Was Russian exile killed in London by Kremlin assassins?
THE daughter of a Russian exile found murdered in London has suggested his death may be linked to the Kremlin hit on Sergei Skripal.
Natalia Glushkova said finding her father’s body in a ‘trashy set-up of a suicide’ will forever haunt her.
Nikolai Glushkov, former deputy director of Russian state airline Aeroflot, was found dead in his home in New Malden, south-west London.
The discovery of the 68-yearold Kremlin critic’s body came a year ago today – one week after the Novichok poisoning of former double agent Mr Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.
Yesterday, Miss Glushkova, who lives in London, refused to speculate on who may be responsible for her father’s murder, but suggested it could be linked to the Skripal case.
Alluding to the fact that his death had received less attention than the Salisbury poisonings, she said: ‘Skripal’s case was very loud. If you want something to go unnoticed you make a firework.’ On the moment she found the body, she told The Guardian: ‘I could see some traces of physical harm.
‘The [scene] was so trashy. It looked like a cheap set-up of a suicide. That image will haunt me for my whole life.’
In exile, Mr Glushkov was one of a group of Putin defectors, most of whom are now dead. They included Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with polonium in 2006, and Boris Berezovsky, who was found dead at home in Ascot in 2013.
Mr Glushkov fled Russia after being accused of fraud during his time at Aeroflot. He was sentenced in absentia to eight years in Russia, convicted of stealing £87 million from the airline.
He was due to attend a hearing in London to defend himself on the day his body was found.
The Met Police has failed to identify a suspect for the murder and yesterday launched a fresh appeal for information.