38 deaths cast suspicion on Putin

Many involve people trying to expose corruption

Aformer member of the Russian parliament is gunned down in broad daylight in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. A longtime Russian ambassador to the United Nations drops dead at work. A Russian-backed commander in the breakaway Ukrainian province of Donetsk is blown up in an elevator. A Russian media executive is found dead in his Washington hotel room.

What do they have in common? They are among 38 prominent Russians who are victims of unsolved murders or suspicious deaths since the beginning of 2014, according to a list compiled by USA TODAY and British journalist Sarah Hurst, who has done research in Russia.

The list contains 10 high-profile critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, seven diplomats, six associates of Kremlin power brokers who had a falling out — often over corruption — and 13 military or political leaders involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, including commanders of Russian-backed separatist forces. Two are possibly connected to a dossier alleging connections between President Trump’s campaign staff and Kremlin officials that was produced by a former British spy and shared with the FBI.

Twelve were shot, stabbed or beaten to death. Six were blown up. Ten died allegedly of natural causes. One died of mysterious head injuries, one reportedly slipped and hit his head in a public bath, one was hanged in his jail cell, and one died after drinking coffee. The cause of six deaths was reported as unknown.

Putin has long dealt with opponents harshly. At a congressional hearing in March that featured a Russian activist who alleged he was poisoned, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Putin “has murdered his political opponents and rules like an authoritarian dictator.”

The list of fatalities — 37 men and one woman — suggests that alleged attacks on Putin’s critics and whistle-blowers are more extensive and lethal than previously known. It raises new concerns about contacts Putin and his lieutenants had with Trump’s campaign staff.

Trump praised Putin in March 2016 as a “strong leader” and said in 2015 that “I’d get along great with” the Russian leader. On Feb 6, Trump defended Putin when Bill O’Reilly, then of Fox News, called Putin a killer. “There are a lot of killers,” Trump replied. “Do you

Large proportion of unexplained Russian deaths since the start of 2014 involve people trying to expose corruption:

ALEKSEY FILIPPOV, AFP/GETTY IMAGES Thousands of Ukrainians say goodbye Feb. 10 to Mikhail Tolstykh, a commander of the selfdeclared Donetsk People’s Republic who was slain in a rocket attack on his office.

ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO, AP Nataliya Magnitskaya’s son Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer, died in prison.