Vladimir Putin: Mystery deaths mounting as President's former ally and his deputy leader both pass away

Two additional mystery deaths join a long list of prominent Russians who have faded since the beginning of the Ukraine War.

Viktor Chersekov, a formerVladimir Putin ally, and Kirill Stemousov, the pro-Russian installed deputy leader of the Kherson region in Ukraine, have perished.

The former spy mentor

Viktor Chersekov, aged 72, has died reportedly from a ‘serious illness’ which has not been disclosed yet, Newsweek reports citing local Russian media.

According to the Dail Mail, Chersekov has been described as a ‘former spy mentor’ of Vladimir Putin.

For most of his career, Chersekov served as a KGB officer, the infamous secret service of the Soviet Union. After that, he became the head of the FSB, the Russian successor agency of the KGB, for the St. Petersburg region a position he held from 1992 to 1998.

It is during this period that Chersekovaided Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and the two became allies, BBC reports.

An alliance which lasted only a decade, as Chersekov fell from Putin’s grace after starting to become critical of the high corruption levels among the Russian secret services.

One published article in 2007 by Chersekovbrought to light a large corruption scandal, for which Putin was not happy and had commented saying there was ‘no need to make such information public’,Newsweek reports.

Thereafter, Chersekov had been demoted to a lesser important job within another state agency. He eventually joined the ranks of the Russian Communist Party, and as a lawmaker, he mostly backed Putin’s government and its decisions.

The pro-Russian deputy leader in Kherson

Meanwhile, according to CNN, in the illegally annexed territory of Kherson, Kirill Stemousov, the Pro-Russian installed deputy leader, has been reported to have died after a fatal car accident.

His death was announced Wednesday morning, while in the afternoon Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoiguordered the withdrawal of his forces from Kherson.

Reportedly, Stremousov was among the first to have become part of pro-Russian interests in the region, but he was also highly critical of the miscalculation on the side of the Russian military on his Telegram channel.

‘He had blamed the military setbacks in Kherson on incompetent commanders who had not been held accountable for their mistakes.’

According to CNN, Stremousov is not the first separatist leader in Russian-held territories in Ukraine to die in murky circumstances.

Sources used:

-Newsweek: ‘Former Putin Ally Who Helped Russian Leader's Rise to Power Has Died

-Daily Mail: ‘Putin spy mentor who was demoted after daring to criticise the Russian leader dies from unexplained 'serious disease' - the latest in a number of top officials who have recently died in suspicious circumstances’

-BBC: ‘Victor Cherkesov, former director of the Federal Drug Control Service and a disgraced associate of Putin, dies’

-CNN: ‘Senior Russian-appointed official in occupied Kherson ‘killed in road accident’