Jailed Russian general, 69, ‘who knew secrets of Putin’s £1billion ($1.3B) Black Sea palace’ dies mysteriously in prison ahead of parole bid – the second top Kremlin commander to perish within days

A Russian general who was keeper of secrets about Vladimir Putin’s $1.3 billion Black Sea palace has died mysteriously in jail. General Gennady Lopyrev (pictured left), 69, suddenly became ill on Monday – gasping for breath – and was told by doctors he had previously undiagnosed leukaemia. There are now suspicions he was poisoned just as he became eligible for parole.

The general was jailed for ten years in 2017 by a military court accused of bribe-taking and illegal possession of ammunition – charges he always denied. Serving in the Federal Protection Service [FSO], he personally oversaw the construction of Putin’s gargantuan clifftop Gelendzhik Palace, a private residence allegedly built with state cash. He was also responsible for the dictator’s official residence Bocharov Ruchei in Sochi. Up to his jailing he had been one of Putin’s closest security aides, and was seen with the Russian president and then British premier Tony Blair in Moscow in 2002.

Having been healthy on Sunday when he spoke to his son Alexander, Gen Lopyrev suddenly became ill on Monday complaining of speaking and breathing difficulties, reported Telegram channel VChK-OGPU. ‘He could not breathe and had a hoarse voice.’ said the channel likening the symptoms to those of Putin foe Alexei Navalny who was poisoned with nerve agent Novichok.

Lopyrev was taken on Monday from penal colony number 3 in Ryazan region to two hospitals. He told his son Alexander by phone: ‘I was taken to Skopin [hospital] first, and they found nothing conclusive. Now they brought me to Ryazan regional hospital, and said I had leukaemia.’ The son said: ‘But isn’t leukaemia a cancer… Surely it couldn’t catch you in just two days?’ Speaking to media, Alexander said: ‘I also spoke to the chief of their medical unit, who said his heart check returned normal, and lungs were clear. It is hard to say what exactly happened. We were getting ready to apply for his parole, because it was time [to apply]… And now this call [to say he had died].’

Navalny had earlier identified Gen Lopyrev as being responsible for Gelendzhik and knowing all the secrets of its funding. Putin’s Black Sea palace (pictured) includes a pole-dancing hookah boudoir, casino, and ‘aqua disco.’ It has a 16-storey underground complex which has been compared with the lair of a James Bond villain. Navalny had earlier identified Gen Lopyrev as being responsible for Gelendzhik and knowing all the secrets of its funding. A mining engineer who worked on the construction it had indeed been built for the president and ‘there is a whole anthill in the rock under the house’ including a nuclear shelter. The subterranean maze includes a cliff face loggia overlooking the sea and a vast wine cellar. 

The death of Gen Lopyrev followed that of Col-Gen Gennady Zhidko (pictured), 58. Zhidko briefly led the invasion of Ukraine as commander of the Southern Grouping of Forces before giving way to General Sergei ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin in October. Surovikin remained his deputy but is believed to have been detained in June amid suspicion he knew of plans to stage a coup against Putin’s regime by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.  Little had been seen of Zhidko in recent months. His death was confirmed by the loyalist governor of Khabarovsk region Mikhail Degtyarev, who expressed his condolences, but there was no official announcement.

The reports did not say where Zhidko died. He was seen as having one of the best military brains in Russia. The deaths of Generals Lopyrev and Zhidko are just the latest in a long line of suspicious fatalities among the upper echelons of Russia’s military and business elite in recent months. Surovikin, who replaced him, was later demoted from the role by chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.

Major General Vladimir Makarov (pictured), 67, was in charge of ‘combating extremism’ in Russia and was found shot dead in February. He reportedly led the hunting down and suppression of opponents of the Russian president, as well as journalists deemed hostile to the Kremlin. Makarov also took action against young people who protested against Putin. Putin issued a decree to fire him in January, though his reasons for doing so remain unclear. Makarov’s wife Valentina was in a country house with her husband in Golikovo village near Moscow at 7am when she heard a gunshot, local reports said. His wife summoned a family member and called an ambulance but paramedics could not save Makarov, said reports, and he was pronounced dead.

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