A key figure in Vladimir Putin’s internet and phone tapping machine of repression sustained a mysterious ‘painful fracture’ the day before he suddenly died age 40, it was reported today.
The body of multi-millionaire Anton Cherepennikov was found in his office in Moscow.
He was seen as a sinister figure who was the owner of most systems for wiretapping phones and storing internet traffic in Russia.
The cause of death was initially announced as ‘cardiac arrest’ but a VChK-OGPU Telegram channel report today claimed that he had suffered ‘a serious “fresh” fracture’ before he sought to ‘suppress the pain with the help of gas’.
It was ‘the fracture that most likely led to death’, possibly leading to a ‘blood clot’, according to the channel, which claims to have close law enforcement sources.
The body of multi-millionaire Anton Cherepennikov (pictured) was found in his office in Moscow
He was seen as a sinister figure who was the owner of most systems for wiretapping phones and storing internet traffic in Russia
An informer said that ‘on the eve of the tragedy, on July 21, Anton Cherepennikov received a very painful fracture’ – without specifying where on his body the wound was located.
‘It was later established that he went to a private clinic, where he was X-rayed, which revealed a fracture.
‘The businessman was warned about the danger of a fracture, as the situation required surgical intervention.’
However, he did not go to hospital and returned to his office.
The informer continued: ‘Under the supervision of a personal doctor, [he] decided to use some gas from a cylinder and during the procedure began to suffocate and died.’
When police arrived there were two men at the scene – his bodyguard, and the ‘personal doctor’.
They said Cherepennikov ‘was not sick and did not take any drugs’, adding: ‘There were no signs of torture, no noisy party in the office, only a few cigarette butts lay alone in the ashtray.’
Yet later it became clear he had suffered a painful and potentially dangerous fracture, although how this happened is unclear.
Cherepennikov is pictured with his wife Anna, who he met on a dating site
The cause of death was initially announced as ‘cardiac arrest’ but a VChK-OGPU Telegram channel report today claimed that he had suffered ‘a serious “fresh” fracture’
A reusable gas cylinder marked ‘oxygen’ was removed from the scene by police, said the report.
Cheka-OGPU had previously reported that Cherepennikov was undergoing a session of xenon inhalation therapy, which treats depression.
‘He was an absolutely key tool in Putin’s repression,’ said an opposition source after his death.
‘His assassination cannot be ruled out as the security apparatus becomes desperate due to the failing war.’
His Citadel holding was described as ‘almost a monopoly on the wiretapping of Russians’.
This followed draconian laws under which telecom operators must store audio recordings of all calls and text messages for six months, and internet traffic for a month.
His business worked hand in glove with Putin’s feared FSB security service, and its employees included key figures trained by the counterintelligence service – and their close relatives.
His success in acting as the state’s electronic snooper meant a profit of £172million for his operation, it was reported.
Cherepennikov was a key figure in Vladimir Putin’s (pictured today) internet and phone tapping machine of repression
Cherepennikov was seen as close to his ‘idol’, Kremlin-friendly oligarch Alisher Usmanov, formerly a shareholder of Arsenal football club in London.
The web sleuth studied at the prestigious Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Moscow State University of Civil Engineering.
He went into business initially importing Blackberry phones, and selling computers and printers.
He played Counter-Strike and poker and was described as ‘competitive’ and a gambler.
Cherepennikov divorced his first wife who he met on a dating site, blaming his compulsory 15-hour work day.
He married again, to a woman named Anna, whom he also met on a dating site.
Heavy smoker Cherepennikov was considered the key playing behind SORM – the ‘the system of technical means to ensure the functions of operational-search activities’, or total wiretapping in Russia.
A string of suspicious deaths have hit Russia since the months leading up to Putin’s ill-judged war in Ukraine.
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