An eighth Putin ally has died mysteriously after falling down several flights of stairs. The news of Gerashchenko’s passing arrives as Putin declares the mobilization of Russian forces, which might result in the deployment of an additional 300,000 troops to the Ukrainian front.
The latest of the Russian president’s allies to pass away mysteriously since the commencement of the conflict in Ukraine was a former ally and top aviation specialist who died in Moscow.
The former rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), Anatoly Gerashchenko, passed away on Tuesday allegedly from a fall down many flights of stairs.
Age-wise, he was 73.
Using the MAI as a source, a Russian channel on Telegram reported the following: “This morning, 73-year-old Anatoly Gerashchenko fell from a height, flying [down] several flights of stairs.”
It added: “The scientist received injuries incompatible with life. The doctors who arrived at the scene could not save the professor.”
The post continued by noting that Gerashchenko has more recently acted as a consultant to Mikhail Poghosyan, the current rector of the MAI.
After earning a degree in electrical engineering, Gerashchenko began working at the MAI in 1977.
He advanced through the ranks while working as an engineer and later as head mechanic, becoming the institute’s rector from 2007 to 2015.
The university is inquiring into the death, according to the Russian state media outlet TASS.
“Currently, a commission is being formed to investigate this fact, which will include representatives of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, the State Labour Inspectorate and the Moscow Aviation Institute,” it said.
Gerashchenko is believed to have had a falling out with Putin’s inner circle, which led to his dismissal as rector seven years ago.
A past rector of the MAI, Yuri Ryzhov, alleged in 2015 to the journal Novye Izvestia that there had been a “a raider takeover of the institute”
He is said to have been driven out by Dmitry Livanov, Putin’s Minister of Education and Science at the time.
As Putin’s special representative for trade and economic connections, Livanov is currently actively participating in the conflict in Ukraine.
Gerashchenko’s death is the latest unexplained death of a former Putin associate in recent months, as rumors circulate that the mad Vlad is culling his inner circle.
Ivan Pechorin, Putin’s point man for developing Russia’s abundant Arctic resources, is said to have mysteriously fallen off a boat in waters near Russky Island earlier this month.
This morning, 73-year-old Anatoly Gerashchenko fell from a height, flying [down] several flights of stairs
Moscow Aviation Institute
It happened barely a few weeks after oil magnate Ravil Maganov died after “falling from a hospital window.”
The 64-year-old former CEO of Russian oil firm Lukoil died after falling from a sixth-floor window at Moscow’s Central Clinic Hospital.
Lukoil, which has previously criticized the Ukrainian war, confirmed Maganov’s death but curiously attributed it to an unexplained ailment.
Alexander Tyulakov, a senior Gazprom financial and security executive at the deputy general director level, was discovered dead by his lover on February 25 – the day after Putin sent his forces into Ukraine.
In his £500,000 mansion, the 61-year-old’s neck was wrapped in a noose.
Just three weeks previously, Leonid Shulman, chief of transport at Gazprom Invest, was discovered dead in the same luxury gated housing estate in the Leningrad region.
The 60-year-old was found in a pool of blood on his bathroom floor with multiple stab wounds.
Meanwhile, affluent Vladislav Avayev, 51, a former Gazprombank vice president and Kremlin insider, was found fatally shot in his upscale Moscow penthouse.
Sergey Protosenya, 55, was discovered dead by hanging in Spain a few days later.
Protosenya was a former deputy chairman of Novotek, a Kremlin-connected corporation.
In March, the death of Russian businessman Vasily Melnikov was discovered in his luxury apartment in Nizhny Novgorod with stab wounds.
The news of Gerashchenko’s passing arrives as Putin declares the mobilization of Russian forces, which might result in the deployment of an additional 300,000 troops to the Ukrainian front.
