Natalia Bochkareva was found dead in her Moscow apartment on Tuesday (Picture: @natasha.bochkareva.37/CEN)
The glamorous Russian daughter of an ally of Vladimir Putin was found dead in her apartment after reportedly saying she felt unwell.
Natalia Bochkareva was discovered after the concierge in her building, in Presnensky District, Moscow, raised the alarm.
Police officers forced the door open on Tuesday before coming across her body.
The concierge said the 44-year-old had reported feeling unwell the day before.
According to preliminary reports, there were no signs of a violent death.
Her death is the latest in a long line of high-profile Russian figures to suddenly die in mysterious circumstances.
Ms Bochkareva was the daughter of the late Vasily Bochkarev, who governed Penza Oblast from 1998 to 2015.
Ms Bochkareva was the daughter of the late Vasily Bochkarev, an ally of Putin (@natasha.bochkareva.37/CEN)
After her father died she managed the family’s lumber-processing and bakery business (Picture: @natasha.bochkareva.37/CEN)
A year after leaving office, the 67-year-old, who belonged to Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, died from lung cancer.
Ms Bochkareva managed the family’s lumber-processing and bakery businesses after her father’s death.
Two years ago she hit headlines for falling for scam. It’s reported she sent a self-styled fortune teller 16 million rubles (£136,000) to remove a curse.
But after receiving the money, the fortune teller broke off all contact with Natalia and, according to Ms Bochkareva, failed to fulfil her part of the agreement.
The police ended up getting involved.
Ms Bochkareva hit headlines two years ago after being hit by a scam (Picture: @natasha.bochkareva.37/CEN)
According to some reports, Natalia suffered from heart problems.
Other recent deaths of Russia’s elite include that of 28-year-old Kristina Baikova in June.
Ms Baikova, a vice-president at Loko-Bank, allegedly fell from her 11th floor apartment in Moscow.
In February Russian defence official Marina Yankina, 58, also fell from an apartment window and died.
As head of the financial support department of the Ministry of Defence, Ms Yankina was a key figure in the funding of the war.
Her death was reported as a suspected suicide – although this is common in Russia before any investigation is carried out or when facts are unclear.
Bank executive Kristina Baikova, 28, died in June after allegedly falling out of her Moscow apartment window (Picture: Twitter)
Russian defence official Marina Yankina also fell from an apartment and died (Picture: 78.ru/east2west news)
In May meanwhile, Russia’s deputy science minister, Pyotr Kucherenko, thought to be a critic of the war, died suddenly after falling ill on a flight back to Moscow after a work trip in Cuba, the Mail Online reports.
In April, Igor Shkurko, the deputy general director of Russian energy company Yakutskenergo, was found dead in his prison cell
The 49-year-old was a member of the pro-Putin United Russia political party but his membership was suspended following the bribe accusation.
Two months earlier, Russian oil boss Viatcheslav Rovneiko, 59, was ‘found unconscious’ late at night at his home.
Doctors were unable to save him, a report in Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper claimed.
On December 26, Pavel Antonov – a wealthy sausage tycoon, local politician and a Putin critic – died in India after falling out of a hotel window.
His friend Vladimir Bidenov was found dead in the same hotel four days earlier.
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The day before her body was found the 44-year-old reportedly said she felt unwell.
