The most recent Putin supporter to be discovered dead in unexplained circumstances was a Russian oligarch who created spyware that takes personal information from average citizens.
On Saturday, July 22, 40-year-old Anton Cherepennikov was discovered dead in his Moscow workplace after apparently suffering a heart attack.
The businessman overdosed on “medical gas,” a source in Moscow law enforcement later informed state media.
According to the source, who also asserted that three people paid him a visit in his workplace the night before he passed away, Cherepennikov took the medicine for medicinal grounds but apparently took more than was permitted.
His death’s official cause is still under investigation.
The US Treasury previously imposed sanctions on Cherepennikov’s business, ICS Holding, which was founded in 2018. Citadel is a potent strain of malware that has infected over 11 million machines worldwide and cost over £387 million in losses.
Following the introduction of a 2018 law requiring internet and telephone companies to divulge the private communications and data of their users, it has been claimed that Russia’s Federal Security Bureau (FSB) employed ICS Holdings to conduct mass surveillance of Russian residents.
Additionally, Cherepennikov worked in Moscow on the creation of a complex facial recognition system and was a member of the boards of directors for the mobile network operators Megafon and USM Telecom.
Independent Russian journalist Vasily Polonsky declared, “I do not believe [he] died of cardiac arrest,” and instantly cast doubt on the cause of his passing. It will take time to pinpoint the specific reason for the entrepreneur’s passing.
Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian expert on internal affairs, added his thoughts to the enigma surrounding his passing on Saturday by tweeting, “Yet another mysterious death of a top-manager in Russia.”
Cherepennikov was described as “an absolutely key tool in Putin’s repression” by an opposition source, the Mirror writes.
The security system is getting desperate because the war isn’t working, thus his assassination cannot be ruled out.
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began, a number of Russian businesspeople have inexplicably passed away, with Cherepennikov’s death being the most recent.
Igor Kudryakov, a wealthy oligarch, was also discovered dead in his Moscow flat on Friday. According to official sources, he had died of a “oncological disease.”
In the meantime, FSB officers detained Igor Girkin in Moscow on Friday after accusing him of “inciting extremism.” Girkin is the head of an extreme nationalist group and a vocal opponent of Putin.
Girkin might spend up to five years behind bars if found guilty.