It’s a high-wire balancing act – trying to balance pleasing Putin, alongside remaining on the right side of opposing world leaders and security agencies.
Conspiracy theories over the years have noted the alarmingly high number of Russian ambassadors who have died in recent times.
In 2017, a spate of nine deaths of high-profile Russians in nine months led to chatter online – especially as they began on the day Donald Trump was elected president in November.
Some of the deaths appeared natural, while questions remain for others – with online sleuths claiming that their deaths were related to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 political election.
There has been no evidence of this – but questions have resurfaced after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine recently.
August 4, 2021 – Miroslav Lazanski
Miroslav Lazanski, Serbia’s ambassador to Russia and formerly a well-known journalist, died aged 71.
Serbian media and officials said that Lazanski died at his home in Belgrade from “the consequences of a heart attack.”
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August 23, 2017 – Mirgayas Shirinsky
Migayas Shirinskiy was found dead in his swimming poll
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Russian Foreign Ministry/Facebook)
The body of Russia’s ambassador to Sudan Mirgayas Shirinsky was found at his residence in Khartoum.
The 62-year-old diplomat reportedly died while swimming in his pool. Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said that the ambassador had been “found with signs of an acute heart attack”.
Sudanese police said they had ruled out the possibility of an assassination attempt, with sources saying he had high blood pressure.
March 26, 2017 – Nikolai Gorokhov
Nikolai Gorokhov, a whistleblower lawyer representing Sergei Magnitsky – who died in jail in 2009 after exposing the country’s largest ever tax fraud case – fell from a fourth-floor flat. He was beaten to death while in detention and convicted years later on trumped up charges.
The authorities claimed that he’d been trying to move a bathtub.
March 23- 2017 Denis Voronenkov
Denis Voronenkov was shot
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TASS)
Former Russian MP Denis Voronenkov, who had fled to Ukraine, was shot three times in Kiev.
He was set to testify against the pro-Putin Prime Minister of Russia
Denis Voronenkov, 45, a former Communist Party MP in Russia’s State Duma, had previously been loyal to the Kremlin.
But him and his wife Maria Maksakova, who is also a former MP, became critical of Putin’s rule.
He told that he and his wife, along with their young son Ivan had left Russia because he was being followed by the security services. “We need to be careful,” he said. “We are poking a sore spot of the Kremlin with our statements.”
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said his murder was a contract killing, but no one has ever been prosecuted.
The killer later died, police said.
President Poroshenko, the Ukrainian President of the time, accused Russia of carrying out the murder in order to silence a man who was “forced to leave [Moscow] for political reasons”.
February 20, 2017 – Vitaly Churkin
He collapsed of a heart attack
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AFP/Getty Images)
A former child actor, Mr Churkin was Russian ambassador to the UN when he died aged 64.
He reportedly collapsed at his office in New York and died from a heart attack.
Mr Churkin was the longest-serving ambassador on the UN’s powerful security council.
January 26, 2017 – Alexander Kadakin
Alexander died in 2017
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Image:
Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Mr Kadakin was the Russian ambassador to India before he died of heart failure in hospital.
He was 67.
During two spells covering 12 years in India, Mr Kadakin was the longest-serving Russian diplomat in the region.
The Economic Times of India said: “Known for his wit, humuor and plain speaking, Kadakin had seen it all: Indo-Soviet bonds during the Cold War period, bilateral relations post disintegration of the USSR and the launch of Indo-Russian annual summit from 2000…”
January 9, 2017 – Andrei Malanin
He was found dead in his apartment
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Andrei Malanin, head of the consular department at the Russian Embassy in Greece, was found dead at his Athens home.
Officials said he was found by a colleague on his bedroom floor with no evidence of a break-in, after he didn’t turn up for a few days. “At first sight, we are talking about natural causes,” police said
December 26, 2016 – Oleg Erovinkin
Oleg Erovinkin, a former general in the KGB
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Wikipedia)
Oleg Erovinkin, a former FSB general and is a possible source for a dossier allegedly discussing collusion between the Kremlin and Donald Trump, was found dead in the back of his car in Moscow.
State media in Russian media initially said he had been “killed”. This was rapidly updated to chime with the official version: he had suffered a heart attack.
December 20, 2016 -Petr Polshikov
He was found with a pillowcase over his head
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todaynews24.top)
Petr Polshikov, 56, a senior Russian diplomat, was found dead by his wife in his Moscow home. Moscow paper Moskovskij Komsomolets claimed his wife found him shot to death in their bedroom with a pillow over his head.
A spokesman from the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed condolences and said that Polshikov’s death was likely an accident that had nothing to do with his job.
December 20, 2016 – Andrei Karlov
Andrei was shot dead on camera
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Anadolu)
The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot dead in cold blood on camera by a gunman at the opening of an art gallery in Ankara.
The attacker, an off-duty police officer named Mevlut Mert Altintas was said to have shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo!” before he was then killed by Turkish special forces.
He was named by the Turkish government as Mevlut Mert Altintas.
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Vladimir Putin dispatched Russian security forces to investigate, vowing: “We have to know who directed the hand of the killer.”
Mr Karlov, aged 62 when he died, had previously worked as Russia’s ambassador to North and South Korea.
November 8, 2016 Sergei Krivov
Sergei Krivov, a Russian diplomat, was found dead with a head wound at the New York consulate on the morning of the 2016 US election.
Initial reports suggested he fell from the consulate roof, but then they said he died of a heart attack in his office.
Krivov, who was born in Russia, had served in the consulate as duty commander involved with security affairs, according to Russian news reports.
After an autopsy, the New York City Medical Examiner ruled that Krivov died from bleeding in the chest area, likely due to a tumour.
Police sources told CNN that there were no suspicions of foul play.