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THE oil executive son of the “only man Vladimir Putin trusts” has reportedly died after after complaining he was suffocating.
The death of secretive Ivan Sechin, 35, heir to one of the despot’s closest cronies Igor Sechin, 63, was mysteriously covered up for two weeks.
His is the latest of dozens of mysterious deaths – many in the energy sector – since the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine two years ago.
It comes amid speculation that the sons and daughters of Putin’s ageing circle are poised to gain new political and business power with major personnel changes after the dictator wins next month’s “rigged” presidential election.
A source told Telegram channel VChK-OGPU – which has close law enforcement contacts – that Sechin junior, who also worked for Rosneft and was sanctioned by Britain and other Western countries, died on 5 February from “a detached blood clot”.
The same cause was given for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny four days ago, although there are widespread claims that the 47-year-old opposition politician was “murdered” on Putin’s orders.
When Ivan Sechin – then 26 – was awarded by Putin with the Order for Service to the Fatherland, Navalny had branded it a “mockery”, highlighting nepotism in the dictator’s regime.
Navalny said: “What could a 25-year-old good-for-nothing, working since March 2014 (less than a year) in his daddy’s business, possibly offer that is longstanding and worthy?”
Virtually all pictures of Ivan Sechin have been wiped with only one that is reported to be him.
Believed to be in good health, he died in his mansion in the elite Europe-1 village in Krasnogorsk.
The address was previously identified by Bloomberg as “a house for President Putin’s associates”.
The Telegram channel said: “At approximately 4.30am on the night of February 5, 35-year-old Ivan complained that he felt bad and was suffocating.
“The man fell on the bed and lost consciousness.
“Those around him carried Ivan to the floor and tried to provide primary resuscitation measures.
“ At the same time, Ivan Sechin’s security guard called an ambulance.”
The medical team took one and a half hours to reach the mansion.
“When the ambulance arrived at the scene, the doctors were only able to ascertain Ivan’s death.”
He was the only son of Igor Sechin, a former spy who has known Putin for decades and used to work with him in the St Petersburg mayor’s office.
Sechin Senior is nicknamed Darth Vader, and is reported to be the only man Putin truly trusts.
He was once called Putin’s de facto deputy.
At Rosneft he spearheaded sanctions-busting efforts during the war.
His son was highly secretive, and used the pseudonym Evgeny Anatolyevich Panin, possibly to hide his wealth or for security reasons.
Channel VChK-OGPU claimed that Igor Sechin prevented the Russian Investigative Committee, FSB and other security forces from examining the circumstances of his son’s death.
Instead he deployed the Rosneft Security Service, comprising “former FSB and Investigative Committee employees personally loyal to Sechin”.
Ivan Sechin was buried three days after his death, it was reported.
He worked as an executive on offshore projects and accompanied his father on foreign trips.
A graduate from Moscow State University, previously worked as an analyst at Kremlin-cosy Gazprombank.
When Navalny criticised Ivan’s award by Putin “for his great contribution to the development of the fuel and energy complex and many years of conscientious work”, Rosneft replied that he was a “grown man” worthy of an honour even though he was only 26.
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