Murder probe after Putin critic strangled
SCOTLAND YARD launched a murder investigation last night after announcing that a Russian businessman who was found dead at his south London home had been strangled, prompting fears that a new Moscow-sponsored attack had been carried out on UK soil.
Nikolai Glushkov, 68, who was a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, was granted asylum in the UK after fleeing Russia in 2006. A former right-hand man of Boris Berezovsky, the late oligarch, his death came just over a week after Sergei Skripal, the ex-russian spy, and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury.
Mr Glushkov was found dead on Monday by his daughter after failing to turn up to a hearing in the commercial courts in London. News of the murder investigation will stoke fears that critics or enemies of Russia and its leader are no longer safe on British soil.
It came as Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, escalated the war of words with Russia, when he said it was “overwhelmingly likely” that Vladimir Putin was behind the nerve agent attack, a claim described as “unpardonable” by Mr Putin’s spokesman. No10 said the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had been invited to the UK to take a sample of the nerve agent used in Salisbury with the process set to begin “imminently”.
A spokesman said the Prime Minister had been “kept informed” of developments but stressed Mr Glushkov’s death was a police matter and no direct link had been made with the Salisbury poisoning. However, Iain Duncan Smith, the ex-tory leader, said the murder appeared to “fit into a pattern” of Mr Putin’s enemies meeting a violent death. He said: “If there is a link between Mr Glushkov’s death and the Kremlin it will be further proof that we are dealing with essentially a rogue state.”
The former boss of the state airline Aeroflot, Mr Glushkov had told friends he feared he was on a Kremlin hit-list. Reports last night suggested Mr Glushkov had been killed before being hanged in a staged suicide.
His friend Mr Berezovsky was found hanged in the bathroom of his Surrey home in 2013. An inquest recorded an open verdict, and many people close to the case are of the opinion he was one of a number of Putin critics who were deliberately silenced.
An anonymous former bodyguard of Mr Berezovsky, who also knew Mr Glushkov well, said the late oligarch’s death had all the hallmarks of a statesponsored assassination. He said: “You can easily choke someone in 10 seconds so that they fall into a comatose state and you can then continue strangling them without leaving any other marks on the body. It’s a technique [the Russians] know well.”
Another close personal friend of the men, who asked not to be named, said he was in little doubt their murders were linked. He said: “It is perhaps inevitable that they would be assassinated themselves.”
‘We think it was overwhelmingly likely that it was Putin’s decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of UK’
BORIS JOHNSON has accused Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal in a dramatic escalation of Britain’s war of words with the Kremlin.
The Foreign Secretary said it was “overwhelmingly likely” that the Russian president was behind the attempted murder, a claim that was described as “unpardonable” by Mr Putin’s spokesman.
Mr Johnson’s decision to place blame for the attack in Salisbury on Mr Putin came as Britain awaited Moscow’s response to the expulsion of 23 of its diplomats. Asked whether Moscow would expel UK diplomats, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said: “Of course we will.”
He also took a swipe at Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, suggesting he was “not educated enough” after he, too, had made strong comments about Russian culpability.
Visiting the Battle of Britain Bunker museum in Uxbridge with his Polish counterpart, Mr Johnson said: “Our quarrel is with Putin’s Kremlin, and with his decision – and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision – to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War. That is why we are at odds with Russia.”
Jacek Czaputowicz, the Polish for-
eign minister, said: “We are sure that it is the Russian state which is involved in this attempt. It is certain.”
Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, said: “We have said on different levels and occasions that Russia has nothing to do with this story. Any reference or mentioning of our president is nothing else but shocking and unpardonable diplomatic misconduct.”
Russia tried to distract attention from the evidence pointing to its culpability for the attack on Mr Skripal and Yulia, his daughter, by claiming the deportation of the 23 diplomats was politically motivated.
Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador to London, said a “significant number” of those expelled for being undeclared spies were involved in organising ballots in London and Edinburgh for next week’s presidential election for Russians living in the UK.
In an interview with the Russian Interfax news agency he said that Moscow’s response “will, of course, be quite unpleasant for the British side”.
Meanwhile the Kremlin issued a withering response to Mr Williamson after he suggested that Russia should “go away and shut up”.
Major-general Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman at Russia’s defence ministry, said: “The market wench talk that British defence secretary Gavin Williamson resorted to reflects his extreme intellectual impotency. It proves the deficiency of London’s accusations thrown at Russia in the past but also the inadequacy of the accusers.
“As for the boorish remarks by the British defence secretary on Russia, they seem to be the only thing that Her Majesty’s armed forces have in ample supply.”
Mr Lavrov described the Defence Secretary as a “handsome young man”, adding: “He probably also wants to be written down in history with strong claims. I don’t know, maybe he’s just not educated enough.”
Asked about the Russian backlash last night, Mr Williamson laughed off the insults and insisted: “Quite frankly, I’ve been called far worse before.
“This response is very much what you would expect from Russia.”