Russian tycoon WAS murdered
After Salisbury spy poisoning, Scotland Yard reveals the Putin foe found dead at home by daughter was strangled
A RUSSIAN dissident found dead at his home was murdered, Scotland Yard revealed last night.
Nikolay Glushkov, 68, was strangled and officially died from ‘compression to the neck’, a post mortem examination found.
The Metropolitan Police said officers from its Counter Terrorism Command will continue to investigate the killing ‘as a precaution’ and because of his associations.
They were brought in amid fears his sudden death could be linked to the nerve agent attack on his compatriot Sergei Skripal.
Officers said there ‘is nothing to suggest any link’ to the attempted murder of the Russian former spy and his daughter in Salisbury.
However, the death of Mr Glushkov sparked fears he could be the third victim of Kremlinsponsored assassins. The former Aeroflot director was one of the most wanted men in Russia due to his career as right-hand man to billionaire Boris Berezovsky, a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin who was found hanged in the bathroom of his Surrey home in 2013.
Mr Glushkov was the only surviving member of the tycoon’s inner circle after Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, suffered an apparent fatal heart attack in 2008.
Last year he appeared at the top of a ‘hit list’ published by the Russian Embassy in London of exiles which the British authorities refused to extradite.
Mr Glushkov’s body was found by his daughter Natalia, 34, a socialite and student, shortly before 11pm on Monday.
It is understood she travelled to his property in New Malden, south London, after failing to contact him by phone. Forensic experts pored over every inch of the house as specialist tests were conducted to ensure neighbours were not at risk. Last night, police continued to guard the home of the Russian exile, which he shared with his dog Ridge.
Forensic tents remain erected outside the house, with a single officer stationed at the front door.
Neighbour Eniko Webb, 43, said: ‘It’s very shocking. It does make you think.. We couldn’t believe it. We were like, what here in front of our house?’
Earlier this week one resident said Mr Glushkov received mystery visits from people in luxury cars, including a Ferrari and Lamborghini. The neighbour said: ‘There was something strange about the number of supercars pulling up outside the house.
‘It makes you wonder if it was connected with what had happened. I was suspicious.’
Mr Glushkov had been among the gilded circle of entrepreneurs who cashed in on the privatisation of Russia’s huge state assets. In the 1990s, he was installed at Aeroflot, the state airline, and helped lead Mr Berezovsky’s car firm until the billionaire fell out with Mr Putin and fled the country.
After several run-ins with the authorities, Mr Glushkov fled to the UK in 2006, but was relentlessly pursued and was last year sentenced to an eight-year jail sentence in his absence. At the time of his death, he was fighting a civil battle in which Aeroflot was seeking up to £90million it claimed was embezzled.
One former Berezovsky bodyguard said he knew that Mr Glushkov was extremely nervous about his own safety. His concerns were heightened by the fate of Mr Berezovsky. Mr Glushkov refused to accept that his former business partner took his own life.
He told reporters around the time his friend was found hanged: ‘I’m definite Boris was killed.’
The Home Secretary has already ordered a fresh official inquiry into a number of other deaths in Britain that could be connected to Russia.
In Moscow, Russia’s Investigations Committee announced it has launched parallel criminal investigations to the Glushkov and Skripal cases. Spokesman Svetlana Petrenko said they were ready to co-operate with British police and will act according to ‘international law’.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said Mr Glushkov’s family are being supported by family liaison officers ‘at this difficult time’.
She added: ‘A special post mortem gave the cause of death as compression to the neck. His family have been informed.
The Counter Terrorism Command, which has led the investigation from the outset, is now treating his death as murder.
A spokesman said: ‘As a precaution, the command is retaining primacy for the investigation because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had.’ A spokesman for Mr Glushkov’s family said they are ‘very grateful for the messages of sympathy received.’
She added: ‘A special thank you goes out to the Metropolitan Police and the emergency services for their rapid response and assistance. The family will not be making or releasing any public statements at this stage.’
Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, the policeman who was the first on the scene in the Salisbury attack, is no longer in a critical condition. He is now conscious and in a stable condition, NHS England has said.
Mysterious visitors in luxury cars