Last Updated on: 10th November 2022, 08:20 pm
Who is Viktor Cherkesov? Biography, Wiki
Viktor Cherkesov, the former KGB mentor to former Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sidekick who later became an outspoken critic, has died of an unexplained “serious illness,” authorities said.
According to a Telegram article by Alexander Khinstein, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, he died in St. Petersburg on Tuesday evening.
Viktor Cherkesov’s Age
His current age was 71 years.
Putin’s KGB Mentor Viktor Cherkesov Died
“Victor Vasilyevich was a wonderful person and a true statesman. Eternal memory for him!” Kinstein wrote.
The cause of death was not disclosed, but Russian media reported that it was a “serious illness”.
Cherkesov was head of the now-defunct State Drug Control Service (FKSN) and the president’s envoy to the Northwest Federal District, Radio Free Europe reported.
He started out as a KGB officer in Saint Petersburg in the 1970s, hunting down dissidents and investigating anti-Soviet activities. He eventually rose through the ranks to run the city branch of the FSB.
After Putin was appointed head of the FSB in 1998, Cherkesov moved to Moscow and became his deputy.
When Putin ran for president in 2000, Cherkesov worked on his campaign and cemented his position as a close ally of Putin and a member of his inner circle.
After his election victory, Putin appointed Cherkesov a member of the Security Council and later made him head of the new agency FKSN.
In 2006, Cherkesov led an investigation into a wide-ranging corruption scandal involving senior FSB officials accused of furniture smuggling and money laundering.
Following the investigation, which led to a string of high-profile resignations, Cherkesov wrote a controversial op-ed revealing detail of covert trench warfare being waged by senior members of Russia’s security services.
Viktor Cherkesov’s Second Wife
Cherkesov’s second wife, Natalya Chaplina, runs the Rosbalt News Agency, which was declared a foreign agent by the government in 2021.
Cherkesov is the latest in a long line of former Putin allies to die under mysterious or unexplained circumstances in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.