Yevgeny Prigozhin: Foes of Vladimir Putin and Russia who suffered similar mysterious demises

Espionage, spy culture, and mercenary fighters are sadly all too synonymous with Russia and its international reputation. So it comes as little surprise that Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to be dead after a plane he was listed as a passenger on crashed near a village north of Moscow. There were no survivors on board.

The Russian mercenary chief, 62, has become internationally known after he spearheaded a mutiny and rebellion against Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials back in late June. Civil war was on the brink before a peace deal was brokered between the two sides.

Before that, Prigozhin led the private mercenary group Wagner on its offensive campaign against Ukraine.

But Prigozhin is not alone. Many other critics and opponents of Putin and Russia have mysteriously been found dead, gone missing, or narrowly escaped attempts on their lives.

NationalWorld has compiled these mysterious incidents. A worthy side note is that Russia has denied involvement in most of them.

Sergei Skripal

Just what were two Russian spies doing in Salisbury? It comes as a major coincidence that a former Russian double agent who worked with the UK named Sergei Skripal was found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping city with his daughter.

The UK has said they were poisoned with the Russian nerve agent Novichok - accusations that Russia denies - although they both survived. Two police officers were also subsequently poisoned and one, Dawn Sturgess, died later.

Alexei Navalny

Another incident Russia denies involvement in is when Alexei Navalny, the country's most prominent opposition leader, had to be flown to Germany after he was poisoned. Novichok is suspected to have been at play here again.

Surprisingly, he returned to Russia a year later in 2021 when he was immediately arrested and sentenced to 12 years on fraud and other charges. Since then, he has had 19 years added to his sentence.

Alexander Litvinenko

Arguably the most famous case of retaliatory action against a spy, In 2006, former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko died at the age of 43 in London after drinking green tea that had been laced with polonium-210 - a rare radioactive isotope.

An inquiry in 2016 concluded that the killing was probably ordered by Putin who Litvinenko was an outspoken critic of. Litvinenko had lived in London for six years before his death.

Vladimir Kara-Murza

A vocal Russian opposition member and activist, Kara-Murza has publicly said that attempts to poison him were carried out twice in 2015 and 2017. According to Reuters, high levels of mercury, copper, manganese and zinc were found in his body during tests

Pavel Antov

Millionaire and politician Pavel Antov was known to be highly critical of Putin's war in Ukraine.

In June 2022, Russian media published a WhatsApp message attributed to Antov that said a Kremlin missile bombardment on Ukraine was "terrorism".

Antov took to the Russian social media network VK to deny writing the message, insisting that he supported Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.

In December of that year, he reportedly fell out of a hotel room in India and died.

Ravil Magnov

Another coincidental fall. In September 2022, oil tycoon Ravil Maganov who was the head of Lukoil died after he fell from a hospital window in Moscow.

But the mystery only deepens, While news agencies called his death a suicide, the company itself said he died following an illness. The company had taken a public stand over the war in Ukraine.

Lech Kaczynski

Russia also denies involvement in this tragic incident. In 2010, Polish president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other passengers were killed in a plane crash over Russia.

Poland has maintained its view that this was an act of political assassination. A report last year from Poland suggested evidence of planted explosives that brought the plane down.

Alexander Perepilichny

This Russian businessman and whistleblower was found dead outside his luxury home in an estate just outside of London in November 2012.

Suspicions were high despite Russia denying foul play and police doing the same. But at a pre-inquest hearing, traces of a rare deadly poison from the gelsemium plant were found in his stomach.

Viktor Yushchenko

Ukrainian presidential candidate Yushchenko was poisoned in 2004 while competing against a pro-Russian opponent - Viktor Yanukovich.

Yushchenko survived, although his face and body were disfigured from the poison. He eventually won the presidency too.

Anna Politkovskaya

A journalist who knew to how to rub Russia the wrong way. Politkovskaya, who exposed numerous human rights abuses, was shot dead outside her Moscow apartment in 2006.

The incident provoked a widespread reaction from the West.