French newspaper raises questions over Lesin's death
Recently deceased Mikhail Lesin, former mass media adviser to the Russian President and former head of Gazprom-Media, could also have been the “main formal liaison” between Russian authorities and the United States. French newspaper Le Figaro quoted a source close to US intelligence in their report that offers to carefully study Lesin’s apparent assassination.
Lesin was one of the richest men in Russia. Le Figaro’s source said that he could have filled the role of “informal liaison” under former president Yeltsin, as well as Putin.
Lesin was forced to resign as head of Gazprom-Media at the beginning of last year. Shortly before this, as reported by Russian media, Lesin had a major dispute with Yury Kovalchuk, one of the main shareholders of Gazprom and an old friend of Vladimir Putin. "As some have suggested, Lesin could have made a decision to move to America to escape the further escalation of this conflict,” the media said.
In 2014, US Senator Roger Wicker asked law enforcement authorities to verify reports concerning Lesin. Le Figaro reported that "In his report, the senator stressed the existence of close relations between Lesin and many Russian figures closest to Putin who fell under the sanctions. The FBI has opened an investigation.”
"Did Lesin go to Washington to negotiate with the US counter-intelligence before dying in highly mysterious and strange circumstances? Did he begin negotiations to provide potentially explosive information about the secrets of the Russian authorities? Did he represent the interests of a group of "conspirators" seeking Washington's support?"
The French newspaper posits that if Lesin was indeed "a key channel of information” then the “puzzle suddenly begins to take shape." The article also mentions that American political scientist Karen Davis told The New York Times that Lesin "knew the majority of the shadow part of the system.”
Mikhail Lesin’s body was found on November 5, 2015. At first, his relatives said that the cause of his death was a heart attack. In March 2016 it became known that forensic experts in the United States came to the conclusion that Lesin had died due to "blunt-force head injuries." At the same time, statements from the medical examiner’s office and Washington police said that the nature of death was not yet established. The police are still investigating.