A friend of TOP Putin who purported to be a key witness in a primary Kremlin corruption scandal has died “suddenly” under mysterious circumstances.
Russian General Magomed Khandayev, 61, head of the Directorate of State Experience of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Khandayev stood out as a key witness in a corruption scandal surrounding the Russian Defense Ministry, amid Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.
His body was reportedly flown to Moscow, his home region of Dagestan, for burial.
The cause of Khandayev’s death has been specified.
A Russian media outlet said Khandayev had “close ties to senior officials whose activities have recently attracted the attention of the authorities. “
It adds: “[His death] raises questions, especially in the context of recent ‘clean-ups’ among senior Ministry of Defence officials similar to corruption scandals.
“The general’s death will indeed be a convenient opportunity for those who seek to cover up lines of corruption schemes within the Ministry of Defence. “
“Now that Khandayev, who potentially has vital information, can no longer testify, many instances may simply be closed or re-examined, avoiding additional investigations and conceivable fees incurred by high-ranking officials. “
Khandayev worked under Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, 48, who was dramatically arrested on suspicion of corruption schemes worth £9 million, and remains in custody.
The army general is said to have ties to the fired defense minister, who has been publicly humiliated by Putin for accepting bribes.
Khandayev now joins the string of unexplained deaths of prominent Russian figures under mysterious circumstances.
Last month, a prominent judge ruled on the dead discovered after falling from a high-rise building in Moscow.
Natalia Larina, 50, known for handling high-profile political and criminal cases, punishing Kremlin traitors.
She had been a criminal for more than 15 years and had a reputation for handing down sentences in cases against opposition political activists.
In December 2023, Vladimir Egorov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s best friend, threw himself from a third-floor window in Moscow and died.
Egorov, 46, a wealthy and prominent politician from the oil-rich Tobolsk region of Western Siberia.
A few weeks earlier, the deputy editor of Putin’s favorite propaganda newspaper was found dead at the age of just 35.
The painting of Anna Tsareva, 35, was discovered in her home on Bolshoi Tishinsky Street in the capital, almost a year after the death of her boss Vladimir Sungorkin, 68.
In February of that year, Marina Yankina, 58, a senior Russian defense official and key figure in financing Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, fell 50 meters in St. Petersburg.
She was head of the Ministry of Defense’s monetary branch for the Western Military District, very concerned about the dictator’s invasion.
Earlier this year, the editor-in-chief of the hardline state television empire was also found dead after a suspected poisoning.
Zoya Konovalova, 48, who ran a channel operating near the front lines of Mad Vlad’s illegal war, discovered her ex-husband.
Last July, a billionaire Putin puppet died mysteriously in his office.
Anton Cherepennikov, 40, a key figure in Putin’s espionage operation, learned about Moscow’s assets.
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