Exiled millionaire on Moscow hit-list asks ‘Who will be next?’
MOSCOW’S reign of fear intensified last night after an exiled Russian millionaire on Vladimir Putin’s “hit-list” warned: “Nobody knows who will be next.”
Sergey Kapchuk’s warning came as Russian Natalia Glushkov went into hiding after the death of her father Nikolai.
Miss Glushkov was said to be traumatised after discovering the 68-yearold’s body with what appeared to be strangulation marks on his neck. The boutique owner has not been seen since the discovery at her father’s south-west London home.
Businessman Mr Kapchuk revealed that he has hired bodyguards in the wake of the Salisbury nerve gas poisonings.
The 45-year-old – ranked 12th on the list of Putin targets topped by Mr Glushkov – is also lying low after vacating his apartment in Chelsea, west London.
Details of the list from the Russian Embassy, which called for 22 Russians in exile in Britain to be sent back to face justice in their home country, were exclusively revealed by the Daily Express on Wednesday as Mr Putin warned that he can “never forgive betrayal”. Before disappearing, Mr Kapchuk said: “Everybody ask me if I’m worried. Of course I’m worried. It’s the only answer. All normal persons should be worried about this. Nobody knows who will be next. And it’s very scary, that’s why the guys are with me. If something unexpectedly happened with that man, Glushkov in his home. If he had bodyguards, if he had an attack, they could have helped. I had bodyguards in Russia. It’s not a problem for me.” Mr Kapchuk, who ran a metal factory in his homeland and was an elected MP, added: “The Brits are stupidly asking me – are you afraid? I say – what about you, would you be afraid if you are number 12 on a list?”
Mr Kapchuk, who fled Russia 10 years ago after the state accused him of fraud and abusing power said double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, daughter Yulia, 33, and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, 38, were “terror attack” victims.
Another exile, phone tycoon Yevgeny Chichvarkin, 43, who fled from Moscow fearing prosecution in 2009, said he is increasingly scared.
He said: “Some idiot may ask Putin’s permission for something. And Putin may agree to some nasty thing. I will watch my back more now when I am walking outside.”