ANOTHER top energy boss in Russia has been found dead – the 40th mystery death of an oligarch in the country.
The body of Igor Shkurko, 49, deputy general director of Yakutskenergo was discovered in his cell in a detention centre after he was accused of taking a bribe.
The day before his death, the executive had submitted appeals against what he claimed was an unjust bribery allegation.
A spate of unexplained deaths have occurred since the start of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine more than 13 months ago.
Experts believe the deaths of at least 39 previous deaths high profile figures - ranging from oligarchs to scientists and even generals - could show the shadowy and bloodstained hand of the Kremlin.
The Russian authorities have provided no details on how Shkurko died but have said the evidence points to there being no signs of a “criminal death”.
His company issued a statement saying: “We will remember him as an open, hospitable person with a big heart and a good sense of humour, the caring head of a close-knit family.”
The high-earning Shkurko - who was married with two sons - was accused of demanding a £5,000 bribe.
A cloak of secrecy appears to have been thrown over the circumstances of his death.
Shkurko was a member of the pro-Putin United Russia political party but his membership was suspended following the bribery allegation.
The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement: “On April 4, the accused was found in a cell of the pre-trial detention centre with no signs of life.
“Arriving medical workers ascertained his death.
“An investigative team was called to the scene. According to preliminary data, no signs of a criminal death were found.”
Shkurko was in charge of the technical management side of Yakutskenergo, which supplies power to the world’s coldest region, Yakutia.
Dozens of high profile figures have died since Putin launched his bloody Ukraine war in over a year ago - with many in odd circumstances, such as sudden "suicides" and falls from windows.
Sergey Grishin - the so-called "Scarface" oligarch who sold Meghan and Harry their California mansion - died from sepsis after criticising Putin.
And meanwhile scientist Andrey Botikov - who created the "Sputnik V" vaccine - was strangled with a belt in his apartment last week.
Both men were two of the latest to join the staggering body count of high profile deaths of people linked to Mad Vlad.
Jon Sweet, a retired US Army Military Intelligence Officer, and Mark Toth, a national security analyst, described Putin as running "modern-day FSB version of Murder Inc."
Murder Inc. was an organised crime group that operated in the US - and is believed to have been responsible for more than 1,000 contact killings in the 1930s.
"Anyone seen as a potential threat seems to have an attraction to an open window," Sweet told The Sun Online.