Poisoning, Accidents, Exile: Alexey Navalny To Yevgeny Prigozhin - Unexplained Deaths Of Russian President Putin Critics

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "The death of Alexey Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, marks the loss of a prominent figure challenging Putin's regime. Navalny gained international attention during the 2011-2012 pro-democracy protests in Russia, when everyone thought the charismatic and witty Navalny had the potential to become the biggest Political threat to Putin. It was equally clear that Navalny was living on borrowed time after he returned to Russia in early 2021 and defied warnings of imprisonment, Navalny isn't the only one. Putin's other foes have been targeted in diverse ways: shootings, poisonings and even a plane crash. Many of the deaths are still unsolved and the question is still open 'how many of his enemies Putin has dispatched over the years' and 'how did they die'.
Mysterious deaths of Putin's criticsAlexander LitvinenkoAlexander Litvinenko, a former Russian FSB agent and a Putin critic, died in 2006 after ingesting polonium-210-laced tea during a meeting with two Russian spies in London.
Litvinenko accused Putin of corruption and orchestrating the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that later led the 1999 Chechen War. Later, Litvinenko sought asylum in the UK.
The murder is said to have been approved by Putin, but he has denied the allegation PrigozhinYevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner mercenary group, gained sudden popularity during the Ukraine war but faced the wrath of Putin.
After capturing Bakhmut, he criticized the Russian defense ministry for unmet military goals. In June, Prigozhin ordered his troops toward Rostov-on-don. In an address at the time, Putin said that the“armed mutiny” amounted to treason.
Tragically, he died in a plane crash in August 2023, however, Kremlin has rejected accusations that it assassinated the mercenary chief NemtsovBoris Nemtsov, ex-PM, was shot dead in 2015 as he walked home across a Moscow bridge near the Kremlin. Five Chechen men were convicted but the mastermind of the murder is yet to be traced.
The 55-year-old leaker was critical of Putin's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and often took part in opposition protests PolitkovskayaAnna Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist critical of Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was fatally shot in her Moscow apartment in 2006. Her murder, leading to five arrests, raised concerns about press freedom's critics who are in exileMikhail KhodorkovskyAfter spending a decade in Russian prison for challenging Putin, former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky now resides in London since his 2013 release. He has financed media projects critical of the Kremlin AkuninRussian author and Putin critic Boris Akunin, real name Grigory Chkhartishvili, resides in European self-imposed exile. Recently labeled a \"terrorist and extremist\" by Moscow, the justice ministry accuses him of spreading false information and fundraising for Ukraine on Navalny's death, Akunin said,“I also think that a murdered Alexei Navalny will be a bigger threat for the dictator than a living one.”
“Most likely, to drown out voices of protest, he [Putin] will launch a campaign of terror in the country.”(With inputs from agencies, Gaurdian and Aljazeera)

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