Russian exile ‘may have died in sex game’
THE mystery over Nikolai Glushkov’s death deepened yesterday as it emerged that the Russian exile may have died during a sex game.
The businessman, 68, is said to have spent the night with his younger lover – a Russian man in his late-20s.
Glushkov was found dead a week ago at the terraced property he rented in New Malden, south-west London.
Police launched a murder investigation after a post mortem found he died from “compression to the neck”.
Investigators believe he may have been throttled in an attempt to make his death look like suicide.
The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, which is leading the investigation, has found no sign of forced entry into the property.
His death is currently not being linked to the nerve agent poisoning of Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
A friend of Glushkov said yesterday: “I think he lived by himself but he regularly had his partner over to stay and he was there the night he was found dead.
“He was a lot younger, I’d say in his 20s, and like Nikolai he was also originally from Russia.
“From what I understand he found his body along with Natalia, Nikolai’s daughter, who was also staying over that evening.
“One theory I think the police are looking at is whether he may have died during a sex game that went terribly wrong.”
Glushkov was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin after the 2013 death of his friend Boris Berezovsky, who was found hanged at his home near Ascot, Berks.
He was being sued by Russian state airline Aeroflot over embezzlement claims and had been due to appear at the High Court.
Natalia, who is studying in London, is now in hiding.