Putin critic Nikolai Glushkov admitted fears he was on Russian hit-list five years before his ‘suspicious’ death
PUTIN critic Nikolai Glushkov feared being on a Russian hit-list five years before he was found dead with "strangulation marks" on his neck.
The 68-year-old Russian exile admitted feeling next on the "list" after close pal Boris Berezovsky died in 2013 from an apparent suicide.
Glushkov, whose body was found late on Monday night at his home in New Malden, South West London, had been caged for five years for money laundering while deputy director of Aeroflot.
He later said he was told at the time that he would be killed on his way to court, saying: "I was told the way it would happen. I would be run over by a truck", reports.
Glushkov came to the UK after being freed from prison and spoke out against Berezovsky's death claiming he never believed his friend died of natural causes.
He told the at the time he feared he was next to be killed after the deaths of Berezovsky, Alexander Litvinenko and Badri Patarkatsishvili.
What we know so far:
- Theresa May is due to make a statement in the House of Commons on the Sergei Skripal case this morning.
- Vladimir Putin ignored a deadline set by the PM to explain his involvement in the poisoning and instead warned Britain 'not to threaten a nuclear power'.
- Skripal and daughter Yulia remain in a critical condition in hospital after being exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury on March 4.
- The cordon has now reportedly been extended to Gillingham, Dorset - 25 miles from where the pair were found slumped on a parked bench.
- Russian exile Nikolai Glushkov was discovered dead with 'strangulation marks' on his neck on Monday night by daughter Natalia Glushkova in New Malden, South West London.
- Anti-terror cops are investigating the 68-year-old's 'unexplained' death.
Litvinenko died after being poisoned with Polonium-210 in London in 2006, while Georgian businessman Patarkatsishvili was killed in Leatherhead in 2008.
Glushkov said: "You have the deaths of Boris and Badri over a short period of time. Too many bodies are happening.
"I would say this is a little bit too much. I don't see anyone left on it apart from me."
Terror cops are now investigating Glushkov's death after he was discovered just before 11pm last night in leafy New Malden.
According to Russian newspaper he was found by his daughter with "strangulation marks" on his neck.
It comes after ex Russian spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia were poisoned using a nerve agent manufactured in Russia.
There is no suggestion the Salisbury poisoning was linked to Glushkov's death but police and MI5 are now expected to investigate 14 deaths with possible links to Russia.
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On Saturday, Russia's embassy in London risked sparking a war of words with the UK by linking Skripal's death with that of three exiled enemies of the Kremlin.