Speaker 1: Something strange is going on.
Speaker 2: Who is killing Russian billionaires? Another Russian oligarch has been
Speaker 2: found dead. Reports suggests that he hanged himself, fell.
Speaker 1: Out of a window, slashed his wrists, was poisoned, murdered
Speaker 1: his whole family. Last year, more than a dozen Russian
Speaker 1: oligarchs died in the space of nine months. Many of
Speaker 1: the deaths are suspicious with links to the Kremlin. This
Speaker 1: is sad Oligach, an investigation into these recently dead Russian billionaires.
Speaker 1: It's created by me, Jake Hanrahan and my colleague Sergey Slipchenkok.
Speaker 1: Sad Oligarch is a H eleven production for Kulso Media
Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. We all know about the vague stereotype that
Speaker 1: Russians love to drink a lot. Russians have long been
Speaker 1: depicted in Western entertainment as crazy, drunk caricatures who can
Speaker 1: drink liters of vodka without issue. Now, Russia, of course,
Speaker 1: does have a big drinking culture, as does many other countries,
Speaker 1: my own included. Trust me, it's a shallow reflection of
Speaker 1: a country's fabric to simply rely on these played out stereotypes.
Speaker 1: That said, this oligarch death is one that sounds like
Speaker 1: a plot to an exploitative Hollywood film. There's heavy drinking,
Speaker 1: shamanic rituals, and a dead Russian billionaire with links to
Speaker 1: one of the largest oil and gas companies in Russia.
Speaker 1: That company, Luke Oil, is very friendly with the Kremlin.
Speaker 1: This is the strange death of Alexander Sabochin. On twenty two,
Speaker 1: forty three year old Alexander Sabochin woke up with a
Speaker 1: particularly bad hangover. You probably know the kind mouth like
Speaker 1: a desert eye, is sensitive head splitting into the lot.
Speaker 1: So Bochin had been up the night before drinking heavily.
Speaker 1: Sources suggest that this had been one night of many.
Speaker 1: Subotchin had been on a drinking spree, down in large
Speaker 1: amounts of alcohol for many days in a row. Heavy
Speaker 1: drinking had become a problem for him. It wasn't just
Speaker 1: a celebration, a night out, or a one off. With
Speaker 1: a head full of drink and stuff to do to,
Speaker 1: Botching sought out an unconventional hangover cure. Your ravage drinker
Speaker 1: might double up on a barako or hit the sauna,
Speaker 1: but not so Botching. He was extremely wealthy, so he
Speaker 1: paid to see a shaman. As unusual as that might
Speaker 1: sound to some, the belief in shamanism is something not
Speaker 1: entirely unheard of in Russia, especially not amongst the country's elite.
Speaker 3: Sergery explains, in Russia, the occult kind of came up
Speaker 3: as an answer to kind of all the cases been
Speaker 3: going on. There has been a lot of m morel
Speaker 3: in Russia. Basically the past one hundred years had three
Speaker 3: major changes from Imperial Russia to communism and then now
Speaker 3: to whatever this is. People turn towards this. It's like
Speaker 3: superstition and things like that. And then like Shawmanism specifically
Speaker 3: came from kind of the intermingling of cultures. You know,
Speaker 3: there's a lot of tribes in eastern eastern northern Russia
Speaker 3: where this is just their way of life for a
Speaker 3: long long time, and it kind of got, i guess,
Speaker 3: adopted by Western Russians into something more like mysticism, you know,
Speaker 3: looking for an answer, looking for alternative ways, they seek healing,
Speaker 3: They kind of seek an answer of like a more
Speaker 3: spiritual answer. And basically the Russian lead they see this
Speaker 3: as like covering all bases, and those who can afford it,
Speaker 3: they get private sessions, they get private sciances. This is
Speaker 3: not exactly new. If you look at the last couple
Speaker 3: of years of Imperial Russia, I think most people know
Speaker 3: some aspect of the whole respute and story where the
Speaker 3: tzar's wife was seeking basically any cure for their son
Speaker 3: who I forget the name of the disease, but basically
Speaker 3: if he bled or something, he couldn't stop, like he
Speaker 3: would bleed out to death. Seemingly, the only answer they
Speaker 3: could find was whatever Resputin did. As far as people
Speaker 3: could tell, he was some kind of mystic almost t
Speaker 3: wizard person, right, and they really believe that, like they
Speaker 3: really got into that, and that kind of stuck around.
