Holder 1

From: WayneAllensworth<swallen@1scom.
net>
Senttime: 03/11/201603:33:49PM
To: WayneandStacyAllensworth<swallen@1scom.net>
Subject: InternetNotes11March2016
Attachments: IN11March16.docx
InternetNotes11March2016
Putinholdsanightmeetingontheeconomy(EconomicDevelopmentMinistryvsFinanceonanti-crisisspendingThe
FSOtracksthepublicmood)
Lesinsdeathduetobluntforcetrauma
Lesinsdeath(Thislooksfishy)
MoreonthedeathofLesin
Kashinontheattackonjournalists,rightsactivistsinIngushetia
KashinonaRussiawithnonewsandwhatthatmeans
AdeclarationfromStrelkovs25JanuaryCommittee(ThecrisisandRussiasfate)
Putinholdsanightmeetingontheeconomy(EconomicDevelopmentMinistryvsFinanceonanti-crisisspendingThe
FSOtracksthepublicmood)
http://newsru.com/finance/11mar2016/midnightmeet.html
PeskovtoldreportersthatPutinmetwiththegovernmentseconomicblocklastnighttodiscusstheeconomicsituation.Among
thoseattendingthemeetingwereMedvedev,FirstVicePremierIgorShuvalov,PresidentialAideAndreyBelousov,Finance
MinisterAntonSiluanov,EconomicDevelopmentMinisterAlekseyUlyukayev,theAuditChambersTatayanaGolikova,and
ElviraNabiullinaoftheCentralBankMedvedevreportedlysignedananti-crisisplanon29FebruaryUlyukayevhascalledfor
spendingR880billioninsupportfortheeconomythisyear,whichhasupsettheFinanceMinistry,whichwantstocutanti-crisis
spending.TheMinFinthinksthatthereisonlyR120billionavailableforanti-crisisspendingtherestofthemoneywouldhaveto
comefromreservesorbyamendingthebudgetMeanwhile,massmediahasnotedthattheFSOistrackingthepublicmood,
especiallyinthecountryspoorestregionsaworkinggroupissaidtoorganizingmoresubsidiesforthoseregionsandcreating
newjobs
Comment:RegardingtheFSOtrackingthepopulationsmoodwesawthison25February:[FSOreportontheunbearable
conditionofMono-cities
http://www.rbc.ru/economics/24/02/2016/56cdf4bc9a7947bd73611f5c?utm
RBCclaimsthataclosedFSOpollshowsthatnearly60%ofmono-city(Comment:Citiesthatdependononemajorenterpriseforsurvival)
residentsconsidertheirsocial-economicconditionasunbearableorhardtobearThepollwastakeninover200populationcenterswithmore
than55,000respondentswhoansweredthequestionWhatinyourview,isthecurrentsocial-economicsituationinyourcity?3.9%saidthe
situationwasfavorable,while31.3%answeredtolerable42.4%repliedhardtobearand17.4%saidunbearableAsourceinthe
governmentvouchedfortheauthenticityofthepollEarlier,IrinaMakiyeva,whoisco-chairatVEBandheadsagovernmentworkinggroupon
modernizingthemono-cities,saidthatthegroupdependsonFSOpolls.14millionRussianslivein319mono-cities.LastJune,Medvedevsaidthat
only71ofthosecouldbeconsideredstable.EconomicDevelopmentMinisterAlekseyUlyukayevhassaidthatsince2014,thenumberofmono-
citiesthatareinastateofcrisishasincreasedfrom75to94]
Lesinsdeathduetobluntforcetrauma
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/former-aide-to-russian-president-died-of-blunt-force-trauma-to-head-
medical-examiner/2016/03/10/8a61dc16-e702-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html
AformeraidetoRussianPresidentVladimirPutinwhowasfounddeadinaDupontCirclehotelroomin
Novemberdiedofbluntforcetraumatothehead,theD.C.medicalexaminersofficesaidThursday.
MikhailLesin,59,alsosufferedinjuriestohisneck,torsoandupperandlowerextremities,themedical
examinersaidinastatement.Themedicalexaminerhadnotconcludedwhethertheinjuriesweretheresultof
acrime,anaccidentorsomeothermeans.
DustinSternbeck,theD.C.policedepartmentschiefspokesman,saidthecaseremainsunderinvestigation.He
wouldnotsaywhetherthemedicalexaminersrulingmeansacrimemayhavebeencommitted.Werenot
willingtocloseoffanythingatthispoint,Sternbecksaid.
RussianofficialscomplainedThursdaythattheUnitedStateswasnotkeepingtheminformedaboutthe
investigation.
TheRussianEmbassyintheUnitedStateshasrepeatedlysentarequestthroughdiplomaticchannelsabout
theinvestigationintothedeathofaRussiancitizen,saidRussianForeignMinistryspokeswomanMaria
Zakharova,inapostonFacebook.TheU.S.sidehasnotprovideduswithanysubstantiveinformation.Weare
waitingforclarificationfromWashingtonandtherelevantofficialdetailsontheprogressoftheinvestigation.
LesinsbodywasfoundbeforenoonNov.5inaroomattheDupontCircleHotel,inthe1500blockofNew
HampshireAvenueNW.
AuthoritiesonThursdayreleasednootherinformationaboutthemysteriousdeathofLesin,aprominent
politicalfigurewhoonceservedasapressministerandanexecutiveofGazpromMedia,aholdingcompanythat
controlsseveralpopulartelevisionchannelsandothermediaoutlets.ItwasunclearwhyLesinwasin
Washington.
Citinghislong-termillnesses,familymemberstoldRussiannewsmediainNovemberthattheythoughtLesin
hadsufferedaheartattack.
Comment:Lesinsdeathwasinitiallyreportedinthe6November2015notes.By9November,wesawstoriesonhow
fishythecircumstancesofLesinsdeathappeared:
[Lesinsdeath(Thislooksfishy)
Seethe6Novembernotes
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d11b034a-8635-11e5-9f8c-a8d619fa707c.html#axzz3qyffIf7v
ThedeathinWashingtonofoneofthearchitectsofthemediamachineinVladimirPutinsRussiatriggeredspeculationandconspiracytheoriesin
Moscowattheweekend.
MikhailLesin,formerpressministerandheadofGazpromMedia,theholdingthatownsmanyformerlyindependentRussianmediaoutlets,was
founddeadintheDupontCirclehotelinWashingtonlatelastweek.Policesaidanautopsywasbeingconductedandthecauseofdeathwouldbe
determinedonlyafterthathadbeencompleted.
TheRussianembassy,whichsentanofficialtotheUScapitaltoidentifyMrLesin,saidtheex-ministerhaddiedofaheartattack,aversionechoed
byRT,thestatenewsoutletMrLesinwasinvolvedinestablishing,andstatementsfromhisfamilycarriedinRussianstatemedia.
ButRussiangovernmentcriticsonSundayquestionedthisversionofevents.InaFacebookpost,AlfredKokh,aformerRussianprimeminister
(?????)whoheldtheGazpromMediapostmorethanadecadebeforeMrLesin,describedtheembassysstatementasastrangeflightoffantasy.
ReferringtoapotentialUSjusticedepartmentandFBIinvestigationintoMrLesininconnectionwithcorruptionallegations,hesaid:Whydo
[they]wantsomuchtomakeeverybodybelievethatitwasaheartattack?MaybetheywereafraidthatLesintellstheFBIaboutsomethingin
exchangeforthemendingtheinvestigation?
InJulylastyear,RogerWicker,asenatorfromMississippi,requestedthatthejusticedepartmentinvestigatewhetherMrLesinhadviolatedthe
ForeignCorruptPracticesActandanti-money-launderingstatutesandsuggestedhemighthavebusinesstieswithpeoplesubjecttoUSsanctions.
HeclaimedMrLesinhadboughthomesworthatotalof$28minLosAngelesandmovedhisimmediatefamilythere.
MrWickersrequestwasreferredtothejusticedepartmentandtheFBI,whichwereconsideringit.MrLesinsdeathmeanstheissueisnowclosed.
TheFBIwasnotifiedofMrLesinsdeathbutwasnotassistinginthematter,whichwasbeingtreatedbylocalpoliceasadeathinvestigation.
AnothercommentatorwhopostedunderthenameWolfsaidonVKontakte,aRussiansocialmediasite:Heisnotthefirstone,andhewillnotbe
thelast.WehavehadsomanyfamousRussiansmurderedabroadthatwheneversomeprominentcompatriotdiesoutsidethemotherland,youhave
toassumethattheywillfindpoison.
Aged57,MrLesinwasoneofthehighest-profileamongtheaideswhohelpedMrPutinrebuildRussiaintoamorestate-centricandauthoritarian
polity.
VsevolodBogdanov,headoftheRussianUnionofJournalists,calledMrLesinRussiasmostenergeticministerRussiainthepast20years.He
wascommittedtonotonlytheinterestsofthemediaindustrybutalsotheinterestsoftheauthorities,hesaid.
MrPutinsspokesmansaidthepresidenthighlyappreciatedtheenormouscontributionMrLesinhadmadetotheformationofthemodern
Russianmedia.
Anengineerbytraining,MrLesinco-foundedVideoInternational,oneofRussiasleadingadvertisingagencies,in1990,andwentontomanagerial
positionsinstateTVunderpresidentBorisYeltsin.
Asmediaministerbetween1999and2004,heplayedaroleintamingprivatetelevisionthroughthetakeoverofNTV,Russiasfirstindependent
newschannel,thenownedbyYeltsin-eraoligarchVladimirGusinsky.Until2009MrLesinservedasMrPutinsadviser,helpingbuildupRT,an
English-languageTVnetworkthataimstoenhanceRussiansoftpowerbycounteringwesternnewsnarratives.
Inlate2013,hewasappointedheadofGazpromMedia.Butheresignedfromthatpostattheendof2014.MrLesincitedprivatereasonsbuthis
resignationfollowedanargumentwithAlekseiVenediktov,editor-in-chiefofliberalradiostationEchoofMoscow,overajournalistMrLesinhad
demandedbefired.
TwoseniorjournalistsatGazpromMedia-ownedoutletssaidMrLesinhadspentmostofhistimesincehisresignationinCaliforniabuthad
remainedclosetoMrPutin.
