Body ‘of missing Putin oligarch’ found in gorge on UK-controlled territory in Cyprus… days after death of ‘defector spy’

A BODY thought to be a missing Putin oligarch has been found in Brit-controlled territory in Cyprus. An autopsy by a UK coroner is reportedly taking place today on the “decomposed” remains suspected to be 53-year-old multimillionaire Vladislav Baumgertner. The oligarch has been missing more than a week, with his family terrified that the he’d been killed. Relatives challenged widespread reports, thought to come from Russia, that Baumgertner had gone rock climbing before he vanished. They said he had left his luxury home in Limassol for a business meeting when he went misisng, with nothing but his work phone. Telegram reports claimed the corpse found was “badly mutilated and has undergone decomposition”. The body was found after relatives “hired professional climbers” to scour the area around the oligarch’s last phone signal, channel VChK-OGPU said. The family said Baumgertner had no interest in mountaineering and had not planned any outdoor activity on the day he disappeared. It comes two days after reports emerged that a Russian diplomat found dead in Cyprus was a GRU spy who wanted to defect. Aleksei Panov, 41, who reportedly worked as a captain Putin’s notorious GRU, was found hanged in the Nicosia Russian embassy on January 8. Most read in The US Sun Panov was found dead the day after Baumgertner went missing, sparking rumours of a of a Hollywood thriller-style plot on the island. The two incidents come at a time of heightened tensions between Nicosia and the Kremlin. Cypriot officials claim they have been the victim of an organised hybrid attack by Russia after the release of a video purportedly showing government corruption.

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