk is blown up in an elevator. A Russian media executive is found dead in his Washington, D.C., hotel room.
What do they have in common? They are among 38 prominent Russians who are victims of unsolved murders or suspicious deaths since the beginning of 2014, according to a list compiled by USA TODAY and British journalist Sarah Hurst, who has done research in Russia.
The list contains 10 high-profile critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, seven diplomats, six associates of Kremlin power brokers who had a falling out often over corruption and 13 military or political leaders involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, including commanders of Russian-backed separatist forces. Two are possibly connected to a dossier alleging connections between President Trump's campaign staff and Kremlin officials that was produced by a former British spy and shared with the FBI.
Twelve were shot, stabbed or beaten to death. Six were blown up. Ten died allegedly of natural causes. One died of mysterious head injuries, one reportedly slipped and hit his head in a public bath, one was hanged in his jail cell, and one died after drinking coffee. The cause of six deaths was reported as unknown.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/05/02/dozens-russian-deaths-cast-suspicion-vladimir-putin/100480734/
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Two cases come to my mind, though I would have to google for details to refresh my memory:
- One guy, IIRC related to the Magnitsky-case, dropped dead from a heart-attack while jogging. The coroner found in his stomach an asian poison known to be used by chinese agents for assassination.
- Another guy, in London, IIRC also related to the Magnitsky-case. According to his family he was afraid of heights. He "committed suicide" by jumping head-first out of a 1 foot by 2 foot window.
AZ8theist
(5,459 posts)Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)this type of "leadership" tRump would dearly love to copy the Putin example. We are heading for the same fate, unless sanity takes over - SOON. The gop and tRump are already defying law and order in the USA. Making their own rules as they go along. tRump is every bit as "human" as Putin, only minus the intelligence.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)pdsimdars
(6,007 posts)druidity33
(6,446 posts)I wonder how many more have died...