Paranoid Putin accused of KILLING top Russian scientist as he dies two days after being jailed for ‘treason’
VLADIMIR Putin has been accused of killing a top Russian scientist who died just two days after being jailed for alleged treason.
Dr Dmitry Kolker, 54, was in hospital with pancreatic cancer when he was whisked away by the FSB and locked up in one of Russia's most notorious jails on suspicion of spying.
He was one of two leading academics accused of being in a Chinese spy ring by the FSB - the top government security body once headed up by Putin.
Dr Kolker’s family branded the treatment of the top scientist by Putin’s security services as "torture" after he was dragged from his death bed.
They had warned that Dr Kolker was too ill with cancer to even have any more chemotherapy or treatment.
After being flown four hours to Moscow, he was jailed at Lefortovo prison before being rushed to hospital where he died early on Saturday.
Read more Russia news
His son, Maxim Kolker, 22, said: "The FSB killed my father, knowing his condition."
"They didn’t even let our family say goodbye."
He blamed the spy case investigator - named as Morozov - along with the judge who approved his dad's detention and "the entire state machinery".
“I hope you will answer for your actions,” Maxim said.
Most read in News
"It took you two days to kill a man. And now me and my family are without a father."
His heartbroken sister Alina Mironova, 29, said: “This is a great tragedy for our family.
“It should not have happened like this."
The FSB claimed it had medical authorisation to unplug Dr Kolker from his hospital drip and lock him up.
But a source said paranoid Putin is "seeing spies everywhere".
They said: "Top scientists were officially urged to collaborate with top foreign partners, they did so, and now they are being accused of espionage."
Dr Kolker was head of Novosibirsk State University’s quantum optical technologies laboratory.
He was regarded as a world expert on lasers and previously worked with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxford.
Read More on The Sun
Read More on The Sun
It's not clear whether the alleged “treason” accusation was related to advanced military secrets concerning new-age weapons.
Professor Anatoly Maslov, 75, a pioneer of hypersonic technologies, was also arrested and remains in the Lefortovo prison in Moscow.