MOSCOW, Russia – The list of influential figures in Russia who have met violent or suspicious deaths after opposing or criticizing President Vladimir Putin or the Kremlin is extensive and continues to grow. The most recent addition to this list is the prominent opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who passed away on February 16 while serving a 19-year prison sentence.
Navalny, 47, was known for his anti-corruption activism and leading massive protests against the Kremlin. His death comes just a month before an election that is expected to secure Putin another six years as president.
The mysterious deaths of individuals who have opposed Putin’s regime or spoken out against it are not limited to Navalny. Sergei Yushenkov, a veteran politician and leader of the anti-Kremlin party Liberal Russia, was shot dead in front of his Moscow home on April 17, 2003. Yushenkov had been leading efforts to investigate the possible involvement of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in a series of deadly apartment bombings in 1999.
Journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in her apartment building on October 7, 2006. She had been a relentless critic of rights abuses in Chechnya, which she believed had ties to the Russian government.
The case of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian security agent who died in London after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, also adds to the list of suspicious deaths. Litvinenko had fled to Britain in 2000 after accusing the FSB of plotting to kill a prominent oligarch.
The deaths of these individuals, along with many others, continue to raise questions about the safety and security of those who oppose the Russian government. The circumstances surrounding their deaths often lead to suspicions of state involvement, despite official statements to the contrary.