Two allies of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu are believed to have mysteriously died a day later.
Last week, Magomed Khandayev, a 61-year-old Russian Defense Ministry official, and businessman Igor Kotelnikov, 52, died. These are the latest mysterious deaths involving Russian figures since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Russian Council for Human Rights, said in a July 12 column in the Moskovsky Komsomolets that Kotelnikov died in a remand center in Moscow on July 8 after feeling unwell. He had been accused of bribing senior officials in the Russian ministry. of Defense.
The cause of his death is still unclear, but Merkacheva added that Russian human rights activists say the mobile phone where the businessman was being held is crowded.
The cells are “small, warm in hot weather, bloodless in winter. In addition, some detainees stay there all day,” Merkacheva wrote.
“They couldn’t save him: the 52-year-old man died, his center stopped,” he added.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
The VChK-OGPU media outlet, which claims to have internal data on Russian security forces, said FSB investigators hoped to download Kotelnikov’s testimony against former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, arrested on corruption charges in April.
Ivanov was detained on suspicion of accepting bribes, the Russian Investigative Committee announced on April 23. He had held the position of Russian Deputy Minister of Defense since May 2016. Their role was to manage assets, oversee the structure of the ministry’s facilities and provide medical services. the Russian army and manage the accommodation of the troops.
The VChK-OGPU reported that workers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) visited Kotelnikov at the pre-trial detention center “forced him to admit his guilt and testify against Timur Ivanov and other Defense Ministry officials. “
Kotelnikov, however, refused. Then, the management of the pretrial detention center began to exert pressure on him. He was sent to the disciplinary cell, where he fell ill. Two days later, doctors concluded that Kotelnikov simply could not remain in prison. solitary confinement due to chronic illness,” the news outlet said, adding that it discovered him dead the next morning. Newsweek simply can’t determine those details independently.
Several senior army officers have been arrested since April, including Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s decomposition personnel corps. Meanwhile, Shoigu was replaced as defense minister after serving in that post for 12 years, as part of a stunning government reshuffle. decomposition.
Russian state agencies reported Khandayev’s death on July 9. He has been head of the State Examination Department of the Russian Ministry of Defense since June 2023. The cause of his death and the place of his death have not been revealed.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Khandayev was a direct subordinate of Ivanov. Independent Russian media outlet The Moscow Times said it was unclear whether Khandayev had been able to testify in the Ivanov case.
Sources within the Kremlin government told the publication that the recent initiative to “clean up” the Defense Ministry was introduced through the FSB on Putin’s orders.
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek journalist founded in Kuala Lumpur. It focuses on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and in the past worked with media outlets such as Daily Express, The Times, Harper’s BAZAAR, and Grazia. She holds a master’s degree in news journalism from City University of London and a bachelor’s degree in journalism. in Russian language at Queen Mary, University of London. Languages: English, Russian
You can contact Isabel by emailing i. vanbrugen@newsweek. com or by following her on X @isabelvanbrugen
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