A key figure in Vladimir Putin’s internet and wiretapping crackdown machine suffered a mysterious “painful fracture” the day before he died suddenly at age 40, it was reported today.
The body of billionaire Anton Cherepennikov was found in his office in Moscow.
He was seen as a sinister figure who was the owner of most of Russia’s wiretapping and Internet traffic storage systems.
The cause of death was initially announced as ‘cardiac arrest’, but a report by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel today claimed that he had suffered ‘a severe ‘recent’ fracture’ before attempting to ‘suppress pain with the aid of gas’.
It was ‘the fracture that probably led to death’, possibly leading to a ‘blood clot’, according to the channel, which claims to have close police sources.
The body of billionaire Anton Cherepennikov (pictured) was found in his office in Moscow
He was seen as a sinister figure who was the owner of most of Russia’s wiretapping and Internet traffic storage systems.
An informant 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 an X-ray was done, which revealed a fracture.
“The businessman was warned about the danger of a fracture, since the situation required surgical intervention.”
However, he did not go to the hospital and returned to his office.
The informant continued: ‘Under the supervision of a personal physician, (he) decided to use some gas from a cylinder and during the procedure he began to suffocate and died.’
When the police arrived, there were two men at the scene: his bodyguard and the “personal doctor”.
They said that 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 were left alone in the ashtray.”
However, it later became clear that he had suffered a painful and potentially dangerous fracture, although how this happened is unclear.
Cherepennikov is pictured with his wife Anna, whom he met on a dating site.
The cause of death was initially announced as ‘cardiac arrest’, but a report by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel today claimed that he had suffered ‘a severe ‘recent’ fracture’.
Police removed a reusable gas cylinder marked “oxygen” from the scene, according to 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 crackdown,” an opposition source said after his death.
“His assassination cannot be ruled out as the security apparatus is desperate due to the failure of the war.”
His involvement in the Citadel was described as “almost a monopoly on wiretapping by the Russians.”
This followed draconian laws that telecom operators must store audio recordings of all calls and text messages for six months, and Internet traffic for one month.
His business worked hand-in-hand with Putin’s feared FSB security service, and among his employees were key figures trained by the counter-intelligence service, and their close relatives.
His success in acting as the state’s electronic snooper netted a £172 million profit for his operation, it was reported.
Cherepennikov was a key figure in Vladimir Putin’s internet repression and wiretapping machine (pictured today)
Cherepennikov was seen as close to his ‘idol’, Kremlin-friendly oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a former shareholder of Arsenal football club in London.
The web detective studied at the prestigious Bauman Moscow State Technical University and at the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering.
He started his business initially importing Blackberry phones and selling computers and printers.
He played Counter-Strike and poker and was described as “competitive” and a gamer.
Cherepennikov divorced his first wife, whom he met on a dating site, blaming her mandatory 15-hour work day.
He remarried a woman named Anna, whom he also met on a dating site.
Chain-smoker Cherepennikov was considered the key player behind SORM – the “system of technical means to ensure the functions of operational search activities”, or total wiretapping in Russia.
A series of suspicious deaths has plagued Russia since the months leading up to Putin’s miscalculated war in Ukraine.
