Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Putin is testing the West, says pal of strangling victim
THE surviving member of a group of five Russian exiles who were murdered or died in suspicious circumstances has spoken out against Vladimir Putin.
Yuli Dubov said the President had turned his homeland into a “hybrid dictatorship threatening world order”.
He added: “There’s a real danger Russia may start a big war with the West. Putin is testing defences to see just how far they will allow him to go before any serious resistance is made.”
He was speaking as Scotland Yard continued to probe the murder of his pal Nikolai Glushkov, 68, found strangled in South London last week.
Mr Dubov’s associates Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Litvinenko and Badri Patarkatsishvili also suffered untimely deaths. He and Berezovsky were granted asylum in Britain in 2003, a decision that infuriated the Kremlin.
Mr Dubov said: “Most friends of Boris have now died. I’m here [in the UK] because I did not want to betray Boris.
“I totally believe in what we have stood for and these are the beliefs and activities for which people in Russia are going to jail or even die for.
“Boris saw what Putin was going to do and sacrificed his time, money and even his life to fight against turning Russia into a hybrid dictatorship threatening the world order.”
Mr Dubov, who has met Putin twice, knew Mr Glushkov for 25 years.
He said: “Nikolai was very kind, very intelligent and good to people. I’m not commenting on who killed him.”