Russian journalist who exposed Putin’s affair dies following ‘mushroom poisoning’

©picture alliance / photothek | Liesa Johannssen

Russian journalist Grigory Nekhoroshev, who in 2008, as editor-in-chief of Moskovsky Korrespondent, broke the story about Vladimir Putin’s alleged relationship with gymnast Alina Kabayeva, has died at the age of 69 in Riga, Latvia. The cause of death is believed to be poisoning from toxic mushrooms he had picked himself.

Nekhoroshev died on June 19 in the Latvian capital, where he had been living as a political refugee for eleven years, according to the Latvian news portal Delfi. According to two sources from Russian-speaking intellectual circles, the journalist gathered the poisonous “false honey mushrooms” in the garden of his home. Shortly before his death, he was still seen in good spirits: writer Andrey Shavrey met him two days earlier at a literary club, and art expert Artur Avotiņš saw him smiling on a city bus.

The 2008 article, which claimed that Putin was divorcing his wife Lyudmila to marry Olympic champion Kabayeva, led to immediate reprisals. The newspaper was shut down shortly after publication, and Nekhoroshev was interrogated by the FSB security service . Other media outlets later followed with reports about the alleged relationship and even two children, but the Kremlin has never confirmed this. Putin himself called the speculation at the time “erotic fantasies” and emphasized his aversion to interference in his private life.

After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Nekhoroshev left Russia for good. In Western circles , he was considered one of “Putin’s personal enemies.” His death comes shortly after that of Russian cartoonist Robert Kuzovkov, who was shot and killed in Poland on June 15. Kuzovkov was known for his political cartoons critical of the regime.

Although the circumstances surrounding Nekhoroshev’s death do not appear suspicious at first glance, according to local sources, the death of yet another critical Russian abroad once again raises questions about the safety of dissidents in Europe.

©picture alliance / photothek | Liesa Johannssen - Vladimir W. Putin, President of the Russian Federation, with his wife Lyudmila Putin, upon arrival for the G8 summit. Pictured here at Rostock-Laage Airport.