Speaker 3: When there's so much like turmoil, so much shit going on,
Speaker 3: you just kind of turn to other explanations, you know,
Speaker 3: the only thing that you kind of think can help
Speaker 3: or save you. You can't trust the government, you can't
Speaker 3: really trust the like regular institutions. You turn to whatever
Speaker 3: it might be that give you that hope or that
Speaker 3: answer to your questions. But you see this like certain levels.
Speaker 3: You know, you see celebrities, you see oligarchs and other
Speaker 3: kind of like up there people who they definitely use
Speaker 3: the services, they're friends with them. You know, they literally
Speaker 3: have like celebrity shamans or celebrity mystics, you know, one
Speaker 3: of the like Primetime Reality TV is a battle of
Speaker 3: the psychics, and it's essentially like, I don't know, it's
Speaker 3: like a it's kind of hard to explain what I'm
Speaker 3: seeing it. It's basically like who's the best psychic? And
Speaker 3: they have different challenges. They try to figure out murder mysteries.
Speaker 3: They try to well, I mean according to them, they talk,
Speaker 3: they do sol murder mysteries, they speak with the dead
Speaker 3: and such, and somehow they compete for whoever is the best.
Speaker 3: It's popular stuff like people watch this. I'm sure a
Speaker 3: lot of people are skeptical or kind of see it
Speaker 3: as like a fun, kind of dumb show too much,
Speaker 3: But I think a lot of people do kind of
Speaker 3: if they don't believe it, they're kind of on the
Speaker 3: side where like you know what, who knows maybe enough
Speaker 3: to the point where it is relevant in society. People
Speaker 3: do get readings. People go like regular people go for
Speaker 3: readings and stuff, right, and then if you're can to
Speaker 3: afford it, you can have a celebrity shaman come and
Speaker 3: give you some kind of seance to get your hangar overcured,
Speaker 3: and I just guess this time it kind of show
Speaker 3: that these shamans might not exactly be you know, experts,
Speaker 3: but maybe grifters who don't exactly know what they're doing
Speaker 3: and get you killed.
Speaker 1: A revival of shamanism in Russia is something that became
Speaker 1: particularly popular in Siberia, the large desolate region in the
Speaker 1: country's east. Journalist Jessin Mater wrote about this in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: He said, quote, the collapse of the Soviet Union, Herald
Speaker 1: did a religious revival throughout Russia. Perhaps unexpectedly, shamanism has
Speaker 1: achieved newfound popularity, not just in its traditional homeland, but
Speaker 1: also across Russia and beyond. Although the Tenjair belief a
Speaker 1: type of shamanism is originally a practice of the ethnic
Speaker 1: Burriats who have historically inhabited Siberia, many of the visitors
Speaker 1: to the temple and some of its shamans are ethnic
Speaker 1: Russians end quote. This journalist was actually present at one
Speaker 1: of the more traditional shamanic rituals. He describes two shamans
Speaker 1: stood on one side of the room, wearing bright blue
Speaker 1: robes with hats that cover their eyes. Some shamans believe
Speaker 1: that spirits are afraid to look into the eyes of
Speaker 1: a human being. The shamans beat drums and chant frantically
Speaker 1: on the other side of the room. Ritual participants are
Speaker 1: guided on what movements to make and what phrases to
Speaker 1: say to follow the rules of the ritual. In this
Speaker 1: type of shamanism, no type of elixir or medicine is
Speaker 1: consumed or administered. That's not always the case, stock The
Speaker 1: head of the s Yamen Center in urkust Vitally Balteyev,
Speaker 1: has spoken about a rise in Russia of what he
Speaker 1: calls neo shamanism. Neo shamanism is basically an amalgamation of
Speaker 1: various different ancient shamanic practices repurposed for people interested in
Speaker 1: New Age type religions. These ones often involve various mixtures
Speaker 1: and intoxicants that have to be consumed by the person
Speaker 1: having the ritual performed on them. This is the kind
Speaker 1: of ritual Alexander Subotchin was involved in before he died
Speaker 1: in May twenty twenty two. Subochin sought out the shamanic
Speaker 1: services of Tino Korda and Magua Floes, also known by
Speaker 1: their real names Christina Tea Krub and Alexi Pinduran respectively.