HerestheoutlineofatheoryinvolvingWicker,mentionedabove:http://www.facebook.com/pchikov/posts/1006737349399709
InJuly,2011,LesinregisteredtheDastelCorporationinCalifornia.In2011-2012,Dastelacquiredthreehomesvaluedat$28million.In2014,
MississippiSenatorRogerWickerrequestedthattheJusticeDepartmentinvestigateLesinformoneylaunderingtheJusticeDepartment
requestedthattheFBIconductaninvestigation.InDecemberoflastyear,LesinresignedastheheadofGazpromMedia,aposthehadheldsince
Octoberof2013(healsoresignedapostasadvisortotheTelevisionIndustrialCommittee).Putinreportedlypersonallyapprovedtheresignation.
LesinwasfounddeadinaWashingtonhotellastweek.ItsreasonabletoassumethatLesinwaspreparedtoagreetocooperatewiththeFBIin
exchangeforlesserchargesinthecaseagainsthimitsprematuretotalkaboutmurder.Maybehehadhealthproblems.Butthewholething
looksfishy.
Inthispost,Kokh(mentionedabove)claimsthatLesincouldhaveheadedaPutinKominternofconnectionsintheWestthatcouldsupport
Kremlininformationpolicy,aformofsoftpower:http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?
story_fbid=1072198709480520&id=100000712037223ThisnetworkwouldbeathreattothesecurityoftheWest,saysKokh.SoLesin,
underinvestigationbytheFBI,isfounddeadinaWashingtonhotelroom.VenediktovsaysLesinhadcancer.Hesupposedlyhadabadback.But
noonementionedheartproblems.MaybesomeonewasafraidofwhathemighttelltheFBIandmaybetheyhadsometeawithhim.]
WegotmoreonLesininthe11November2015notes:

[MoreonthedeathofLesin
Seethe6and9Novembernotes.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/the-mysterious-death-of-the-man-behind-putins-media-
machine/548764.html
ForamanwhoonceshapedRussia'smediasector,remarkablylittleisknownaboutthelastmonthsofMikhailLesin'slife.
Amacho,"hell-for-leatherguy,"whoaspressministerfrom1999-2004broketheholdofoligarchsonRussia'smediaandassertedstatepowerover
theairwaves,LesinwasfounddeadonNov.5inaWashingtonhotel,aged57.AccordingtorelativesquotedbyRussianmedia,hediedofaheart
attack.
Ayearearlier,Lesin'smeteoriccareerhadsuddenlyendedwhenheabruptlyquitasheadofGazpromMedia,oneofthecountry'slargeststate-
ownedmediaconglomerates.
PeoplewhoknewLesindescribedhimasafiercelyambitiousman,withthenickname"bulldozer."AsheadofGazpromMediafrom2013toearly
2015,hegavetheimpressionofsomeonewhofelt"all-powerful,"VladimirPozner,atelevisionjournalistwhohadknownLesinsincetheendofthe
SovietUnion,toldTheMoscowTimes.
Hisbeginningswerelessgrand.InthefinalyearsofCommunistrule,PoznerencounteredLesinwhenhewasbeingemployedtocarrybriefcase-
sizedmobiletelephonesforbusinessmen.
Buthewasdriven.Inthelate1980sheco-foundedanadvertisingcompanyandswiftlybecameamultimillionaire.Onlyafewyearslater,hehelped
mastermindtheslogansofBorisYeltsin'ssuccessful1996runforthepresidency,launchinghisgovernmentandstatemediacareer.
LesinwaspresentatthecreationofRussia'sstate-dominatedmediasector.AspressministerheforcedmediamagnateVladimirGusinskytocede
controloftelevisionstationNTVwhileGusinskysatinajailcell.In2005,hehelpedcreateRussiaToday,nowRT,atelevisionnetworkthat
broadcastsRussia'spointofviewinmultiplelanguagesandaimstoundermineWesternnewsnarratives.Afterward,heservedasanadvisertothe
Kremlin.
ThosemovesshapedRussianmedia.Now,statecontrolledTVbroadcaststhegovernment'sview,andPutin,aftermorethan15yearsinpower,has
anapprovalratingofalmost90percent.
Downfall
MostpeoplecontactedbyTheMoscowTimeswerewaryofcommentingonLesin.Butthosewhoagreedtotalksaidhemayhavepushedtoohard
forpowerwhileatGazpromMedia,alienatingpowerfulcolleaguesandfallingoutwithYuryKovalchuk,acloseassociateofPresidentVladimirPutin
andamajorshareholderinthecompany,fromwhomLesinmayhaveborrowedmoney.
Inlate2014,LesinpickedafightwithAlexeiVenediktov,thelong-servingandwell-connectededitorofliberalradiostationEchoMoskvy,inwhich
GazpromMediahasamajoritystake.Inadisputeoverthefiringofoneofthestation'sjournalists,Lesinwasforcedtobackdown.Seethenotes
from24November,3December,and19December2014.
TheconfrontationmayhavebeentheproximatecauseofLesin'sresignation,whichcameshortlyafterward.WiththebrawlaroundEkho,"itallfell
together,"saidonesourcefamiliarwiththesituation,whodidnotwanttobenamed.
"OneofthemainreasonswasthatheowedhugeamountofmoneytoKovalchuk,whichhesupposedlydidn'tintendtopayback,"thesourcesaid.
Healsounderestimatedhisrivals,saidtwoothersourcesfamiliarwiththematter.TheheadsofthreeofRussia'smajorTVchannelscomplainedto
PresidentPutinthatLesinhadbegunbehavingasifhewastheirboss,ashehadbeenwhilepressminister.
LesinsaidhisexitfromGazpromMediawasforfamilyreasons.
IllnessandInvestigation
TheoutcomeleftLesinoutoftheloop,possiblywithsomepowerfulenemies,andperhapswithoutthesupportofPutin.
Itwasarareerrorforamanwho"madeveryfewmistakes"duringhiscareer,saidPozner.
BythetimeheleftGazpromMedia,Lesin,aheavysmokeranddrinkerformuchofhislife,wasill.Lesinlost30kilogramsafterbreakinghisspinein
anaccidentin2012,MargaritaSimonyan,theeditor-in-chiefofRT,wroteafterhisdeath.Hisbacklaterbecameinfected,forcinghimtoundergoa
seriesof13operationsthatcontinuedlateintothisyear,shesaid.
IntheU.S.,meanwhile,Lesin'swealthwasunderscrutiny.InJuly2014,afewmonthsafterU.S.-RussiarelationsweremarredbyMoscow's
annexationofCrimeafromUkraine,SenatorRogerWickerrequestedaJusticeDepartmentinvestigationintowhetherLesinhadviolated
internationalanti-corruptionandmoney-launderingrules.
WickersaidLesinownedpropertyworth$28millioninLosAngeles,wherehisson,AntonLessine,worksinHollywoodandhasproducedfilms
includingtheBradPittfeature"Fury"and"FadingGigolo,"starringWoodyAllen.Lesin'sdaughteralsolivesintheU.S.,wheresheworksforRT.
ItisunclearwhethertheJusticeDepartmentortheFBIbegantoprobeLesin'saffairs.Bothdepartmentseitherdeclinedtocommentordidnot
respond.ButWicker'srequesthasfedspeculationaboutwhetherLesinwasinWashingtontocutadealwithU.S.authoritiessomesayhewas
killedbyenemiestosilencehimotherssayhisdeathwasfakedaspartofawitnessprotectionschemetokeephimsafe.
PeoplehavealsoquestionedwhyLesin,whowasknowntolivethehighlifeofamultimillionaire,wasstayingatthecomparativelyun-luxurious,
$240-a-nightDupontCircleHotel.
AninvestigationintothedeathbytheWashingtonmetropolitanpolicedepartmentisongoing.
LesinlastyearrepliedtoSenatorWicker'saccusationsoverhiswealth,tellingForbesRussiathatthepropertiesinLosAngelesfoundbyWicker
didnotbelongtohim,buttohischildren.
Hewasworriedforthem,hesaid,adding,"Igotusedlongagotonotbeingloved."]
Onemoreitemfrom13November2015gaveafewmoredetailsontheperiodleadinguptoLesinsdeathinDC:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315994/Vladimir-Putin-s-media-mastermind-dead-DC-hotel-murdered-FBI-informant-
alive-claim-Russians..html
Thedeathfroma'heartattack'ofalongtimecloseallyofVladimirPutininaWashingtonhotelhasledtoaswirlofspeculationthathewas
murderedonMoscow'sordersafterofferingtohelptheFBI.
MikhailLesin,57,wasannouncedlastweekendtohavebeenfounddeadintheUScapital.HewasaSvengalifigureforPutin,whowasallegedto
havemenacedtheRussianmediaintoidolizingthestrongmanpresident.
TheshockdeathhascreatedaneaveofspeculationinMoscowthatitisrelatedtopreviousreportsthathewashelpingtheFBI-andcouldbe
murder.
ThereareevenseparateallegationsthatLesinmaystillbealive,withhisdemisefakedbytheUSauthorities.
Accordingtothisversion,heisbeingkeptsafeaspartofawitnessprotectionscheme,whilespillingtotheFBIallheknowsonPutin'sRussia.
DailyMailOnlinecanrevealthatonlyweeksbeforehisdeathwasannounced,hefatheredachildwithglamorousmodelandflightattendant
VictoriaRakhimbayeva.
Sheisbelievedtobeaged29,withwhomhehadenjoyedacloserelationshipsinceatleastmid-2014.
Shehasnotcommentedonhisdeathotherthantothankfriendsonsocialmediafortheircommiserations,butbeforethetragedyshemadeclear
thattheyintendedtosetuphomepermanentlyinNewYork.
DespiteRussianreportsofaheartattack,policeinDChavesaidnocauseofdeathhasbeendeterminedwhilealsoindicatingtherewasnoobvious
signoffoulplay.
'Arulingonthecauseandmannerofdeathispendingfurtherinvestigation,'saidaSaturdaystatement.
Nicknamedthe'Bulldozer',LesinwasoneofthekeypropsofthePutinpresidency,personallymastermindingawide-rangingmediacrackdown
whichhasleftthevastmajorityofRussianTVstationsandnewspapersobedienttotheKremlin.
HealsosetupRussiaToday,nowRT,seenbycriticsasa'propaganda'channelaimedattheWest.
Butearlierthisyear,afterthebreak-upofhismarriage,andinanewrelationshipwithhisSiberianloverwhohemayhavewed-shereferredtohim
asher'husband'-hesuddenlyquitthelatestofseveralhighprofilepositions,asheadofGazpromMedia,amajorstateownedmediaconglomerate.
