Property mogul with links to Putin regime dies 'suddenly' in mystery circumstances
A Russian businessman with close ties to Putin officials has mysteriously died aged just 56.
Multi-millionaire property mogul Mikhail Kenin was apparently healthy and his cause of death has not been officially disclosed. The 'preliminary assessment' of doctors was that he suffered 'acute heart failure' according to business news paper Vedomosti.
His is the latest in a series of mysterious deaths of leading figures in Russia since shortly before the start of the war against Ukraine. Reports have linked Mr Kenin to Putin's defence minister at the start of the war, Sergei Shoigu. It comes as a woman vanishes in car crash - then turns up months later with wild story.
Mr Shoigu is now secretary of the Kremlin's powerful security council - but is seen as out of favour with the Russian dictator. Numerous senior Shoigu officials at the defence ministry have been fired or accused of corruption and arrested.
His deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov was last month sentenced to 13 years in jail for embezzlement, money laundering, and related corruption charges.
Mr Kenin was also linked to the family of wealthy Moscow region governor Andrey Vorobyov. Rumours say the businessman acted as holder of the secret fortunes of some senior Russian officials.
He made his fortune from his major stake in Samolet Group, which was at one point worth more than $1 billion. Today there was swirling speculation that the group's valuable assets could be swallowed by in-favour members of the Putin circle.
Samolet announced Kenin's death at only 56 without explaining the cause. It said: 'We are sad to confirm that [on Sunday] entrepreneur and investor Mikhail Kenin passed away."
The firm said he was 'one of those people who leave their mark on the earth… a rare person, gifted with natural talents, an excellent organiser and successful entrepreneur… ready to take risks and make difficult decisions.'
Mr Kenin had created Russia's largest property development firm. It is known he had been trying to dispose of his shares when he mysteriously died.
Ukrainian political analyst Ivan Yakovina claimed: 'The Kremlin forbade anyone from buying them. Now, apparently, they will go to new owners for free.'
Mr Kenin's heir is apparently his socialite daughter Michelle, 32, a former tennis player, who lives in London and Dubai.
Russian independent Telegram channel VChK-OGPU alleged Kenin was a 'nominee of the Shoigu clan'. It said he had 'suddenly passed away' and 'whether this death is accidental or a logical continuation of the company's problems will be revealed over time".
It added: 'For a long time, Kenin was unable to sell his share in Samolet, as the investment environment and the negative atmosphere around the company clearly hindered this.
'If Samolet announces its 'landing' [with a new owner] in the near future, no one will be surprised.'
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Reuters
30 minutes ago
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Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Raging Russia accuses Britain of trying to SABOTAGE Trump & Putin talks after Starmer warns Don ‘don't trust' Vlad
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Igor Novikov, Zelensky's ex-adviser, spoke to The Sun about the Putin and Trump meeting on US soil. 7 Putin said his demands for ending his invasion were 'unchanged' Credit: Getty 7 Zelensky has warned that Putin has no intention of seeking peace Credit: AFP He said: "Trump understands that he needs to put enough sanction pressure and military pressure on Russia for them to consider ending this war. "But at the same time, Putin tries to manipulate and charm him, massage his ego into a position where Russia wins time and the US moves further away from helping Ukraine. "Whatever they decide upon. It won't be taken for granted by the Ukrainian people." Zelensky was initially thought to be a possible third member around the table at Friday's superpower summit. The first announcements from the White House suggested Putin would meet Trump, followed by a three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky. But that was swiftly shut down by the Kremlin, and an aide denied it had ever been agreed to on the Russian side. Could Putin be arrested in Alaska? By Patrick Harrington, Foreign news reporter VLADIMIR Putin will jet to Alaska for a historic summit with President Trump on Friday to seek an end to the war- but he does so as a wanted international criminal. The International Criminal Court (ICC) slapped him with an arrest warrant in 2023 over allegations of war crimes - so the "billion-dollar question" is: can Putin be cuffed in Alaska? Putin would in theory be nabbed if he were to visit any of 125 countries around the world - including the UK, France, Germany and Canada. But the US the is among the minority of countries which does not recognise the rule of the ICC. It sit among the ranks of Russia, China, Pakistan and a handful of others in disregarding the framework. This means that, unlike most nations, the US "is not bound to arrest Putin". So the Kremlin can be confident that their leader will be leaving the Arctic state in his own plane - and trotting the globe without any threat of repercussions. The US president also dismissed claims that next week's historic summit hinges on a three-way meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. Asked if Putin needed to meet Zelensky in order to meet him, Trump clarified: "No, he doesn't." Despite that, the White House is preparing for a possible trilateral summit. Over the weekend, a source briefed on the internal talks told The Sun: "It's being discussed." A meeting with Putin and Trump will come after weeks of constant barbs being fired at the Russian tyrant by America's leader. Trump has expressed frustration with Putin, questioning whether the Russian leader really wants peace with Ukraine. Putin has snubbed peace for months and is instead steadily increasing his overnight bombing raids - which could soon hit 1,000 drones and missiles a day. Just days ago, 31 people died including five children after the Russians fired an Iskander missile into a residential tower block in Kyiv.
