39 Top Russian Officials Have Died Since 2022, Experts Blame Putin For ‘Purge’

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, a total of 39 prominent Russian figures have died, including scientists, oligarchs and generals.

Many Russia experts suggest that Vladimir Putin is responsible for killing his enemies to keep his supporters in line. This theory came from the unusual circumstances of the deaths such as sudden “suicides” and illnesses.

Sergey Grishin, the oligarch who sold Prince Harry and Meghan their mansion in Montecito, California, died from sepsis earlier this month. This took place after he criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Just a few days earlier, virologist Andrey Botikov, who helped develop the Sputnik V Covid vaccine, was strangled to death with a belt.

In June 2022, the Dutch NOS news network said that many of the Russian billionaires that have died worked in the oil and gas industries.

The first recognized death was in January 2022 when Leonid Shulman, the transport chief for the Russian energy corporation Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house. A suicide note was found at the scene.

The Atlantic has called this phenomenon “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome.”

Many families and friends of the deceased Russian oligarchs have found their deaths suspicious and called for an independent investigation.

Foreign affairs commentators such as Fiona Hill remain skeptical of these theories. She says that the deaths are not all connected, and it is more likely that some were suicides while others could be from groups trying to eliminate competitors. The suicide rate in Russia is the third-highest in the world.