ThereareunsubstantiatedclaimsinMoscowthatwhenhediedhewasindebttobillionaireYuryKovalchuk,oneofPutin'sclosestbigbusiness
friends.
'HeowedhugeamountofmoneytoKovalchuk,whichhesupposedlydidn'tintendtopayback,'anunnamedsourcetoldTheMoscowTimes.
HispresenceanddeathinWashingtonshockedmanyRussians.
Lesinwasfounddeadat11:30amonNovember6whilestayingonanupperflooratthe$240-a-nightDupontCircleHotel,seenasmodestforhis
multimillionairelifestyle.
ItisunclearifRakhimbayevawasintheUSwithhimatthetime.
Yetsome16monthsearlier,SenatorRogerWickerhadcalledforaJusticeDepartmentprobeintowhetherLesinwasengagedinmoneylaundering.
ThestatusofanysubsequentFBIinvestigationisunclear,but-rightlyorwrongly-inRussiaitwaswidelybelievedthataprobewasindeedunder
way.
ManyeliteRussianswithlinkstothePutinregimearecurrentlygivingtheUS,andotherpartsoftheWest,awideberthamidfearsofarrest,hence
thesurpriseandbewildermentathimbeinginWashington.
ButtherearealsosuggestionsthatLesinhadtakenadecisiontoleaveRussiaforgoodbeforehisuntimelydeathinAmerica.
ProminentcommentatorSergeyParkhomenkosaidofLesin'sdeath:'Tobehonest,Iwouldn'truleouttheoptionofaprogramforwitness
protection.'
Theone-timeclosePutinapparatchikissaidtohaveownedpropertyworth$28millioninLosAngeles,arumoredfocusofthesupposedFBI
investigation,andtwoadultchildrenwholiveinAmerica.
Lesin'scompanytheDastelCorporationboughta13,000sqftBeverlyHillshomeinAugust2011for$13.8millionanda10,600squarefootproperty
inBrentwoodfor$9millionin2012,itwasreported.
'ForoverayearhewaslivingunderFBIscrutinyandatotalcheckonhisassets,'hesaid.
'ForsomereasonhecametoWashingtonwherehesuddenlydiedbutnotfromnotofsomethinghehadbeensufferingfrom.'
EchoingKokh,hesuggestedLesin'hadsomethingtoswaphisdeathfor'-adding:'Therewasalottoswapitfor.'
Moscowispronetoconspiracytheorieswhenprominentpeoplediebeforetheirtime,butwhileLesinhadanumberofmedicalissues,theywere
notseenaslife-threateningandtherewasgenuineshockamonghisfriendsandthosewhocrossedpathswithhim.
'Lesindied.It'simpossibletobelievethis,'tweetedMargaritaSimonyan,editor-in-chiefofRT.
AlexeyVenediktov,oneofRussia'smostrespectedjournalists,whohaddealings-andclashes-withhim,wroteonline:
'Heleftthecountry.September25hehadababydaughter.ThisSeptember,now,soit'sbeenamonth,amonthandahalf.
'Andhonestly,whenIfoundoutabouthisdeath,myfirstthoughtwasaboutthebaby,tobehonest.It'salsoaboutempathy,because,okay,he's
gonebutthegirlwithababy-howisshe?...
TheheadofRussianmediaregulatorRospechat,MikhailSeslavinsky,saidofLesin:'Isawhimamonthago.
'Hewasfullofenergy,goingthroughanewperiodinhislife,talkingaboutforgottenfeelingsbecauseofhisnewbornlittledaughter'.
Inprivate,Lesin'highlightedhisresponsibilityforallthemembersofhisextendedfamily,lovedallofhisfamily,andwashopingforanharmonious
existenceinaworldnewtohim.'
HespokeofasuccessionofsurgeriesthatLesin-whohadbeenaheavydrinkerandsmoker-hadundergone.Thesewerenotforheartproblems,
butlinkedtohisspine.
'Hewasalwaysafighter,evenaftergoingthroughseveralcomplexsurgeries,Hehadrecovered,wasdoingsports,andlookedabsolutelyhealthy,'
hesaid.
Simonyanrevealedhehadlost66poundsafterbreakinghisspinethreeyearsago,andundergone13operationsafterhisbackbecameinfected.
Afterhisdeathwasannounced,RTsaidwithoutexplanationthatLesin'hadbeensufferingfromaprolongedunidentifiedillness'
Inthemonthsbeforehisdeath,Irkutsk-bornRakhimbayevatraveledonanodysseytosomeofthemostexoticplacesintheworld,accordingtoher
socialmediaaccounts
ItisunclearifLesin-whoshedoesnotname-waswithheratalltimes,butinoneonlineexchangeshemadecleartheyintendedtosettleinNew
York,althoughshepreferredLosAngeles.
'Russiaisalreadyleftbehind,andIhaven'tyetmadeittoAmerica,'shewroteatonepoint.
'Gettingtherewithconnections:3monthsinEuropeand3monthsinAsia.'
Shesaid:'LosAngelesisthebestcityintheworldbuthusbandisagainst',adding'Poorme.'
Shewasasked:'HowdidyoumanagetotravelsogloballybetweenAmericaandRussia,ifit'snotasecret?Savings?'
Shereplied:'Travelingisaboutmyhusband-he'sabrilliantmindandagreatorganizerofhis(andalsomy)life.'
Fiveweeksago,shepostedfromHawaii,sevenweeksagofromLosAngeles.EarliershewasintheKomodoIslands,Switzerland,Singapore,Bali,
andGreece.
'WepassedthroughalltheislandsinGreeceonyacht,'sheboastedaroundninemonthsago.
InAugust2014,shepostedfromItalysaying:'Everydayofmylifeissofullofhappinessthatitseemsitcan'tgetanybetter.
'Butanewdaycomesandshowsmenewgoals.Istartthinkingthathappinesshasnolimits.
'Wisheveryoneloveandunlimitedhappiness!'
Controversysurroundedhim,aswhenduringhisstintaspressministerthemediaempireofoligarchVladimirGusinskymediaassets-notedfor
theirindependence-weretransferredtostateenergygiantGazprom.
HewasalsorumoredtohaveplayedakeyroleinthecreationofasecrettapecompromisingformerProsecutorGeneralYuriSkuratov.
Skuratovwasseeninbedwithtwowomen,claimedtobeprostitutes,forcingtheresignationofamanwhowasprobingallegedcorruptioninthen
presidentBorisYeltsin'scircle.
WhenhequitGazpromMediainDecember,amoveseenasashock,hecited'familyreasons'althoughtherewereunconfirmedclaimshehadfallen
outwithotherinfluentialfiguresclosetoPutin.
SenatorWickersaidofLesin:'ThataRussianpublicservantcouldhaveamassedtheconsiderablefundsrequiredtoacquireandmaintainthese
assetsinEuropeandtheUnitedStatesraisesseriousquestions.'
AnothercommentfromVenediktov:http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/12/putin-s-pals-are-russian-patriots-until-they-get-sick..html
Venediktovconfirmedthatinthelastfewmonthsofhislife,Lesinwastrappedinproblems,investigatedintheU.S.,facingdebtsofabout$90
millionhereinRussia.Assuch,heexpresseddoubtsaboutthecurrentversionofLesinsdeath.HedidnothaveanyIDonhiminthehotelroom,
thatisverystrangehisfamilywerenotwithhimwhenhedied.Theysoundedtooquicktojumpontheheartattackversion,asiftheyweretrying
tosecuresomedifferentstory,Venediktovadded,expressingahopetohearthetruthaboutLesinsdeath.]
Comment:Strangethatwereadtherewerenosignsoffoulplaybutnowthathediedofapparentlybeingbeatento
death.Wouldnttherehavebeenbloodallovertheplace?Whataboutthemurderithadtobemurder,didntit?
weapon?Ordidhehithisheadinastruggle?Howcomeittooksolongtodeterminethecauseofdeath?Wasthe
beatingadministeredtocoversomethingelse?Washebeatenupinthehotelroomorsomewhereelse?
ThisnewsruroundupincludesanotherversiyaofwhyLesinwasinWashington:
http://newsru.com/world/11mar2016/lessin.html
Lesin,accordingtoonestorymakingtherounds,couldhavebeensenttotheUSbycertainKremlingroupsconcernedabout
worseningrelationswithWashington,hopingtore-establishcontactsatatimeoftensionandincreasedcompetitionamongKremlin
clansAsfarasLesinandKovalchuk:Lastyear,RossiyaBankdiscloseditsrelationshipwithLesinsVideoInternational
(Comment:OK,sothatmeansthebankwaslendingmoneytoVI,Iassume,andthatsthesourceofLesinsdebtto
Kovalchuk).
Areadersentthisalong:
[TheMarch10jointstatementbytheDistrictofColumbia'schiefmedicalexaminerandpolicedepartmentsayshis
"mannerofdeath"is"undetermined."Thestatementsaysthatinadditiontothe"blunt-forceinjuriestothehead"that
causedLesin'sdeath,healsosuffered"blunt-forceinjuries"tohisneck,torso,andupperandlowerextremities."The
statementgivesnoindicationhowtheseinjuriesweresustained.
TheNewYorkTimesonMarch11quotedanunidentifiedofficialassayingthattheinjuriestohisneck,torso,arms,
andlegsweretheresultofwhatthepaperdescribedas"somesortofaltercation"thatoccurredbeforehereturnedtohis
hotelroom.
Therewerenoobvioussignsoffoulplayintheroom,butsurveillancevideoshowedthatLesinappeared"disheveled"
uponhisreturntothehotel,theTimesquotedalawenforcementofficialassaying."
FullstoryfromRFERL:http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-lesin-mysterious-death-key-facts/27604577.html
Butthenthisquestion:IfLesinsufferedabluntforceblowtotheheadthatprovedfatalonlylater,howcouldhegetback
tohishotelroom?]
TherestoftheRFEstoryisworthlookingat:
OnNovember3,2015,hundredsofguestsgatheredattheswankyRitz-CarltonhotelintheU.S.capitalforadinner
honoringRussianbillionaireandphilanthropistPyotrAvenandSusanLehrman,aWashingtonsocialite,investor,and
patronofthearts.
Ontheguestlistthatevening,RFE/RLhasconfirmed,wasMikhailLesin,aformerRussianpressminister,Kremlin
adviser,andcentralplayerinPresidentVladimirPutin'sconsolidationofstatecontroloverthemedia.