Speaker 1: These two are self proclaimed shamans in Russia. They're most
Speaker 1: definitely more involved in the new age bracket of this practice.
Speaker 1: Before this incident where Sebochin died, the two shamans had
Speaker 1: a pretty sleek media presence online. There are several professional
Speaker 1: photos of the pair, both white in their shaman get up.
Speaker 1: One image shows Christina ta Krub dressed in a long
Speaker 1: patterned robe with a Native American style headdress made of
Speaker 1: white feathers. Next to her stands Alexi Penduran, dressed in
Speaker 1: a diamond patterned robe with a turquoise and red fez
Speaker 1: shaped hat. A black feather is placed into the top
Speaker 1: of the hat, and Penduran is hitting a large raw
Speaker 1: hired drum with a wooden club. Honestly, it looks like
Speaker 1: they're playing dresser. It doesn't help that Penduring can be
Speaker 1: seen wearing a black hoodie under his shamanic rogue. Either way,
Speaker 1: the pair took shamanism very seriously on the outside, and
Speaker 1: they made money out of it. They put in a
Speaker 1: lot of effort to form their shamanic brand. For example,
Speaker 1: Penduran's now defunct YouTube channel under his pseudonym Magua Flores
Speaker 1: has a well produced ten minute long video where he
Speaker 1: performs a ritual with a more traditional shaman. It has
Speaker 1: over ten thousand the views. The only other public release
Speaker 1: on the channel is a very weird cringe music video,
Speaker 1: which admittedly shows the popularity of the couple. Many different
Speaker 1: scenes play out with dozens and dozens of people, all
Speaker 1: of them Western in appearance, attending tea Grub and Penduran's
Speaker 1: shamanic rituals. On there now abandoned Instagram account, they have
Speaker 1: a photo in a recording studio with Nikita Jigorda. He
Speaker 1: is also in the music video Jigorda sixty two is
Speaker 1: a Ukrainian born actor and singer. He stays in Russia,
Speaker 1: where he's famous. Jagorda is pro Putin and has publicly
Speaker 1: celebrated the Russian invasion of Ukraine with particularly bare faced bloodluss.
Speaker 1: There are even videos on his Instagram account where he's
Speaker 1: in Zaparija in Ukraine with Russian forces. He's cheering them
Speaker 1: on to his three hundred and forty thousand followers. He's
Speaker 1: dressed in full military fatigues and he's throwing his hands
Speaker 1: up in the air with joy as mortars are fired
Speaker 1: off with the aim of striking Ukrainian forces who are
Speaker 1: defending their lands. In the caption, he condemns Ukraine and
Speaker 1: he says that he's been performing occult rituals on the
Speaker 1: front line to help the occupying Russian forces. Weird. Needless
Speaker 1: to say, the self proclaimed shaman's tea grub and pinduring
Speaker 1: have been operating in some strange circles in Russia for
Speaker 1: years now. They've also been offering their services to anyone
Speaker 1: who can afford it. In twenty twenty two, Alexander Sebotchin
Speaker 1: took part in these services in the midst of a
Speaker 1: one on one ceremony in the basement of the shaman's home,
Speaker 1: presumably with incense in the air, several burning candles and
Speaker 1: abided hat placed on his head, he had toad venoma
Speaker 1: put into his bloodstream via an incision made into his skin.
Speaker 1: This was administered by tea grub and pinduring. Alexander Subotchin
Speaker 1: then had a heart attack. The shamans tried to treat
Speaker 1: him with valerian a herb Tabatchin soon died of cardiac arrest.
