{"id":1631950,"date":"2022-09-03T09:33:06","date_gmt":"2022-09-03T13:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1631950"},"modified":"2022-09-03T09:34:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T13:34:55","slug":"putins-revenge-russian-oil-executives-critical-of-ukraine-war-keep-mysteriously-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/putins-revenge-russian-oil-executives-critical-of-ukraine-war-keep-mysteriously-dying\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin&#8217;s Revenge? Russian Oil Executives Critical of Ukraine War Keep Mysteriously Dying"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fputins-revenge-russian-oil-executives-critical-of-ukraine-war-keep-mysteriously-dying%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1631950&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><strong>Ukraine Update: EU $5 Billion Aid Package To Ukraine, Russian Oil Exec \u201cFalls\u201d From Window \u2013 <\/strong>The European Union (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/09\/eu-stops-short-of-full-russian-travel-ban-over-ukraine\/\">EU<\/a>) has agreed to release a new funding package of 5 billion euros ($5 billion US)<a href=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/pmn\/business-pmn\/ukraine-latest-some-iaea-inspectors-remain-at-nuclear-plant\"> for Ukraine<\/a>, said diplomats involved with the plan. Sources said that the European Commission would formally propose the loan package early next week to help Kyiv cover salaries and benefits costs.\n<\/p>\n<p>This package follows a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/eu-seeks-keep-up-support-ukraine-despite-economic-damage-2022-07-18\/\"> $500 million aid<\/a> package for purchasing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/09\/u-s-himars-m270-rockets-and-m777-howitzers-are-powering-ukraines-offensive\/\">arms<\/a> and equipment that the EU made in mid-July.\n<\/p>\n<p>Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis also called for Europeans to stay the course and not succumb to \u201cUkraine Fatigue,\u201d saying that even as governments and parliaments head off for a summer recess, \u201cRussian troops have no plans to take free days from further attacking Ukraine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>However, the EU is split on the components of the latest aid to Kyiv, which is part of a $9 billion package that was approved last May. Most of that $9 billion remains in limbo due to disagreement between the commission and member states over the details of the aid program. As always, the devil is in the details.<\/p>\n<p>The EU\u2019s largest donor,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-09-02\/eu-set-to-unveil-5-billion-package-for-ukraine-next-week\"> Germany<\/a>, is opposed to the wording of the aid and wants to provide Kyiv with non-refundable grants, arguing that a higher debt for the Ukrainian government would further cripple the Ukrainian economy that is nearing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/08\/expert-ukraines-economy-has-been-destroyed-by-russias-invasion\/\">default<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>However, the EU insisted on including subsidies that do not have to be repaid, and the remaining part would consist of loans with higher guarantees provided by member states in case the Ukrainian economy defaults.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Russian Oil Exec, Critical Of Putin\u2019s War, \u201cFalls\u201d Out of a Window:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a very high number of casualties, but not all of them have occurred on the battlefield. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/01\/lukoil-chairman-ravil-maganov-is-the-8th-russian-energy-executive-to-die-suddenly-this-year.html\">Eight of Russia\u2019s<\/a> oil executives have died under \u201csuspect\u201d circumstances since the war began.<\/p>\n<p>The latest death was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/01\/business\/ravil-maganov-russia-lukoil-dies.html\">Ravil Maganov,<\/a> the chairman of Lukoil, Russia\u2019s second-largest oil producer, who reportedly fell out of a hospital window after a heart attack earlier. The Russian state-run news TASS as well as the government-run Television 1 channel both reported the death as the latest suicide by oil executives.\n<\/p>\n<p>However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/chairman-russian-oil-producer-lukoil-dies-after-falling-hospital-window-source-2022-09-01\/\">Reuters reported<\/a> that three unnamed sources told them that they believe it highly unlikely that he committed suicide. Unsurprisingly, Maganov was critical of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lukoil.com\/PressCenter\/Pressreleases\/Pressrelease?rid=577636\">Back in March<\/a>, Maganov\u2019s company posted a message urging the end of hostilities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Board of Directors of LUKOIL expresses herewith its deepest concerns about the tragic events in Ukraine. Calling for the soonest termination of the armed conflict, we express our sincere empathy for all victims who are affected by this tragedy. We strongly support a lasting ceasefire and a settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn its activities, LUKOIL aspires to contribute to peace, international relations, and humanitarian ties.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s playbook for anyone considered remotely against Putin\u2019s policies is well-known and dates back to the former Soviet Union and the KGB, of which Putin was a part of.