Ivan Sechin was the heir of Russian oligarch and Putin’s top man, Igor Sechin (Picture: East2West)
Vladimir Putin’s right-hand man – described as ‘the only one he trusts’ – is in mourning after the mysterious death of his son.
Ivan Sechin died after complaining he was ‘suffocating’ in a village near Moscow, but his passing was covered up for weeks before leaking on Telegram channels.
It was claimed the 35-year-old died from a ‘detached blood clot’, the same cause of death given to Alexei Navalny, who was ‘killed’ in a Siberian penal colony.
He was the heir of Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, whose murky fortune is worth an estimated $800 million, and who has been hailed as ‘Darth Vader of the Kremlin’ due to his behind-the-scenes influence.
There is no paper trail beyond his shares in publicly traded Rosneft, but Sechin os of the Russian president’s top allies.
His son’s death is the latest among the Russian elite – many in the energy sector – since the beginning of the war in Ukraine two years ago.
Vladimir Putin (left) speaks with Igor Sechin (right) during the opening ceremony for the Russian section of the Russia-China oil pipeline in the far eastern region of Amur on August 29, 2010 (Picture: AFP)
It comes amid speculation that the sons and daughters of Putin’s ageing circle are poised to gain new political and business power after next month’s presidential election.
Sechin junior died in his mansion in the Europe-1 village in Krasnogorsk. some 20 miles from Moscow.
Telegram channel VChK-OGPU – which has close law enforcement contacts – said: ‘At approximately 4.30am on the night of February 5, 35-year-old Ivan complained that he felt bad and was suffocating.
’The man fell on the bed and lost consciousness. Those around him carried Ivan to the floor and tried to provide primary resuscitation measures.
Putin and Sechin during a meeting of commission on fuel and energy security in 2013 (Picture: Getty)
’At the same time, Ivan Sechin’s security guard called an ambulance.’
It was reported that the ambulance took one and a half hours to reach the home.
’When the ambulance arrived at the scene, the doctors were only able to ascertain Ivan’s death,’ it was posted.
Channel VChK-OGPU claimed that senior Sechin prevented Russia’s Investigative Committee, FSB and other security forces from examining the circumstances of his son’s death.
Instead he deployed the Rosneft Security Service, comprising of former FSB and Investigative Committee employees personally loyal to Sechin”.
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