Speaker 1: Whilst the full autopsy isn't public, it's presumed that the
Speaker 1: toad venom is what caused the heart attack. According to
Speaker 1: the National Capital Poison Center and organization dedicated to preventing poisonings,
Speaker 1: some of the toxins in toad venom, such as digoxin, tryptomines,
Speaker 1: and tetro detoxin, can cause irregular heart rhythms, dizziness, paralysis,
Speaker 1: and heart attack. This is what the two shamans injected
Speaker 1: into the skin of Alexander Subotchin to try and treat
Speaker 1: his alcohol problems after he'd been on a long bender
Speaker 1: of drinking alcohol. I spoke to scientists and researcher Jovanna
Speaker 1: Maxich about the kind of shamanism Tea Group and Penduring
Speaker 1: were involved in. She has knowledge on these kinds of
Speaker 1: practices with an anthropological background in similar communities.
Speaker 2: From what I gathered, their type of shamanism seems to
Speaker 2: be kind of a syncretic mix of already existing traditions.
Speaker 2: But weirdly, there were not any kind of indigenous or
Speaker 2: Slavic practices that you would find in Russia today. There
Speaker 2: were actually a mixture of Afro Caribbean and South American practices. So,
Speaker 2: for example, the specific toad venom ritual comes from the Amazon.
Speaker 2: So these people have seemed to really use these mostly
Speaker 2: South American traditions in their shamanic practices. Shaman Magua Flores
Speaker 2: his real name being alexey Pin Durin and his wife
Speaker 2: Tina Cordova or Christina Taikrib. It seems like these people
Speaker 2: have been running the kind of open house specifically for rich,
Speaker 2: wealthy Moscow vites to come and sort of indulge in
Speaker 2: these black magic rituals and drugs. According to a famous
Speaker 2: makeup artist who actually got involved in a very negative
Speaker 2: way with the shamanic cup, well, she said that in
Speaker 2: their house they have a basement where they practice black
Speaker 2: magic rituals and here they keep animal blood, live animals
Speaker 2: that they kill and then use for different sorts of rituals,
Speaker 2: but also enough psychotropic substances and drugs to send somebody
Speaker 2: to prison for twenty years.
Speaker 1: Remember at the start when I said this case sounds
Speaker 1: like a bad Hollywood movie, Well, this is where the
Speaker 1: black magic comes in. Whilst it might sound over the
Speaker 1: top or how to believe, for some occultism has been
Speaker 1: making a steady revival all across the world for the
Speaker 1: last decade. Even the practice of so called black magic,
Speaker 1: often linked to left hand path occultism. In fact, in
Speaker 1: Russia in twenty twenty one, a couple who believed heavily
Speaker 1: in the occult were arrested and charged for committing several
Speaker 1: human sacrifices. Real ones Olga Bolshakhova and Andre true Jabenko
Speaker 1: stabbed several people to death in the forest as part
Speaker 1: of their twisted beliefs. The murders occurred in twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: but were kept hidden for five years. It's believed many
Speaker 1: other people were involved in the couple's occult group, currently
Speaker 1: there awaiting trial. So whilst this story about the neo
Speaker 1: shaman's Taikarub and Penduring having a basement for black magic
Speaker 1: might sound absolutely mental, it's actually quite plausible. Remember the
Speaker 1: two were pictured with that actor Nikita Jagorda, who openly
Speaker 1: talks about performing occult rituals. He also has a black
Speaker 1: son tattoo on his right elbow. The black son symbolizes
Speaker 1: esoteric fascism and dark occultism. Anyway, let's hear what else
Speaker 1: Yovanna Maxich had to say.
Speaker 2: So this seems to be kind of like more running institutions,
Speaker 2: so to say, for the elites coming there to treat
Speaker 2: their ailments. But very interestingly, this case with the makeup
Speaker 2: artist is actually really strange because it seems like this
Speaker 2: shamanic couple organizes some kind of retreat where they invite
Speaker 2: people to come, and this retreat kind of went badly
Speaker 2: for this person. So essentially what happened is this makeup
Speaker 2: artist was flown over to Mexico to go on a
Speaker 2: retreat with this weird couple and the idea is that
Speaker 2: they would go there and somehow help with spiritual healing, ailments,
Speaker 2: you name it. And what happened, according to her report,
Speaker 2: is that already in the first couple of days, the
Speaker 2: couple started getting drunk on tequila and brought all of
Speaker 2: these like real shamans from Peru and Mexico and started
Speaker 2: being kind of aggressive and violent towards this makeup artist.