Lesinnevershowedup.Andlessthan48hourslater,onNovember5,hisbatteredbodywasdiscoveredinhis9th-floor
suiteatWashington'sDupontCircleHotel.
Hisdeathsparkedmonthsofferventspeculationaboutwhat--orwho--mighthavekilledtheformerKremlininsider,what
hewasdoinginWashington,andthewallofsilencethatbothcityandfederalauthoritieshaderectedaroundthematter.
ExactlywhoinvitedLesintothedinner,organizedbytheWashington-basedWoodrowWilsonCenter'sKennanInstitute,
couldnotbeimmediatelyestablished.Theresearchcenter,whichfocusesonthestudyofRussiaandtheformerSoviet
Union,saidhewasslatedtositatthetableofoneoftheevent'ssponsorsbutdeclinedtosaywhich.
Lesin'semptyseatatthedinnerisamongascanthandfulofdetailsabouthisfinaldaysthathaveemergedinthefour
monthssincehisdeath,whichhasspawnedtheoriesthathewaskilledforspillingKremlinsecretstotheU.S.
government--oreventhatheenteredwitnessprotection.
ThechiefcitymedicalexaminerinWashingtononMarch10shednewlightonthecircumstancessurroundingLesin's
death,sayinghediedof"blunt-forceinjuriestothehead."
ThishasfueledfurtherspeculationaboutfoulplayandcontradictsinitialreportsbyKremlin-fundedmediathatquotedan
unidentifiedfamilymemberassayingthatLesinhaddiedofaheartattack.
HereareanswerstofivequestionsaboutLesin'sdeath.
WasLesinMurdered?
TheMarch10jointstatementbytheDistrictofColumbia'schiefmedicalexaminerandpolicedepartmentsayshis
"mannerofdeath"is"undetermined."Thestatementsaysthatinadditiontothe"blunt-forceinjuriestothehead"that
causedLesin'sdeath,healsosuffered"blunt-forceinjuries"tohisneck,torso,andupperandlowerextremities."The
statementgivesnoindicationhowtheseinjuriesweresustained.
TheNewYorkTimesonMarch11quotedanunidentifiedofficialassayingthattheinjuriestohisneck,torso,arms,
andlegsweretheresultofwhatthepaperdescribedas"somesortofaltercation"thatoccurredbeforehereturnedtohis
hotelroom.
Therewerenoobvioussignsoffoulplayintheroom,butsurveillancevideoshowedthatLesinappeared"disheveled"
uponhisreturntothehotel,theTimesquotedalawenforcementofficialassaying.
WhyDidPoliceLaunchAHomicideInvestigation?
DaysafterLesin'sdeath,localpolicesaiddetectivesfromitshomicidebranchwereinvestigatingthecase.Asourceat
thehomicidebranchindicatedtoRFE/RLinNovember,however,thatitwasbeinghandledbythebranch'snatural-death
unit.TheWashingtonPosthasdescriedthisunitas"assignedtoinvestigatedeathsthatarenotsuspectedhomicides."
Itwasnotimmediatelyclearwhetherthenatural-deathunitcontinuestohandletheinvestigation,whichpolicedescribed
intheMarch10statementas"active."PolicespokesmanDustinSternbecktoldTheWashingtonPostthat"we'renot
willingtocloseoffanythingatthispoint."
WhyDidItTakeSoLongToReleaseAutopsyResults?
IntheweekspriortotheMarch10releaseofthecauseofdeathinLesin'scase,theD.C.OfficeoftheChiefMedical
ExaminertoldRFE/RLthatin90percentofcasestheofficehandles,thecoroner'sreportisreleasedwithin90daysof
death.Lesin'sdeathwasamongthe10percentofcasesfallingunderthe"morecomplex"categorythatcantakelonger
than90days,themedicalexaminer'schiefofstaff,BeverlyFields,toldRFE/RL.Shedidnotelaborateonwhatmadethis
casemore"complex."
WasLesinBeingInvestigatedByU.S.Authorities?
Thisremainsunclear.U.S.SenatorRogerWickeraskedtheJusticeDepartmentinAugust2014toinvestigatewhether
Lesin,whoisseenasthemastermindbehindtheKremlin-fundedRTnetwork,useddirtymoneytopurchasepricey
Californiarealestate.WickerwroteinalettertoU.S.AttorneyGeneralEricHolderthatthefact"thataRussianpublic
servantcouldhaveamassedtheconsiderablefundsrequiredtoacquireandmaintain"suchexpensiveassetsabroad
"raisesseriousquestions."
InDecember2014,U.S.AssistantAttorneyGeneralPeterKadziksaidthatWicker'srequestwasreferredtotheJustice
Department'scriminaldivisionandtheFBI,neitherofwhichhaveconfirmedwhetheraformalinvestigationwasopened.
Wicker'scallforaninvestigationhasdrivenspeculationthatLesinmayhavebeeninWashingtontodiscussthematterof
hisCaliforniareal-estateholdingswithfederalinvestigators.Sofar,noclearevidencehasemergedthatthiswasthe
case.This,however,hasnotstemmedspeculationthatLesinmayhavebeeninWashingtontocutadealwiththefeds--
andthattheformerKremlininsidermayhavebeenkilledtopreventhimfromrevealingintimatedetailsabouttheworkings
ofPutin'sgovernment.
Lesin,forhispart,deniedthatheownedtheCaliforniarealestateinquestion.HetoldtheRussianeditionofForbes
magazinethatthepropertieswereownedbyhischildren.
HisdenialwasbeliedbycorporatedocumentsfiledinCaliforniaSuperiorCourtshowingthatLesinwasthesole
shareholderofacorporationknownasDastel.Thecompany,accordingtopublicrecords,purchaseda1,208-square-
meterBeverlyHillshomeinAugust2011for$13.8millionanda985-square-meterhomeinBrentwoodfor$9millionin
2012.
SoWhatWasLesinDoingInTheUnitedStates?
Lesinsteppeddownasheadofstate-controlledRussianbroadcastinggiantGazprom-MediainDecember2014forwhat
hedescribedasfamilyreasons.Priortohisresignation,hadspenttimelivinginCalifornia--specificallyinBeverlyHills--
forseveralyearspriortohisdeath,accordingtohisfriendsandU.S.courtdocuments.
Hisson,AntonLessine,isasuccessfulfinancierofseveral,well-knownHollywoodfilms--includingprojectsfeaturing
WoodyAllenandJohnTurturro,ArnoldSchwarzenegger,andBradPitt.HisU.S.-baseddaughter,YekaterinaLesina,has
workedforRT,whichU.S.officialshavecalleda"propagandabullhorn"forPutin'sgovernment.
RT'seditorinchief,MargaritaSimonyan,wrotedaysafterLesin'sdeaththathehadinvitedhertoquitherjobandcometo
LosAngelestowritescreenplays."I'llbeyourproducer,"shequotedLesinassaying.
TheCaliforniaSuperiorCourtdocumentsindicateLesinwasintheUnitedStatesonatouristvisa.Whyhewasin
Washingtonatthetimeofhisdeathremainsunclear.
WithreportingbyMikeEckel
Kashinontheattackonjournalists,rightsactivistsinIngushetia
Seeyesterdaysnotes
http://slon.ru/posts/64987
KashindismissesanynotionsthatKadyrovhasfinallycrossedthelineonetoomanytimesnothingwillhappen.Peskovwillsay
hedoesntknowanythingaboutit,InvestigativeCommitteespokesmanMarkinwilltellustheinvestigationisongoing,andthere
willbeleaksabouttheinvestigationfromRosbalt(Comment:WhichhaspublishedleaksabouttheNemtsovinvestigation).
Overtime,thescandalwilldiedownRussiain2016isacountryinwhichabuscanbestopped,journalistsandrightsactivists
beaten,andabusstartedonfire.ItsnotthatthebuswasburnedontheChechen-Ingushborder.Itwasattackedandburnedin
Russia.
KashinonaRussiawithnonewsandwhatthatmeans
http://slon.ru/posts/64915
KashinlooksatwhatsinthenewslatelythesportsdopingscandalthemurderousnannySavchenkoonhungerstrike.The
realnewsisthatthereisnonews.Russiaisruledbypowerpersonalizedinonemanhismoods,policyswings,canchangeand
dochange.ItwasnotlongagoweheardofaRussianSpringRussia,itturnedout,wasanempire,andPutintheEmperor.
Thencamesanctions,adraggedoutwarinEasternUkraine,Syriaandtheeconomiccrisis,lowoilpricesThisspringweliveina
RussiawhosehistoricmissionhasnottakenshapeandPutinknowsthat.The2016wehaveisnotthe2016thatPutinimagined
twoyearsago.Thatisalreadyobviousandthatsthemainnewsforacountryinwhichthereissuddenlynonews.
StanovayahascommentedonKashinsnonewspiece:http://slon.ru/posts/64956
Sotheresnonews.Putinhaslost.Butisthatthecase?StanovayathinksthatPutintendstoalternatebetweenperiodsofsharp
focusonconcreteproblemswithmaximummobilizationanddownperiodsofdevastationthatusuallydontlastlong
(Comment:Thatsbeenhistendencyunderintensepressure,Putincandropoutofsightforwhile,Ithinkto
recharge.Hehasappeared,asnotedearlier,tobenearthebreakingpointafewtimes,droppedoutofsight,thenre-
surfaced.Hedroppedoutofsightduringtheunder-the-carpetcrisisaftertheNemtsovmurder,forexample).Maybe
Putinisjustgoingthroughoneofhisdownperiods(Comment:HasPutinnotbeenappearingpublically?Hewasjust
handingoutstateawardsyesterday.Hemaybeinslowdownmode,butnotinadepressedphase).
