A former Russian general and Kremlin bodyguard who oversaw the construction of one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences died this week at the age of 69, Newsweek reported, citing an observation prison official, the Focus agency reported.
Gennady Lopyrev had been serving a 10-year sentence since 2017 on bribery charges he has always denied. He died in a penal colony near Ryazan, a city located about 125 miles southeast of Moscow, after an unspecified illness, said Viktor Boborikin of the Public Monitoring Commission.
Boborikin stated that Lopyrev felt ill on August 16 and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He did not specify what illness the general had. As the former head of the Caucasus Security Service of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSO), Lopyrev was responsible for securing state facilities in southern Russia, including the residences of the president and prime minister.
Lopyrev reportedly oversaw the construction of one of Putin’s extravagant residences, the Gelendzhik Palace near Sochi, southern Russia, near the Bocharov Stream, where he handled security. The Cheka-OGPU Telegram channel, which has close ties to Russian security forces, said the residence had become known as “Putin’s Palace” following an investigation by opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team.
The Kremlin has not commented on Lopyrev’s death. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry by email for comment. Lopyrev had no prior medical conditions and was preparing for parole, according to The Moscow Times’ Russian-language service. He was reportedly told at the hospital that he had undiagnosed leukemia. However, the test results showed nothing unusual during the hospitalization.
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2023-08-18 06:01:00
#general #oversaw #construction #Putins #residence #dead