Speaker 2: One of the main reasons why they wanted to go
Speaker 2: there is so that they could do this ritual that
Speaker 2: actually involves toad venom. So that's something that you know,
Speaker 2: was the acclaimed cause of the death of Alexander Subuchin.
Speaker 2: But this ritual called cambo is actually comprised of making
Speaker 2: incisions or burns on a person in and then adding
Speaker 2: this toad venom, which kind of like creates convulsions, vomiting,
Speaker 2: and after that you feel kind of like spiritual enlightenment
Speaker 2: or healing if you survive. If you survive, yeah, because
Speaker 2: people have died actually by you know, the wrong use
Speaker 2: or just irresponsible use of this cumbo ritual. But what
Speaker 2: happened to this person is she noticed that, Okay, things
Speaker 2: are dodgy, this is weird. They're becoming really aggressive and drunk.
Speaker 2: So she called her husband and she tried to leave
Speaker 2: the retreat, but when she tried to do that, the
Speaker 2: couple allegedly beat her up, and then when she wanted
Speaker 2: to go to the police and report what happened, the
Speaker 2: couple basically like blackmailed her and claimed that they're going
Speaker 2: to kill her with different drugs and chemicals, and also
Speaker 2: that they have many enemies that they know how to
Speaker 2: eliminate very easily. So nothing really happened in this case,
Speaker 2: but it's out there and it's been documented.
Speaker 1: They're probably making quite a bit of money, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: Subbortching himself was an out and out billionaire, an oil barren. Essentially,
Speaker 1: they must be making quite a lot of money to
Speaker 1: be in these circles.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. I mean, I'm certain, and also from the
Speaker 2: reports that exist, it sounds like a lot of different
Speaker 2: very vip and wealthy people were mingling in this house
Speaker 2: and coming in buying, so it must be making bang right.
Speaker 1: So on one hand, I'm thinking, well, this might actually
Speaker 1: just be a coincidence. It's a case of misadventure. For
Speaker 1: some reason, this Russian billionaire went to this weird dodgy ritual. Yes,
Speaker 1: his company has ties to the Kremlin, but maybe this
Speaker 1: one was a coincidence. Why would they kill him with
Speaker 1: frog venom? But there is a history right in Russia
Speaker 1: of people being knocked off, assassinated with strange poison, strange concoctions.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, This is actually a famous phenomenon called the
Speaker 2: Liternoe or like literno assassinations. So as we know, in
Speaker 2: the Putin era we've seen a lot of these strange
Speaker 2: poisonings and murders of different political opponents and writers. But
Speaker 2: in Stalinist Russia, these types of killings were specifically framed
Speaker 2: as Liternoi killings, and they were secret, disguised liquidations that
Speaker 2: were often staged to be natural deaths or suicides. So
Speaker 2: the NTVD, which was the Soviet Union's Interior Ministry. They're
Speaker 2: the factor Walter Kivitski who killed many for Stalin and
Speaker 2: then was himself in a fake suicide. He said that
Speaker 2: any fool could murder someone, but it takes a true
Speaker 2: artist to stage a natural death from disease or suicide.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think it's a stretch, particularly if we
Speaker 1: look at, for example, Alexander Livignenko was poisoned for essentially
Speaker 1: wearing that book blowing up Russia, various people infected with
Speaker 1: polonium put into their tea. I don't think it's a
Speaker 1: stretch personally to think. Yeah, perhaps Putin has tried to
Speaker 1: carry that.
Speaker 2: On, Yeah, totally. But really for this shaman case, I'm
Speaker 2: really not sure what to think. There's so many weird coincidences,
Speaker 2: but it does look pretty possible as well, because there's
Speaker 2: already documented cases of people dying specifically from this. But
Speaker 2: then the question is did someone manipulate the ritual? Did
Speaker 2: someone know exactly what kind of venom to use? Because
Speaker 2: if you use the vendom of a different frog, you
Speaker 2: can kill people much easily. So if you just tweak
Speaker 2: certain elements in there, or just you know, slide another
Speaker 2: drug to this, person it's easy to kill, But then
Speaker 2: why would they kill him? That's the question.
