Prominent Russian journalist Grigory Nekhoroshev (69), who first revealed President Vladimir Putin’s relationship with Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, is dead. The man died in suspicious circumstances in the Latvian capital Riga, after eating poisonous mushrooms.
Journalist at HLN
Grigory Nekhoroshev died on Friday at the age of 69 in Riga, the capital of Latvia, where he had lived in exile as a political refugee for 11 years. The Baltic news site ‘Delfi’ and the Latvian news website ‘Press.lv’ reported this, after which the news also reached the British press.
Friends of the Russian say he died after eating mushrooms he found in his garden. Although he was known as a mushroom lover, many still question his death.
For those who don’t know the man: Grigory Nekhoroshev is a known enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2008, as editor-in-chief of the newspaper ‘Moskovsky Korrespondent’, he broke a strict taboo by publishing about the private life of the Russian head of state.
Secret friend Alina Kabayeva
The newspaper revealed the rumor that former Olympic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva (43) is Putin’s (73) secret girlfriend. The newspaper wrote at the time that the Russian leader was planning to divorce his wife Lyudmila Putina and marry Kabayeva, who was thirty years younger.
Although the Kremlin has never confirmed the relationship, the consensus in international media and intelligence services remains strong: Kabayeva is still Putin’s girlfriend and the mother of at least two of his children.
Nekhoroshev stated afterwards that he had full confidence in his journalists, who had spent weeks checking the facts. He believed the public had a right to know this kind of information about their leaders.
Only days after the revelation in 2008, retaliation followed: the newspaper ‘Moskovsky Korrespondent’ was closed down. After several turbulent years in which the ex-editor-in-chief was interrogated several times by the Russian security service FSB and also temporarily fled the country, Nekhoroshev decided to leave Russia permanently in 2014, the year in which the political situation in Russia further hardened after the annexation of Crimea. He settled in Latvia, where he was given the status of political refugee.
“He has always remained nervous”
And now he has died, reportedly after eating mushrooms from his own garden in Riga. Although he was a mushroom lover and connoisseur, the ones he ate turned out to be poisonous. The man’s friends say that Nekhoroshev has always remained “nervous” in recent years. He was afraid of a possible attack by assassins on behalf of Putin.
Alina Kabayeva led a very secluded life for many years. Now that she has more recently taken charge of Russia’s national rhythmic gymnastics program, she has been appearing a little more often.
