XPost: sci.military.naval, soc.history.war.misc, alt.law-enforcement
(Actually, it appears 2 Russian Generals have recently died
under similar situations. General Gennady Lopyrev, and
General Gennady Zhidko.)
from
https://news.yahoo.com/russian-general-with-details-on-putins-%C2%A31-billion-palace-dies-in-prison-170124358.html
Russian general with details on 'Putin's £1 billion palace' dies in prison James Hockaday
Thu, August 17, 2023 at 10:01 AM PDT·2 min read
163
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lopyrev_Gennady.jpg
General Gennady Lopyrev (left) became suddenly ill shortly after being
eligible for parole. (Getty Images)
An imprisoned Russian general who oversaw the building of Vladimir
Putin's £1bn Black Sea palace has died in custody, shortly after
becoming eligible for parole.
It is not clear exactly how 69-year-old Gennady Lopyrev died, but
authorities have said he became ill on Monday before dying in the early
hours of Tuesday.
The general was jailed in 2017 by a military court over charges of
bribe-taking and illegal possession of ammunition – which he always denied.
He was not believed to have any previous medical conditions and was
planning to apply for early release, according to Radio Free Europe.
Lopyrev was working as Putin's bodyguard when he was arrested, the
Moscow Times reported, and also oversaw the construction of a number of
state facilities in southern Russia.
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Georgia concert
Moscow, Russia. 28th Dec, 2017. Russian President Vladimir Putin
congratulates Major General Gennady Zhidko after awarding him the title
of the Hero of the Russian Federation at the State Kremlin Palace
December 28, 2017 in Moscow, Russia. Putin meet with service members and presented awards for their service in fighting the Islamic State in
Syria. Credit: Planetpix/Alamy Live News
Major general Gennady Zhidko (left), pictured in 2017, also died this
week after a 'long illness'. (Alamy Live News)
These included 'Putin's Palace', a huge complex along the Black Sea
coast believed to be 39 times the size of Monaco.
Putin himself denies being its owner, but oligarch Arkady Rotenberg is
alleged to be acting as a proxy owner on his behalf.
An investigation by opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the
Anti-Corruption Foundation accused Putin of using fraudulently obtained
funds to build the estate, which reportedly cost £1bn to erect.
The sudden death of Lopyrev, who was lieutenant general in the Federal
Guards Service, raised suspicions of foul play, possibly poisoning, but
Viktor Boborykin, of the Public Monitoring Commission, assured people
"there was no crime".
Read more: Ukraine's intelligence service claims responsibility for
Crimean Bridge drone attack
Moscow, Russia. 11th Aug, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts a videoconference meeting with permanent members of the Security Council
from the Kremlin, August 11, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. Credit: Pavel Byrkin/Kremlin Pool/Alamy Live News
A number of high-profile oligarchs have died under mysterious
circumstances since Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. (Alamy Live News)
General Gennady Zhidko, who briefly commanded the Kremlin's troops in
Ukraine before being ousted for "failures" on the battlefield, is
another of Putin's old allies to die of an illness this week.
The commander died aged 57 in Moscow on Wednesday following a "long
illness", a regional leader announced on Telegram.
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of nuclear disaster
Zhidko briefly led the so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine
from May 2022 before being booted "for failures during military
operations", the BBC reported at the time.
He was replaced by Sergey Surovikin, an alleged ally of Wagner chief and mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was also eventually ousted and is now reportedly under house arrest, Politico reports.
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