Speaker 1: That is the question. If Alexander Subochin was killed and
Speaker 1: this wasn't just some weird shamanic accident, who killed him
Speaker 1: and why is there an obvious motive. For most of
Speaker 1: his life, Alexander Sebochin managed to keep his name out
Speaker 1: of the media. He enjoyed his privacy. Not much is
Speaker 1: known about his early career, but after completing his PhD
Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine, Subochin joined multinational energy u
Speaker 1: corporation Louke Oil. His brother also worked there. By the
Speaker 1: time of Alexander Sebotchin's death in twenty twenty two, he
Speaker 1: was a member of the board. That's a prestigious position
Speaker 1: to have considering how much money the company makes. Luke Oil,
Speaker 1: which is headquartered in Moscow, produces more than two percent
Speaker 1: of all the world's oil and around one percent of
Speaker 1: proved hydrocarbon reserves. They refine more than a million barrels
Speaker 1: of oil a day and employ over one hundred thousand people.
Speaker 1: This is a massive operation that's been going since nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety one. A Russian corporation with this much clout naturally
Speaker 1: has links to the Russian government. One of the more
Speaker 1: direct links, perhaps is Russian oligarch vejet Alekparov. Elekporov, who's
Speaker 1: of Aziri descent, was the president of Luke Oil from
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three to twenty twenty two. He's worth an
Speaker 1: estimated nineteen billion US dollars and is believed to be
Speaker 1: the fifth richest man in Russia. Now. As I mentioned
Speaker 1: in episode one, some of the rich dead Russian businessmen
Speaker 1: in this series are not necessarily oligach oligaks. Elektorov, however,
Speaker 1: is one hundred percent an oligach oligach. He's in the
Speaker 1: top one hundred of the richest people on Earth and
Speaker 1: had a twenty eight point three percent stake of Lukoyl
Speaker 1: as of twenty twenty two. What's more, his friends with
Speaker 1: Putin and was sanctioned by Britain when Russia invaded Ukraine
Speaker 1: in February last year. In a statement from the British
Speaker 1: government's official sanctions list, they said, quote through his directorship
Speaker 1: of Lukoyl, Elekorov continues to obtain a benefit from and
Speaker 1: or continues to support the government of Russia by working
Speaker 1: as a director, trustee or equivalent of entities carrying on
Speaker 1: business in sectors of strategic significance to the Government of Russia,
Speaker 1: namely the Russian energy sector. Endsco Archived copies of Lukoyl's
Speaker 1: tax payments to the Kremlin seen by journalist Rob Davies
Speaker 1: show that the company contributed more than six billion dollars
Speaker 1: to the Kremlin in twenty twenty alone. Tax documents after
Speaker 1: that are not available. In April twenty twenty two, Alekporov
Speaker 1: stepped down as the president of Loakoil due to the
Speaker 1: sanctions issues. Before this, there had already been trouble after
Speaker 1: Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Lakoyl's London listed shares lost roughly
Speaker 1: ninety nine percent of their value. That's a hell of
Speaker 1: a lot of money. War at that time was definitely
Speaker 1: not good for business for Lakoil, so much so that
Speaker 1: they broke ranks with Putin after more than twenty years.
Speaker 1: Board of directors of Lukoil, which Alexander Subotchin was part of,
Speaker 1: released a public statement on March third, twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine just one week after it started.
Speaker 1: For Putin, that must have been a slap in the face.
Speaker 1: Subochin was still alive at this time and would have
Speaker 1: been involved in the statement. The board said the following quote.
Speaker 1: The Board of Directors of Lukoil expresses its deepest concerns
Speaker 1: about the tragic events in Ukraine, calling for the soonest
Speaker 1: termination of the armed conflict. We express our sincere empathy
Speaker 1: for all victims who are affected by this tragedy. We
Speaker 1: strongly support a lasting ceasefire and a settlement of problems
Speaker 1: through serious negotiations and diplomacy. The company may makes every
Speaker 1: effort to continue its operations in all countries and regions
Speaker 1: where it is present, Committed to its primary mission of
Speaker 1: a reliable supplier of energy to consumers around the world.
