Another top Russian oil exec dies in suspicious circumstances after undergoing bizarre treatment for HANGOVER
ANOTHER Russian tycoon has been found dead in mysterious circumstances, after allegedly consulting a shaman to treat his hangover with toad venom.
The body of billionaire Alexander Subbotin, 43, a former top exec with Kremlin-friendly energy giant Lukoil, was reportedly discovered by the shamanic couple the morning after treatment.
He is said to have gone to the controversial Russian pair - who indulge in summoning spirits, animal sacrifice, and bathing in blood - to cure a hangover.
His is the latest in a series of high-profile deaths of Russian oil tycoons since the start of the year, and following the invasion of Ukraine in February.
A number of Putin regime critics have claimed the deaths are murders, as Russia's paranoid head of state purges his inner circle in the wake of the worsening situation in Ukraine.
The official story as reported by Russian law enforcement says that Subbotin, who owned a lucrative shipping company, went to visit the shamanic pair Magua Flores (real name Alexey Pindyurin) and Tina Cordoba (Kristina Teikhrib).
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As part of a supposed hangover cure, an incision was made in his skin and he was injected with toad venom.
But soon afterwards, he suffered a heart attack and was given a tranquilliser made from the herb valerian.
The next morning, the two shamans found his dead body. They told state investigators Subbotin was a friend and denied they had subjected him to shamanic rituals in return for money.
A law enforcement source told Russian media: "The deceased is Alexander Subbotin. The man was very wealthy. He was 43.
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"The preliminary cause of death is cardiac arrest."
Subbotin, who Russian TV reported was a billionaire, was a board member of Lukoil, before becoming the owner of the New Transport Company on the shores of the Gulf of Finland.
In 2020, the company was headed by his older brother Valery, who also holds a leading position at Lukoil.
It comes after Vladislav Avayev, 51, a wealthy former Kremlin official, reportedly took his own life after killing his wife and daughter, 13.
He had high-level links to the leading Russian financial institution Gazprombank.
Several days later multimillionaire Sergey Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in Spain, after evidently killing his wife Natalia, 53, and their teenage daughter, Maria, with an axe.
He was a former deputy chairman of Novatek, a company also closely linked to the Kremlin.
The preliminary cause of death is cardiac arrest
Russian law enforcement
In March, the bodies of Russian billionaire Vasily Melnikov and his wife and two sons were discovered in his luxury apartment in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 250 miles east of Moscow.
All died from stab wounds, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
The paper quoted police investigators, who said they had determined that Melnikov killed his family before committing suicide.
However, neighbours and relatives have since come forward and said they struggle to believe Melnikov could have done something so evil.
The businessman had been an executive at medical firm MedStom, which had suffered greatly as a result of economic sanctions placed on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian publication Glavred.
But there are claims that the three cases are assassinations made to appear murder-suicides.
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Two other recent "suicides" of Russian business executives have also been queried as "suspicious".
Former FSB colonel Gennady Gudkov was among those to raise the alarm about the deaths.
Writing on Mozhem Obyasnit - which means We Can Explain - Gudkov claimed there were similarities in the passing of top managers and their families from senior gas companies.
He said: "Don't let the 'rats' escape, they might talk.
"If we already understand that the regime is engaged in the elimination of its opponents and enemies, then why will they not deal with those who are considered traitors who have fled the system.
"Many cases of [suspicious deaths] are like settling scores."
He was speaking after the body of Alexander Tyulakov, 61, a senior Gazprom financial and security official at deputy general director level, was discovered by his lover.
He was found hanging in his £500,000 home.
Yet reports say he had been badly beaten shortly before he "took his own life," leading to speculation he was under intense pressure.
In the same elite Leninsky gated housing development in the Leningrad region three weeks earlier, Leonid Shulman, 60, head of transport at Gazprom Invest, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a pool of blood on his bathroom floor.
Suspicions have been raised over the deaths as they come amid a shake-up in ownership in Russian business.
The change was triggered by Western sanctions which have frozen many fortunes.
Engineer and economist Protosenya had been chief accountant of Novatek company, the largest independent producer of natural gas in Russia, between 2002 and 2014, and later vice president.
He had a fortune of $440 million, it is claimed.
Novatek is co-owned by close Putin friend Gennady Timchenko and the privileged giant had been recently excluded from the Kremlin leader’s edict to trade energy only in rubles.
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The company is also closely linked to Pyotr Kolbin, a Putin childhood friend, allegedly a “shadow holder of Putin's wealth”.
"So, under strange and similar circumstances, the families of managers of two key private companies managing the money of Putin's entourage died," stated Mozhem Obyasnit.
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