Russianpoliticstendstobethatwayaswellmanic-depressiveIn2004-05,themanicphasewasallaboutthecolor
revolutioninUkraineIn2006,anti-GeorgianhysteriaAfteraquietphaseunderMedvedev,vlastwasbacktomanicactivity,
re-constructingthevertical.In2014,itwasCrimeaandtheKievjunta.Lastyear,itwasTurkey.Themanicperiodstendto
comewhenRussianvlastfeelsthatitisvulnerableThemanicbehavioriscausedbyMoscowdesiringtwoopposinggoalsat
once:itwantstheloveoftheWest(Comment:Iwouldsaythesenseofbeingaccepted,ofbeingequal.Theresbeena
love-hateinsecurityinRussiaaboutitsrelationswiththeWestforalong,longtime.Itscommonwhena
country/civilization/encountersatechnologicallysuperiorother),havingdonethingstolosetheWeststrust.TheWest
forusisbothanenemyandapartner.Weareafraid,butwanttobefriendly.Whenthestrategictaskofestablishingrelationsas
equalpartnershasfailed,thenyougetthefluctuations,thereactionarypolicies(Comment:Belkovskiyhasoftensaidthat
PutinwantstheWestsloveandhasevencomparedhimtoajiltedlover,asIrecall)
TheUkrainianroundinthatmanicphasewasoverlastfall.ThenewobsessionistooutplaytheWestintheNearEast.Its
outsideRussiastraditionalfieldofinfluencesohasnotcausedsomuchhysteria.Theaudienceistheinternationalcommunity,
withwhomPutinwantstoestablishacomplexsystemofgeo-politicalhorsetrading.Thehystericalpropagandaisaddressedto
theRussianpeopleWhenitcomestimetocutoffthehysterics,thendepressionsetsin(ShegivesPutinsbigpressconference
attheendoflastyearasanexamplehedidnttouchonthecrisis,orsocialproblems,therewasnocriticismofelites,asortof
indifferencewasmanifested).ItsnotthatPutinthinkshehaslosttheresanemotionalexhaustionwiththeUkrainecrisis,inwhich
acertainequilibriumhasbeenestablished.TheSyriancampaignhasnotworkedoutasawaytomakeacompleteexitfrom
Ukraineitsgoingtobealongandcomplicatedstruggle.
ThedepressionwillgrowuntilPutinfindsanewobsessionmaybeanewefforttohaltNATOexpansion,orsomekindofforeign
policyprovocationthatwillappeartobeablowtoRussiannationalsecurity.Putinwillbeexpectingnewtreacheryfromoutside
ifitdoesnthappen,maybehewillcomeupwithone.Thesystemcantfunctionanyotherway.Therewillbenewsanditwill
probablybebad
AdeclarationfromStrelkovs25JanuaryCommittee(ThecrisisandRussiasfate)
http://novorossia.pro/25yanvarya/1668-zayavlenie-komiteta-25-yanvarya.html
ThedegradationofstateandpublicinstitutionshasreachedastageinwhichthesystemcannotreacttothethreatsfacingRussia
Ourso-calledelitehasshownithasnoabilitytoperformthebasicfunctionsofatruenationaleliteAmono-sectoreconomy
(rawmaterialsbased)hasbeenbuiltinourcountrythecountrysbasicresourceshavewoundupinthehandsofaclosedgroup
ofbureaucratsandoligarchs.Thereisnohonesteconomiccompetitionordefenseofprivateproperty,noindependentcourts,
creditsforsmallandmediumbusinessarehardtocomebyTheRussianeconomyisover-regulated,andsuffersfromarbitrary
actionsbybureaucratsCorruptionisthebasicprincipleofthepresentsystemTheconsciousdestructionofthemiddleclass
andsmall/mediumbusinessiscontinuingTherearenorealpolitics,nofreeelectionsorrealpoliticalcompetitioninourcountry
Thereisnodivisionofpowers,nofreedomofspeechTherearenoactualinstitutionsorlaw,personalconnectionsarewhat
matter
AllofthisleavesRussiavulnerabletopressurefromgeo-politicalopponents,threateningthecountrywithlossofsovereignty,the
destructionofRussiasmilitarypotential,thecollapseanddismembermentoftheRussianFederation,asocialandeconomic
catastrophe,civilwar,separatism,andleavinguswithnochanceofreunifyingtheRussianpeopleTherawmaterialsbased
economy,fallingoilprocess,andWesternsanctionshavethecountryineconomiccrisis.Theeconomiccrisiswillonlygetworse
andthecurrentleadershipisincapableofdealingwithitRussiaisinvolvedintwoconflictsinUkraineandinSyria.The
contradictorycoursetakenintheseconflictsthreatensRussiawithmilitarydefeatRussiasgeo-politicalopponentswanttouse
thoseconflictstodeepentheeconomiccrisisinRussiaandrepeattheimpactoftheRussia-Japanwarinwhichadefeatabroad
weakenedtheregimeathome.IntheMiddleEast,RussiaisnowfacedwithconfrontationwithTurkeyand,thus,withNATO.
Russiaisisolatedpolitically.TheconditionsfortruceareforRussiatogiveuptheDonbassandCrimea,whichwillcausea
politicalcrisisinRussiaForthemajorityofelites,theRussianSpringwasjustanemptypopulistsloganRussiasre-
orientationtoChinahasfailed.
Thepatienceofthepeopleisrunningout.TheprotestmoodisgrowingThesplitintheeliteiswidening,representinga
seriousthreattoRussiansecurity.Apartoftheelitehassupportedpro-Western,anti-nationalandanti-statepositions.Andthey
areplanningananti-constitutionalchangeofpower,asinUkraine.Thepreparationsforacouparemovingforward,supportedby
theUSanditsallies.TheaimisthecompletecapitulationofRussia,theremainsofacollapsedRussiaturnedintoaWestern
colonyIfthepro-Westerneliteswinout,thenanotherpartoftheelite,Putin,hisallies,thesiloviky,standtorisklosingtheir
assets,theirfreedom,andeventheirlives.AnyoppositiontotheconspiracyhasbeenineffectiveAsystemiccrisisisbuildingin
Russiawehavereachedthepointwhereasignificantpartofanti-crisismeasurescannotberealized,butvlastdoesnot
understandthisandthenegativetrendswillreachtheirendnolaterthan2018.Ifnopoliticalforcescapableofbecomingagenuine
nationaleliteappearbeforethen,RussiawillsharethefateoftheSovietUnionin1991andUkrainein2014.
From: JohnBDunlop<jbdunlop@stanford.edu>
Senttime: 03/13/201604:33:34PM
To: martin.dewhirst@gmail.com
Cc: robertotto25@gmail.com
FW:[*]Fwd:[NOTHIN'BUTTHEFACTS....MA'AM....][PE]NolanP:UA'sFrozenFront:TrenchWarfarealaSommeSurprise!!UAGDPGrew1.5%in4Q2015(despitewar)[MK]62attacksin
Subject:
DonetsksectoryesterdayEurope'sRussiaPolicy:DamageControl[PB]Ir
From:WalterZaryckyj[mailto:waz2102@caa.columbia.edu]
Sent:Sunday,March13,20169:13AM
Subject:[*]Fwd:[NOTHIN'BUTTHEFACTS....MA'AM....][PE]NolanP:UA'sFrozenFront:TrenchWarfarealaSommeSurprise!!UAGDPGrew1.5%in4Q2015(despitewar)
[MK]62attacksinDonetsksectoryesterdayEurope'sRussiaPolicy:DamageControl[PB]Ira...
----------Forwardedmessage----------
From:WalterZaryckyj<waz2102@caa.columbia.edu>
Date:Sun,Mar13,2016at12:10PM
Subject:[NOTHIN'BUTTHEFACTS....MA'AM....][PE]NolanP:UA'sFrozenFront:TrenchWarfarealaSommeSurprise!!UAGDPGrew1.5%in4Q2015(despite
war)[MK]62attacksinDonetsksectoryesterdayEurope'sRussiaPolicy:DamageControl[PB]IranrejectsRU-SaudioilfreezeplanCaptainAmericaditchesRussian
badge[WD]WasPutin'sMediaChiefReadytoSnitchBeforeHeDroppedDead?[UCMC]62attacksinDonetsksectoryesterday
To:RomaHadzewycz<staff@ukrweekly.com>,rl<romashka1@aol.com>
From:PE
Date:Sun,Mar13,2016at11:07AM
Subject:NeedtoRead[ED:BothNolanP'spieceandtheUAGDP+1.5%Growthinformationareeye-opening]
To:
<IFNEEDBE---GototheoriginalstoryintheDailySignal>
NOLANPETERSON
Ukraine'sFrozenFront:TrenchWarfareLiketheSomme
http://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-yanukovych-donbas-putin-poroshenko-crimea-somme-435627
http://dailysignal.com/2016/03/09/war-is-my-life-a-journey-along-the-front-lines-in-ukraine/
SHCHASTYA,UkraineThelatewinterweatherinUkrainealternatesamongfrigid,cool,snow,andrainteasingthearrivalofspring.
The2-year-oldwar,whichhasravagedeasternUkraine,killingmorethan10,000anddisplacingmorethan1million,isasfickleastheweatherteasing
thepossibilityofpeacewithouteverachievingit.
Bothsidesoftheconflictrenewedtheircommitmenttothecease-fireinSeptember,reducingthescaleandintensityoftheUkrainewartoashadowof
whatitwasduringthefallof2014andthefirstfewmonthsof2015.
Butthewarisnotover.
<FUNFACT:TheGrossDomesticProduct(GDP)inUkraineexpanded1.50percentinthefourthquarterof2015>
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ukraine/gdp-growth
TheGrossDomesticProduct(GDP)inUkraineexpanded1.50percentinthefourthquarterof2015overthepreviousquarter.GDPGrowthRatein
Ukraineaveraged-0.14percentfrom2010until2015,reachinganalltimehighof3.90percentinthesecondquarterof2010andarecordlowof-5.30
percentinthefirstquarterof2015.GDPGrowthRateinUkraineisreportedbytheStateStatisticsServiceOfUkraine.
1Y5Y10YMAX

ExportData APIAccess
[][]
Forecast
Embed
Watch
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency

1.50 0.50 3.90 -5.30 2010-2015 percent Quarterly
Ukrainepossessesrichfarmlands(wheat,rye,flax,corn,barley,sugarbeets,sunflowersandpotatoesarethemajorcrops),vastmineralresources(iron,manganese,
coal,anthracite,aluminum,mercury,nickel,naturalgas,oil,zinc,titaniumandbauxite),awell-developedindustrialbase(steel,tractors,machinery,buildingmaterials,
chemicals,fertilizersaremajorproducts)andhighlytrainedlabor.Yet,theeconomyremainsinpoorconditionduetounderdevelopedinfrastructure,corruption,
bureaucracyandpoliticalturmoil.Ontheproductionside,servicesarethebiggestsectoroftheeconomyandaccountfornearly68percentoftotalGDP,ofwhich
domestictradeaccountsfor14percentofGDPandaccommodationandfoodservicefor13percentindustryaccountsfor22percentofGDP,ofwhichmanufacturing
accountsfor11percentandagriculturecontributeswiththeremaining10percent.Thispageprovides-UkraineGDPGrowthRate-actualvalues,historicaldata,
forecast,chart,statistics,economiccalendarandnews.UkraineGDPGrowthRate-actualdata,historicalchartandcalendarofreleases-waslastupdatedonMarch
of2016.
Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus Forecast

2015-11-16 11:40AM Q3 0.7% -0.5%
2015-12-18 01:40PM Q3 0.5% -0.5% 0.7% 0.7%
2016-02-15 05:40PM Q4 1.5% 0.5%
2016-03-17 12:00PM Q4 0.5% 1.5% 1.5%
2016-06-20 11:45AM Q1 3.27%
2016-07-20 01:40PM Q1

UkraineGDP Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit

GDPGrowthRate 1.50 0.50 3.90 -5.30 percent [+]
GDPAnnualGrowthRate -1.20 -7.20 14.30 -19.60 percent [+]
GDP 131.81 183.31 183.31 31.26 USDBillion [+]
GDPConstantPrices 273573.00 224814.00 319384.00 96169.00 UAHMillion [+]
GrossFixedCapitalFormation 33463.00 29708.00 68553.00 14356.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPpercapita 2081.04 2098.88 2826.10 1123.40 USD [+]
GDPpercapitaPPP 8267.07 8337.93 10490.37 4462.78 USD [+]
GDPFromAgriculture 53339.00 10802.00 55425.00 6803.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPFromConstruction 5022.00 4663.00 11152.00 2805.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPFromManufacturing 23953.00 25135.00 41074.00 20656.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPFromMining 12960.00 12614.00 17972.00 10997.00 UAHMillion [+]
UkraineGDP Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
GDPFromPublicAdministration 12226.00 12134.00 13120.00 11925.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPFromServices 29829.00 31744.00 43980.00 28576.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPFromTransport 21293.00 20773.00 24464.00 17223.00 UAHMillion [+]
GDPFromUtilities 1147.00 1217.00 2063.00 1070.00 UAHMillion [+]

Related
UkraineConsumerCreditat106354.84UAHMillion
UkraineFoodInflationat29.70percent
UkraineGovernmentRevenuesat38127.90UAHMillion
UkraineInflationRateat32.70percent
UkrainePersonalIncomeTaxRateat20.00percent
UkraineFiscalExpenditureat29082.00UAHMillion
UkraineForeignExchangeReservesat13537.87USDMillion
UkraineGovernmentBudgetValueat-9023.15UAHMillion
UkraineInflationRateMoMat-0.40percent
UkraineAverageMonthlyWagesYoYat26.25percent
UkraineSalesTaxRate|VATat20.00percent
UkraineBankLendingRateat16.30percent
UkraineCementProductionat252.00ThousandsofTonnes
UkraineLoanstoPrivateSectorat732933.88UAHMillion
UkraineAverageMonthlyWagesat4362.00UAH/Month
UkraineThreeMonthsInterbankRateat21.91percent
UkraineGDPat131.81USDBillion
UkraineInterestRateat22.00percent
UkraineGasolinePricesat0.72USD/Liter
UkraineCoreInflationRateat31.30percent
Latest
CanadaUnemploymentRateat3-YearHigh
RussiaTradeSurplusat5-1-2-YearLow
SpainDeflationDeepensinFebruary
************************************************************************************************************************************
From:MiraKyzyk<mirakyzyk@gmail.com>
Subject:Europe'sRussiaPolicy:DamageControl(Op-Ed)|News|TheMoscowTimes
To:WalterZaryckyj<waz2102@caa.columbia.edu>
Europe'sRussiaPolicy:DamageControl(Op-Ed)|News|TheMoscowTimes
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/562022.html
From:PeterBorisow<ap.borisow@comcast.net>
Subject:RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty:IranrejectsRussia-Saudioilfreezeproposal
To:"Waz(Columbia)"<waz2102@columbia.edu>
http://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/russia/radio-free-europeradio-liberty-iran-rejects-russia-saudi-oil-freeze-proposal-409876.html
SorryWalter,Here'sthefulltextofthearticle.(forgotKPcharges....)
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-against-russian-saudi-oil-freeze/27607604.html
From:PeterBorisow<ap.borisow@comcast.net>
Subject:AlteredImages:CaptainAmericaditchesRussianbadge-BBCNews
To:"Waz(Columbia)"<waz2102@columbia.edu>
Littlestepsaddup.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-35783188
From:WalterDerzko<wderzko@pathcom.com>
Subject:WasPutin'sMediaChiefReadytoSnitchBeforeHeDroppedDead?
To:WalterZaryckyj<waz2102@caa.columbia.edu>,wolodymyrzarycky<wzarcusur@gmail.com>,MykolaHryckowian<mykcusur@gmail.com>,
walter.derzko@utoronto.ca
01.10.1612:15http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/10/was-putin-s-media-chief-ready-to-snitch-before-he-dropped-dead.html
WasPutinsMediaChiefReadytoSnitchBeforeHeDroppedDead?
TheD.C.copswontsaywhatkilledMikhailLesinorwhathewasdoinginahotel
roomthere.ButallsignspointtotheformerKremlinpropagandabosscuttingadealwith
theFBI.
WhenpolicefoundMikhailLesindeadinaWashington,D.C.,hotelroom,themostinterestingquestionwasntthecauseofhisdemise,butwhathe
wasdoingintheUnitedStatesinthefirstplace.
TheformerpropagandachiefforRussianpresidentVladimirPutin,nicknamedthebulldozerforhishistoryofrollingoverhisopposition,Lesinhad
beenunderscrutinybytheFBIandtheJusticeDepartmentforpotentialmoneylaunderingandviolationofcorruptionlaws.Lesinwassuspectedof
hidingill-gottengainsinnearly$30millionworthofluxuryrealestateinsouthernCalifornia,anastoundingsetofassetsforamansupposedly
collectingacivilservantssalary.HedalsobeenconsideredforsanctionsthatwouldhavepreventedhimfromobtainingavisatoentertheUnited
States.
Sen.RogerWicker,aRepublicanfromMississippiwhohasspentyearslookingintocorruptionandhuman-rightsabusesinRussia,hadaskedthe
JusticeDepartmenttoinvestigateLesin.InDecember2014,thedepartmentconfirmedithadreferredLesinscasetotheCriminalDivisionandto
theFBI.Whileofficialsdeclinedtosaywhethertheyformallyopenedaninvestigation,severalclosewatchersofLesinscasetoldTheDailyBeast
theythoughtitwasallbutcertainthathewasbeingpursuedbyU.S.lawenforcement.Andifhewasntunderactivecriminalinvestigation,theFBI
hadenoughevidencetoconsideropeningacase,theysaid.Abureauspokespersondeclinedtocommentonthematter.
SowhydidLesin,whowas57,temptfatebyenteringtheUnitedStatesthispastNovember?
Thepurposeofhisvisitwasnevermadeclear.Buthewasstayinginamid-rangehotelonWashingtonsDuPontCircle.Whilenotshabby,itsdoesnt
seemthekindofplacethatattractspeoplewhobuymultimillion-dollarestates.Itdoes,though,offeracomparativelylowper-nightrate,perhaps
moreinlinewithU.S.governmentbudgets,andisknowntohostforeigngovernmentofficialsandvisitorsonexchangeprograms.Itsalsolocateda
shortdrivefromFBIandJusticeDepartmentheadquarters.
ThesearethebroadstrokesofLesinscase.AndinsomeforeignpolicycirclesinWashingtonaswellasinRussianmediatheyhavefueled
speculationthatLesinwasmurderedaftercomingtoWashingtontocutadealwiththeFBI.
LesincertainlywouldhavehadalottosayaboutPutinsinnercircleheworkedwith,andreportedlyowedmoneyto,someofthemostpowerful
meninRussianmediaandfinance.AndhewouldhavehadapowerfulincentivetocooperatewithU.S.authorities,namelyhangingontohisseveral
mansionsinLosAngeles,whichpotentiallycouldhavebeenseized.Atleasttwoofthehomesareknowntobeoccupied,respectively,byhisdaughter
andhisson,aHollywoodfilmproducerwhosestarisontherise.
Addingtothemystery,theprecisecauseofLesinsuntimelydemisehasntbeenrevealed.Almostimmediately,thebroadcastingoutfitRT(Russia
Today),widelyseenasaKremlinmouthpiece,reportedthatLesindiedofaheartattack,citinganunnamedfamilymember.
ButaspokespersonfortheWashington,D.C.,policedepartmenttoldTheDailyBeastthatLesinsdeathisstillunderinvestigation.Andalthougha
coronerperformedanautopsynearlytwomonthsago,thepolicearentsayinghowhedied.Thatsanunusuallylongtimenottopubliclystatea
causeofdeath.
Theconspiracytheoriesarearguablywell-founded,becauseitwouldntbethefirsttimesomeonewhoposedapoliticalthreattoPutinwoundup
deadunderunusualcircumstances,includingpoisoning.
LesinwasalsobeingsqueezedbytheU.S.government.Twoyearsagohedbeennominatedbyhuman-rightsgroupsfortheso-calledMagnitskylist
ofRussianhuman-rightsviolators,whichwouldhaveallowedWashingtontodenyhimavisaandseizehisassetsinthiscountry.Lesinwasnotplaced
onthepubliclist,whichconsistsmainlyofmid-levelofficialsnotasinfluentialastheformerpropagandachief.ButU.S.officialsmaintainaclassified
annexwhichreportedlyincludesmoreseniorRussians,includingthoseclosertoPutin.ItsnotknownwhetherLesinwasonthatlist,butactivists
lobbiedhardtoputhimthere.
Hewouldhavebeenanidealcandidate.NotonlywasheoneofRTsfoundingfathers,creditedwithconceivingofthenetworkwhileworkingforPutin
inordertocounterwhathesawasanti-RussiajournalismintheWest.(ItsbeenalongtimesinceIwasscaredbythewordpropaganda,Lesinsaid
in2007,accordingtoRT.WeneedtopromoteRussiainternationally.Otherwise,wedjustlooklikeroaringbearsontheprowl.)
LesinwasalsoalongtimePutincrony,andheplayedacentralroleinanearlyprojectbytheRussianstrongmantogutthecountrysindependent
televisionstation,NTV,whichhadairedcriticalreportsaboutgovernmentcorruption,thewarinChechnya,andhadbecomeasoapboxfor
prominentPutincritics.WhileLesinwasservingastheinformationminister,RussiajailedNTVsfounderandmajorityshareholder,Vladimir
Gusinsky.