Speaker 1: In its activities, Lukoil aspires to contribute to peace, international
Speaker 1: relations and humanitarian ties. End quote. Now, Honestly, I doubt
Speaker 1: the Board of Directors of Lucoyl care at all about Ukraine, really,
Speaker 1: but they clearly do care about the company's profit margins.
Speaker 1: The war began to seriously disrupt that at the time
Speaker 1: of their statement. However, more than a year after the invasion,
Speaker 1: Lucoil has managed to weather the storm. As reported by
Speaker 1: journalist Victor Jack, Lucoil is still actually operating hundreds of
Speaker 1: gas stations and oil refineries in the EU. This made
Speaker 1: them a net profit of eight billion dollars within the
Speaker 1: first nine months of twenty twenty two, when Russia was,
Speaker 1: of course actively trying to destroy Ukraine. That's more than
Speaker 1: double the amount from the same time period in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one. So Lukoil actually made more money as the
Speaker 1: war went on, partially facilitated by their work in the EU.
Speaker 1: This money was of course shared with the Kremlin via taxes,
Speaker 1: and no doubt helped them to manufacture and purchase new
Speaker 1: weapons for their continued attacks on Ukraine. Either way, despite
Speaker 1: securing the bag later on in the year, Lukoil went
Speaker 1: against Putin publicly as the whole world had its eyes
Speaker 1: on Russia and Ukraine. Even as a powerful billionaire in Russia,
Speaker 1: it's not wise to go against the Kremlin for me.
Speaker 1: After looking at all of this information, this leaves two
Speaker 1: possible theories regarding the death of Alexander Subotchin. First theory,
Speaker 1: he was a very rich alcoholic who, like many Russian elites,
Speaker 1: decided to enlist the help of the Neo Shamans to
Speaker 1: kick his habit. And get sober in the process, a
Speaker 1: dodgy ritual with frog venom ended his life by accident,
Speaker 1: essentially death by misadventure, and two grifters who messed up
Speaker 1: the concoctions. The timing of the death, Subotchin's position at
Speaker 1: luk Oil, and their very public defiance to Putin is
Speaker 1: all just a coincidence. As they say, sometimes a cigar
Speaker 1: is just a cigar. Second theory, Alexander Sebochin was on
Speaker 1: the board of Lukoil when they released a statement against
Speaker 1: Putin's war on Ukraine. Maybe he was instrumental in that statement.
Speaker 1: Perhaps Putin wanted him gone because of this, it'd be
Speaker 1: easy for Putin's people to gather in f mation on Subotchin.
Speaker 1: Maybe they waited for a few months, heard about the
Speaker 1: shamanic ritual, and decided now was the time. Maybe they
Speaker 1: had the frog venom swapped for something more potent, or
Speaker 1: maybe the shamans were in their pocket and they told
Speaker 1: them to simply up the dose. Now, personally, I was
Speaker 1: a lot more inclined to believe the first theory. Misadventures
Speaker 1: seemed more likely then. As me and Sergey continued our research,
Speaker 1: we saw that another board member of Lukeoyle died just
Speaker 1: four months after Alexander Subotchin. His name was Ravil Maganov.
Speaker 1: He was the sixty seven year old chairman of Lukoyle.
Speaker 1: In September twenty twenty two, he fell out of a
Speaker 1: window at a hospital in Moscow. In a public statement,
Speaker 1: Lukoyle simply said that Maganov passed away of quote a
Speaker 1: severe ill, with no mention about the four We'll be
Speaker 1: looking into the death of Maganov later on in this series,
Speaker 1: but I think at the very least it makes Alexander
Speaker 1: Subotchin's death a bit more suspicious. Sad Oliger is a
Speaker 1: H eleven production for cool Zone Media and iHeartRadio, hosted, produced, researched,
Speaker 1: and edited by me Jake Hanrahan and Sergei Slipchenkok co
Speaker 1: produced by Sophie Lichtmin. Music by Sam Black, artwork by
Speaker 1: Adam mcdoyle, sound mix by Splicing Block. Go to Jakeanrahan
Speaker 1: dot com for more information.