Putin Crony Igor Shkurko Found Dead, Latest Oligarch To Die Under Mysterious Circumstances
April 5 2023, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
A Russian energy boss with ties to Vladimir Putin was found dead under mysterious circumstances this week while awaiting trial on bribery charges, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Igor Shkurko, 49, was found dead on Tuesday in a jail cell in Yakutsk, Siberia.
According to Daily Mail, Shkurko served as the deputy general director of the Russian energy company Yakutskenergo and was found dead one day after submitting an appeal to what he deemed was an “unfair bribery allegation” against him.
Although Russian authorities have not disclosed Shkurko’s cause of death, they claimed on Wednesday that the “preliminary data” found the 49-year-old’s passing was not “criminal” in nature.
“On April 4, the accused was found in a cell of the pre-trial detention center with no signs of life,” the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement shortly after Shkurko’s death.
“Arriving medical workers ascertained his death,” they continued. “An investigative team was called to the scene.”
“According to preliminary data, no signs of a criminal death were found.”
Even more surprising are reports that, prior to his death on Tuesday, Shkurko was a prominent member of the pro-Putin United Russia party.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Russian energy oligarch’s death this week marked just the latest Russian with ties to Putin to die under mysterious circumstances since Russia first invaded Ukraine more than 13 months ago.
So far, at least 40 high-profile Russians have died under mysterious circumstances – including oligarchs, scientists, military generals, and Kremlin officials.
Many of the deceased reportedly died shortly after criticizing both Putin and his ongoing war against Ukraine.
"There are two kinds of victims, as far as we can tell: those who are opposed to Putin's Ukraine policies,” one Russian insider explained earlier this month, “and those who Putin believes have double-crossed him.”
"It is this that makes [Putin] so dangerous,” the source added.
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Igor Volobuev, another insider who reportedly works in the Russian energy industry, expressed suspicion regarding the more than 40 recent deaths and the claims that many of those deaths were accidents and suicides.
“All these stories are strange,” he said this week. “I don't believe in suicide. It will not fit into my head.”