\n<\/p>\n<p>Former Defense Intelligence Agency officer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/russian-oil-executive-criticized-ukraine-invasion-dead-reportedly-falling-hospital-window\">Rebekah Koffler,<\/a> author of \u201cPutin\u2019s Playbook,\u201d in an interview with Fox News, said that \u201cwe will never know exactly what happened to Maganov\u201d but said his death was from the \u201cstandard Russian intelligence playbook\u201d regarding the doctrine of \u201cwet affairs,\u201d also known as \u201cwet work\u201d referring to murders or assassinations.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018wet affairs\u2019 are targeted assassinations,\u201d Koffler said. \u201cRussia and previously the former Soviet Union are known for orchestrating mysterious deaths of the Kremlin\u2019s opponents. It\u2019s done in various ways \u2014 shots in the back of the head, poisonings, forced suicides, and other intricate forms of violent death. I have a whole section in my book describing this doctrine and with examples of high-profile cases,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n<p>But the storyline kept changing among the state-run news outlets, perhaps deliberately so as to confuse the people and foreign news services.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInterfax said he died, having fallen out of a window, and TASS wrote that it was suicide. Yet another paper speculated that he was trying to go out of a balcony to get a smoke. The truth is these tactics are designed deliberately to be stealthy so that no investigator could identify foul play. They are usually deemed \u2018tragic accidents.\u2019 Also part of the doctrine,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other Oil Exec Deaths:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>Leonid Shulman,60, who served as the head of the transport service for gas giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of a cottage in the village of Leninsky, outside of St. Petersburg. The Russian media group RBC reported his death but did not cite a cause.\n<\/p>\n<p>Another Gazprom executive, Alexander Tyulakov, was found dead in the same village as Shulman, this time in a garage the day after Russia\u2019s invasion. The Russian state-run media outlet Novaya Gazeta said investigators found a suicide note near his body.\n<\/p>\n<p>Just three days later, Mikhail Watford, a Russian gas billionaire living in England, was found hanged in the garage of his country estate. At the time, investigators reportedly said Watford\u2019s death was \u201cunexplained.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_62330\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-62330\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Video screenshot of a Russian T-72B3 tank on fire and a second decapitated tank by Ukraine\u2019s 93rd Mechanized Brigade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In mid-April, the former vice president of Gazprombank, Vladislav Avayev, was found dead in his Moscow apartment. His death, along with his wife and daughter, was ruled a murder-suicide.\n<\/p>\n<p>The next day, Sergei Protosenya was found along with his wife and daughter in another murder-suicide, according to police. He was a former deputy chairman of Novatek, Russia\u2019s largest liquefied natural gas producer. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/russian-oligarch-said-killed-wife-26802163\">his son Fedor <\/a>insisted that his father was not a killer and could never harm his family.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father is not a killer. He loved my mother and especially Maria, my sister,\u201d he said. \u201cShe was his princess. He could never do anything to harm them. I don\u2019t know what happened that night, but I know that my dad did not hurt them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>Although not a Russian oligarch, another Russian senior official with the Putin regime was found shot in his home in late June under mysterious circumstances. Vadim Zimin, 53, who used to carry the briefcase with Putin\u2019s nuclear codes, was discovered by his brother \u201cin a pool of blood\u201d at his home near Moscow.\n<\/p>\n<p>Alexander Subbotin, a former Lukoil executive, was found dead in the basement of a country house near Moscow. TASS reported that the room where he was found was allegedly used for \u201cJamaican voodoo rituals,\u201d quoting local police\n<\/p>\n<p>Yury Voronov, the CEO of a shipping contractor that works with Gazprom\u2019s Arctic projects, was found dead of a gunshot wound in the swimming pool of his home in the same elite St. Petersburg gated community where Shulman and Tyulakov died earlier in the year.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Expert Biography: <\/em><\/strong><em>Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. A proven military analyst, he served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer in the <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.soc.mil\/USASFC\/Groups\/7th\/7thSFGHomepage.html\"><em>7th Special Forces Group<\/em><\/a><em>. In addition to writing for <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/\"><em>19fortyfive.com<\/em><\/a><em> and other military news organizations, he has covered the NFL for<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/\"><em> PatsFans.com<\/em><\/a><em> for over 11 years. His work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine Update: EU $5 Billion Aid Package To Ukraine, Russian Oil Exec \u201cFalls\u201d From Window \u2013 The European Union (EU) has agreed to release a new funding package of 5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1631952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1631950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1631950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1631952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1631950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1631950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1631950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}