Whilehewasthere,theinformationministermadeanoffer:Gusinskycouldhavehisfreedomifheagreedtotransferhismediaholdingsto
Gazprom,thestate-ownedenergymonopoly,accordingtoRussianjournalistVladimirKara-Muzra,whohasprobedLesinsfinancialandrealestate
holdings.ItwasanakedpowerplaythattheEuropeanCourtofHumanRightsfoundwaspoliticallymotivatedandamountedtostate-sanctioned
blackmail.
Gusinksydidn'tendupgoingalongwiththedealtohandoverthemediacompany.ButGazpromtookoverNTVanyway--byforce--andin2013
LesinbecametheheadofGazprom-Media,anactualstate-runmediaorganization.RT,whichreportedthecauseofLesinsdeathbeforeamedical
examinerhadevenseenhisbody,merelyreceivesfundingfromthestate.
TheGazpromtakeoverhasraisedconcernsamongU.S.investigatorsthatLesinmayhavecomebyafortunethroughillegalseizuresofprivate
property,andthenlaunderedthoseproceedsbystashingtheminAmericanrealestate,accordingtotwosourceswhohavefollowedLesinsfinances
andaskednottobeidentified.
LandingLesincouldhaveledinvestigatorstoother,evenbiggerfish.AsWickerwrotetothen-AttorneyGeneralEricHolderin2014,Lesinmayalso
haveclosebusinesstieswithindividualssubjecttoU.S.sanctions,aswellasorganizations,includingBankRossiya,whichiscloselylinkedto
Gazprom,andthebanksowner,YuryKovalchuk,abillionairewhoranksamongRussiasrichestpeople,isreportedlyclosetoPutinpersonally,and
wassanctionedbytheTreasuryDepartmentafterRussiainvadedCrimea.
IfLesinwerefoundtobeviolatingU.S.money-launderinglaws,itcouldprovidearareopportunitytosnareaseniorPutinaide.AfterWickerpressed
theissue,relyinginpartonpublicpropertyrecordsthatclearlylinkedtheL.A.mansionstoLesin,theJusticeDepartmentconsideredwhethertogo
afterhim.
Followingthenewsofhisdeath,theKremlinissuedastatementonbehalfofPutin,notingThepresidenthasahighappreciationforMikhailLesins
massivecontributiontothecreationofmodernRussianmassmedia.
ButhavingLesinasaninformantwouldbeenabigcontributiontoU.S.lawenforcementandintelligence.AndtheinformationthatWickerandhis
staff,aswellashuman-rightsgroupsandjournalists,duguponLesinmayhavepushedhimclosertotheFBIsarms.
AbouttwoweeksaftertheJusticeDepartmentinformedWickerthattheallegationsagainstLesinwerereferredtotheFBI,Lesinresignedasthe
headofGazprom-Media,citingunspecifiedfamilyreasons.Kara-Murza,thejournalistandPutincritic,whohimselffellmysteriouslyilllast
summer,hasdirectlylinkedthedepartmentsannouncementtoLesinssteppingdownandsaiditshowedthatthethreatofsanctionsand
prosecutioncouldbeusedtobringdowncorruptRussianofficials.
Thatsjustoneexampleofhoweffectivethisprocesscanbeifitsappliedproperly,ifitsdoneagainsttherightpeople,Kara-Murzasaid
inremarksattheAmericanEnterpriseInstitute,aWashingtonthinktank,inOctober.Kara-MurzadeclinedtodiscussLesinscasewithTheDaily
Beast,citingtheLatinadmonitiondemortuisnihilnisibonum.Ofthedead,[say]nothing,unlessgood.AndIhavenothinggoodtosayabouthim.
Meanwhile,Lesinschildrenhavealsokeptmum.Hisson,AntonLessine(thesurnamesarespelleddifferently),didntrespondtoarequestfor
comment,andhisdaughtercouldntbereached.AntonhasbeenonarollinHollywood,helpingfinancinghigh-profilemovieswithA-listtalent.He
wastheexecutiveproduceroftheArnoldSchwarzeneggeractionvehicleSabotage,theBradPittWWIItankpicFury,2015sBillMurray
comedyRocktheKasbah,and2016stransgenerationalbuddyflickDirtyGrandpa,starringRobertDeNiroandZacEffron.
Timesaregoodforthesonoftheex-Putinaide,whoseemstohavecomeoutofnowhereinthefamouslyhard-to-crackworldofbig-budget
filmmaking.HerecentlypurchasedamansioninL.A.sPacificPalisadesforanaskingpriceofnearly$4million.HowexactlytheLesinfamilycame
intosuchgoodfortuneisaquestionthathaspiquedtheinterestofU.S.investigators.
Asmightanotherquestion:WasLesinindebt,andreadytofleeRussiaforanewlife?AfterLesinsdeath,TheMoscowTimesreportedthathemay
havesteppeddownfromGazprom-Mediaafterlosinganinternalpowerstruggle.Joblessandwithhigh-levelenemies,Lesinalsoowedahuge
amountofmoneytoKovalchuk,thebillionairebanker,whichhedidntintendedtorepay,thenewsorganizationreported,citinganonymoussources.
Healsounderestimatedhisrivals,TheMoscowTimeswrote.TheheadsofthreeofRussia'smajorTVchannelscomplainedtoPresidentPutin
thatLesinhadbegunbehavingasifhewastheirboss,ashehadbeenwhilepressminister.
ThewallswereclosinginonLesin--inWashingtonandinMoscow.PerhapsLesinstriptothatDuPontCirclehotelwashisfirststeptowardsanew
life.ButifhedbecomeanenemyofPutinandhisfriends,eventheFBImightnothavebeenabletosavehim.
From:UkraineCrisisMediaCenter<press@uacrisis.org>
Subject:ColonelOleksandrMotuzyanyk:62attacksinDonetsksectoryesterday,oneinthreeinvolveuseofheavyarmor
To:waz2102@caa.columbia.edu
ColonelOleksandrMotuzyanyk:62attacksinDonetsksector
yesterday,oneinthreeinvolveuseofheavyarmor
Kyiv,March13,2016.UkrainianArmedForcesincurrednolossesincombatintheATO
zoneyesterdayandseventroopswerewounded.Thesituationwasthemostdifficultin
theDonetsksector,where83attackstookplaceinthelast24hours.Everythirdattack
involveduseofheavyarmor,saidspokesmanofPresidentialAdministrationonATO-
relatedissuesColonelOleksandrMotuzyanykatapressbriefingatUkraineCrisisMedia
Center.MilitantsshotfromtanksnearAvdiivkatwice,conductedanartilleryattackfrom
122-mmcannonandlaunched63shellsfrommortarlaunchers.Russia-backedmilitant
groupsusedarmoredpersonnelcarrierandanti-tankguidedmissilesthreetimesnear
LuhanskesettlementattheSvitlodarskbulge.Militantssniperswereactivenear
LuhanskeandMyronivske.
Moreover,thesituationisdifficultnearHorlivka.Russia-backedmilitantgroupsareactively
usingsmallarms,grenadelaunchersad82-mmmortarlaunchers.Smallarmsand
grenadelauncherswereusednearMaiorsk.Twoprovocationswereinstigatednear
NovhorodskesettlementandonenearVerkhniotoretske.Militantsusedsmallarms,large
machinegunsandgrenadelaunchersinthevicinityofDonetskairport,nearOpytneand
Pisky.Moreover,twomortarattacksonATOtroopspositionswereregistered.
IntheLuhansksectormilitantsviolatedtheceasefireoncenearNovozvanivkavillagein
Popasnadistrictusinglargemachineguns.Moreover,insurgentsviolatedthearmistice
eighttimesin24hoursintheMariupolsector.Russia-backedmilitantgroupsshotfrom
120-mmand82-mmmortarsatATOtroopsnearHnutoveandTalakivka.Anothermortar
shellingtookplacenearVodianevillage.Moreover,ananti-tankguidedmissilewas
launchedthere,informedthespokesman.MilitantsviolatedtheceasefirenearMariinka
severaltimes,andamilitantssniperwasshootingtheretwice.
Col.MotuzyanykinformedthatlawenforcementsarrestedaformerheadofNovyiAidar
districtcouncilyesterday.HeissuspectedoforganizingapseudoreferendumonMay11,
2014.Ithasbeenidentifiedthathewaschargingmembersandheadsoflocalcouncils
withtasks,solvedtheissuesofprovidingpremisesforholdingaso-calledvoting,
organizedandmonitoredactivityoftheso-calledheadquartersandlatersecured
publicationofresultsinlocalmassmedia,saidCol.Motuzyanyk.Headdedthatthecourt
madeadecisiontoleavethedetainedunderarrestuntilthesentencehasbeen
announced.
ThecenterislocatedinTheUkrainianHouse(2Khreshchatykstreet),1st
floor.Hotline +380501578159, +380974122622,e-mail press@uacrisis.org.For
moreinformationpleasevisituacrisis.org,andfollowusonTwitter,Facebook,YouTube.
