World
Russian oligarch dies ‘suddenly’ as list of Putin’s wealthy critics dying keeps growing
So far, at least 23 wealthy Russians, critical of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, have died in suspicious circumstances since the start of the invasion.
A former Russian army chief, Alexei Maslov, with longstanding ties to Ukraine is the latest to die “suddenly”. He worked for the Uralvagonzavod machine-building company, the largest tank manufacturer in the world.
Maslov, who was commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces from 2004 to 2008, passed away on Sunday in a Moscow military hospital, the company said.
The former military leader, originally from a Russian region bordering Ukraine, had close ties to the country that Russia invaded in February. Maslov’s military career began in Soviet Ukraine, where he studied at a high school for military commanders in Kharkiv, the UK’s Express reported.
Meanwhile, to keep track of all suspicious deaths in Putin’s circles since the start of the war, Wikipedia has created a specific page – 2022 Russian businessmen mystery deaths – where the name, date of death, place, circumstances and role are written.
In some instances the families, including wives and children, of the businessmen have also died.
On Sunday, another wealthy Russian businessman and United Russia MP, Pavel Antonov, who criticized the war in Ukraine, was found dead after a fall from the third floor of a hotel in Rayagada, in India.
Tass news agency reported that Antov “committed suicide because he was depressed by the death two days earlier, apparently of a heart attack, of a Russian friend, Vladimir Budanov, who was part of a group of four tourists who arrived in the hotel a few days before.”
According to the New Indian Express, Antov was “visibly upset” after attending Budanov’s funeral.
On June 3, 2022, the Dutch news network NOS described the phenomenon as “a grim series of Russian billionaires, many from the oil and gas industries, who have been found dead in unusual circumstances since the beginning of this year”.
The first was on January 30, when 60-year-old Leonid Shulman, head of transport at Russian energy giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house in the Leningrad region.
On July 6, 2022, CNN described the group as “millionaires with direct or indirect ties to the Kremlin found dead in mysterious scenarios since the beginning of the year”.
Between January 30 and September 21 this year, 12 wealthy businessmen died.
On September 12, Ivan Pechorin, a top manager of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok after falling off his luxury yacht and drowning near Cape Ignatyev in the Sea of Japan.
So far this month, December 2022, there have been six suspicious deaths, as listed by Wikipedia.
The United States carried out a strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government, President Donald Trump and the U.S. military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The U.S. military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state in coordination with the Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS militants. An earlier statement posted by the command on X said the strike had been conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, but that statement was later removed.
The strike comes after Trump in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
Reuters reported on Monday the U.S. had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strike was carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the ministry said in a post on X.
At least five people were killed and more than 30 others injured when a bomb exploded inside a mosque during prayers in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, police said Wednesday night.
Authorities believe the blast was a suicide attack, citing recovered fragments of a suspected explosive vest. Security forces have cordoned off the area and are searching for additional devices.
No group has claimed responsibility, though such attacks have previously been linked to Boko Haram, which has waged a long-running insurgency in the region.
World
Libyan army’s chief dies in plane crash in Turkey
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation into the crash was under way.
The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, died in a plane crash on Tuesday after leaving Turkey’s capital Ankara, the prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognised government said, adding that four others were on the jet as well, Reuters reported.
“This followed a tragic and painful incident while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said in a statement.
He said the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of its military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff’s office were also on the aircraft.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media platform X that the plane had taken off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 1710 GMT en route to Tripoli, and that radio contact was lost at 1752 GMT. He said authorities found the plane’s wreckage near the Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district.
He added that the Dassault Falcon 50-type jet had made a request for an emergency landing while over Haymana, but that no contact was established.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation into the crash was under way.
The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity said in a statement that the prime minister directed the defence minister to send an official delegation to Ankara to follow up on proceedings.
Walid Ellafi, state minister of political affairs and communication for the GNU, told broadcaster Libya Alahrar that it was not clear when a crash report would be ready, but that the jet was a leased Maltese aircraft. He added that officials did not have “sufficient information regarding its ownership or technical history,” but said this would be investigated.
Libya’s U.N.-recognised Government of National Unity announced official mourning across the country for three days, read the report.
Turkey’s defence ministry had announced Haddad’s visit earlier, saying he had met with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Turkish counterpart Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, along with other Turkish military commanders.
The crash occurred a day after Turkey’s parliament passed a decision to extend the mandate of Turkish soldiers’ deployment in Libya by two more years.
NATO member Turkey has militarily and politically supported Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognised government. In 2020, it sent military personnel there to train and support its government and later reached a maritime demarcation accord, which has been disputed by Egypt and Greece.
In 2022, Ankara and Tripoli also signed a preliminary accord on energy exploration, which Egypt and Greece also oppose, Reuters reported.
However, Turkey has recently switched course under its “One Libya” policy, ramping up contacts with Libya’s eastern faction as well.
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