Terror in the Kremlin as Putin ‘purge’ claims third victim inside one week

A wealthy politician from the pro-Putin United Russia party has been found hanging from a tree in the latest suspicious killing involving the country’s ruling classes. Kremlin elites have watched on in terror as a series of top officials and businessmen have died in mysterious circumstances over the past few months.

The latest to join the growing list of deceased is Vitaly Kapustin, a construction boss and local MP from Russia‘s Kuban region. The 43-year-old was found hanging from a tree 20ft up and with his hands reportedly tied behind his back. Police were called to the scene after his body was spotted from the highway by a passerby.

One eyewitness told the local media outlet Krasnodar Online: “I saw how high it was. As far as I could tell, his hands seemed to be bound behind him. A person couldn’t climb up there easily — the trees are very tall, like in any grove.”

Kapustin was the head of a construction company and a member of the Tikhoretsky District council, representing the ruling United Russia party.

Investigators said his death did not “appear to be criminal in nature”, while local authorities remained silent.

As a district politician, he chaired various commissions, including one on agriculture and land management.

Social media users said he was a well-known figure and that this his mother runs a snail farm.

His death comes hot on the heels of two others in the past seven days, amid fears that Putin is instigating a ruthless and bloody purge of corrupt members of the ruling elite.

Kremlin insiders and analysts believe Putin is on a personal mission to drum up funds to help finance his war in Ukraine.

Long tolerant of corruption, they fear the Kremlin leader is now targeting those he suspects have lined their pockets at the expense of his war effort.

Transport boss, Alexander Fedotov, 49, was found dead at a five star hotel in Moscow, after allegedly falling from a high floor.

His death came just one day after the body of a multi-millionaire ex-customs chief was found in a toilet after fleeing a court case. Boris Avakyan’s corpse was found with “slit wrists” inside the Armenian consulate in St Petersburg.