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basistoallthosecoveringeventsinUkraineandrunsadailyscheduleoflivepressbriefingsand
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IN11March16.docx
Internet Notes 11 March 2016
Putin holds a night meeting on the economy (Economic Development Ministry vs Finance
on anti-crisis spending; The FSO tracks the public mood) ....................................................... 1
Lesins death due to blunt force trauma ................................................................................. 2
Lesins death (This looks fishy)............................................................................................................. 3
More on the death of Lesin ....................................................................................................................... 5
Kashin on the attack on journalists, rights activists in Ingushetia ............................................. 14
Kashin on a Russia with no newsand what that means ....................................................................... 15
A declaration from Strelkovs 25 January Committee (The crisis and Russias fate) ........... 16
Putin holds a night meeting on the economy (Economic Development Ministry vs Finance
on anti-crisis spending; The FSO tracks the public mood)
http://newsru.com/finance/11mar2016/midnightmeet.html
Peskov told reporters that Putin met with the governments economic block last night to discuss
the economic situation. Among those attending the meeting were Medvedev, First Vice Premier
Igor Shuvalov, Presidential Aide Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Economic
Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev, the Audit Chambers Tatayana Golikova, and Elvira
Nabiullina of the Central BankMedvedev reportedly signed an anti-crisis plan on 29
FebruaryUlyukayev has called for spending R880 billion in support for the economy this year,
which has upset the Finance Ministry, which wants to cut anti-crisis spending. The MinFin
thinks that there is only R120 billion available for anti-crisis spendingthe rest of the money
would have to come from reserves or by amending the budgetMeanwhile, mass media has
noted that the FSO is tracking the public mood, especially in the countrys poorest regionsa
working group is said to organizing more subsidies for those regions and creating new jobs
Comment: Regarding the FSO tracking the populations moodwe saw this on 25 February:
[FSO report on the unbearable condition of Mono-cities
http://www.rbc.ru/economics/24/02/2016/56cdf4bc9a7947bd73611f5c?utm
RBC claims that a closed FSO poll shows that nearly 60% of mono-city (Comment: Cities that depend on one
major enterprise for survival) residents consider their social-economic condition as unbearable or hard to bear
The poll was taken in over 200 population centers with more than 55,000 respondents who answered the question
What in your view, is the current social-economic situation in your city? 3.9% said the situation was favorable,
while 31.3% answered tolerable42.4% replied hard to bear and 17.4% said unbearableA source in the
government vouched for the authenticity of the pollEarlier, Irina Makiyeva, who is co-chair at VEB and heads a
government working group on modernizing the mono-cities, said that the group depends on FSO polls. 14 million
Russians live in 319 mono-cities. Last June, Medvedev said that only 71 of those could be considered stable.
IN11March16.docx
Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev has said that since 2014, the number of mono-cities that are in
a state of crisis has increased from 75 to 94]
Lesins death due to blunt force trauma
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/former-aide-to-russian-president-died-of-blunt-
force-trauma-to-head-medical-examiner/2016/03/10/8a61dc16-e702-11e5-bc08-
3e03a5b41910_story.html
A former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin who was found dead in a Dupont
Circle hotel room in November died of blunt force trauma to the head, the D.C. medical
examiners office said Thursday.
Mikhail Lesin, 59, also suffered injuries to his neck, torso and upper and lower
extremities, the medical examiner said in a statement. The medical examiner had not
concluded whether the injuries were the result of a crime, an accident or some other
means.
Dustin Sternbeck, the D.C. police departments chief spokesman, said the case remains
under investigation. He would not say whether the medical examiners ruling means a
crime may have been committed. Were not willing to close off anything at this point,
Sternbeck said.
Russian officials complained Thursday that the United States was not keeping them
informed about the investigation.
The Russian Embassy in the United States has repeatedly sent a request through
diplomatic channels about the investigation into the death of a Russian citizen, said
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in a post on Facebook. The
U.S. side has not provided us with any substantive information. We are waiting for
clarification from Washington and the relevant official details on the progress of the
investigation.
IN11March16.docx
Lesins body was found before noon Nov. 5 in a room at the Dupont Circle Hotel, in the
1500 block of New Hampshire Avenue NW.
Authorities on Thursday released no other information about the mysterious death of

Lesin, a prominent political figure who once served as a press minister and an executive
of GazpromMedia, a holding company that controls several popular television channels
and other media outlets. It was unclear why Lesin was in Washington.
Citing his long-term illnesses, family members told Russian news media in November
that they thought Lesin had suffered a heart attack.
Comment: Lesins death was initially reported in the 6 November 2015 notes. By 9 November, we
saw stories on how fishy the circumstances of Lesins death appeared:
[Lesins death (This looks fishy)
See the 6 November notes
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d11b034a-8635-11e5-9f8c-a8d619fa707c.html#axzz3qyffIf7v
The death in Washington of one of the architects of the media machine in Vladimir Putins Russia triggered
speculation and conspiracy theories in Moscow at the weekend.
Mikhail Lesin, former press minister and head of Gazprom Media, the holding that owns many formerly
independent Russian media outlets, was found dead in the Dupont Circle hotel in Washington late last week. Police
said an autopsy was being conducted and the cause of death would be determined only after that had been
completed.
The Russian embassy, which sent an official to the US capital to identify Mr Lesin, said the ex-minister had died of
a heart attack, a version echoed by RT, the state news outlet Mr Lesin was involved in establishing, and statements
from his family carried in Russian state media.
But Russian government critics on Sunday questioned this version of events. In a Facebook post, Alfred Kokh, a
former Russian prime minister (?????) who held the Gazprom Media post more than a decade before Mr Lesin,
described the embassys statement as a strange flight of fantasy.
IN11March16.docx
Referring to a potential US justice department and FBI investigation into Mr Lesin in connection with corruption
allegations, he said: Why do [they] want so much to make everybody believe that it was a heart attack? Maybe they
were afraid that Lesin tells the FBI about something in exchange for them ending the investigation?
In July last year, Roger Wicker, a senator from Mississippi, requested that the justice department investigate whether
Mr Lesin had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-money-laundering statutes and suggested he might
have business ties with people subject to US sanctions. He claimed Mr Lesin had bought homes worth a total of
$28m in Los Angeles and moved his immediate family there.
Mr Wickers request was referred to the justice department and the FBI, which were considering it. Mr Lesins death
means the issue is now closed.
The FBI was notified of Mr Lesins death but was not assisting in the matter, which was being treated by local
police as a death investigation.
Another commentator who posted under the name Wolf said on VKontakte, a Russian social media site: He is not
the first one, and he will not be the last. We have had so many famous Russians murdered abroad that whenever
some prominent compatriot dies outside the motherland, you have to assume that they will find poison.
Aged 57, Mr Lesin was one of the highest-profile among the aides who helped Mr Putin rebuild Russia into a more
state-centric and authoritarian polity.
Vsevolod Bogdanov, head of the Russian Union of Journalists, called Mr Lesin Russias most energetic minister
Russia in the past 20 years. He was committed to not only the interests of the media industry but also the interests
of the authorities, he said.
Mr Putins spokesman said the president highly appreciated the enormous contribution Mr Lesin had made to the
formation of the modern Russian media.
An engineer by training, Mr Lesin co-founded Video International, one of Russias leading advertising agencies, in
1990, and went on to managerial positions in state TV under president Boris Yeltsin.
As media minister between 1999 and 2004, he played a role in taming private television through the takeover of
NTV, Russias first independent news channel, then owned by Yeltsin-era oligarch Vladimir Gusinsky. Until 2009
Mr Lesin served as Mr Putins adviser, helping build up RT, an English-language TV network that aims to enhance
Russian soft power by countering western news narratives.
In late 2013, he was appointed head of Gazprom Media. But he resigned from that post at the end of 2014. Mr Lesin
cited private reasons but his resignation followed an argument with Aleksei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of liberal
radio station Echo of Moscow, over a journalist Mr Lesin had demanded be fired.
Two senior journalists at Gazprom Media-owned outlets said Mr Lesin had spent most of his time since his
resignation in California but had remained close to Mr Putin.
Heres the outline of a theory involving Wicker, mentioned above:

https://www.facebook.com/pchikov/posts/1006737349399709
In July, 2011, Lesin registered the Dastel Corporation in California. In 2011-2012, Dastel acquired three homes
valued at $28 million. In 2014, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker requested that the Justice Department investigate
IN11March16.docx
Lesin for money launderingthe Justice Department requested that the FBI conduct an investigation. In December
of last year, Lesin resigned as the head of Gazprom Media, a post he had held since October of 2013 (he also
resigned a post as advisor to the Television Industrial Committee). Putin reportedly personally approved the
resignation. Lesin was found dead in a Washington hotel last week. Its reasonable to assume that Lesin was
prepared to agree to cooperate with the FBI in exchange for lesser charges in the case against himits premature to
talk about murder. Maybe he had health problems. But the whole thing looks fishy.
In this post, Kokh (mentioned above) claims that Lesin could have headed a Putin Komintern of connections in
the West that could support Kremlin information policy, a form of soft power:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1072198709480520&id=100000712037223 This network
would be a threat to the security of the West, says Kokh. So Lesin, under investigation by the FBI, is found dead in
a Washington hotel room. Venediktov says Lesin had cancer. He supposedly had a bad back. But no one mentioned
heart problems. Maybe someone was afraid of what he might tell the FBIand maybe they had some tea with him.
]
We got more on Lesin in the 11 November 2015 notes:
[More on the death of Lesin
See the 6 and 9 November notes.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/the-mysterious-death-of-the-man-behind-putins-
media-machine/548764.html
For a man who once shaped Russia's media sector, remarkably little is known about the last months of Mikhail
Lesin's life.
A macho, "hell-for-leather guy," who as press minister from 1999-2004 broke the hold of oligarchs on Russia's
media and asserted state power over the airwaves, Lesin was found dead on Nov. 5 in a Washington hotel, aged 57.
According to relatives quoted by Russian media, he died of a heart attack.
A year earlier, Lesin's meteoric career had suddenly ended when he abruptly quit as head of Gazprom Media, one of
the country's largest state-owned media conglomerates.
People who knew Lesin described him as a fiercely ambitious man, with the nickname "bulldozer." As head of
Gazprom Media from 2013 to early 2015, he gave the impression of someone who felt "all-powerful," Vladimir
Pozner, a television journalist who had known Lesin since the end of the Soviet Union, told The Moscow Times.
His beginnings were less grand. In the final years of Communist rule, Pozner encountered Lesin when he was being
employed to carry briefcase-sized mobile telephones for businessmen.
But he was driven. In the late 1980s he co-founded an advertising company and swiftly became a multimillionaire.
Only a few years later, he helped mastermind the slogans of Boris Yeltsin's successful 1996 run for the presidency,
launching his government and state media career.
IN11March16.docx
Lesin was present at the creation of Russia's state-dominated media sector. As press minister he forced media
magnate Vladimir Gusinsky to cede control of television station NTV while Gusinsky sat in a jail cell. In 2005, he
helped create Russia Today, now RT, a television network that broadcasts Russia's point of view in multiple
languages and aims to undermine Western news narratives. Afterward, he served as an adviser to the Kremlin.
Those moves shaped Russian media. Now, state controlled TV broadcasts the government's view, and Putin, after
more than 15 years in power, has an approval rating of almost 90 percent.
Downfall
Most people contacted by The Moscow Times were wary of commenting on Lesin. But those who agreed to talk
said he may have pushed too hard for power while at Gazprom Media, alienating powerful colleagues and falling out
with Yury Kovalchuk, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin and a major shareholder in the company, from
whom Lesin may have borrowed money.
In late 2014, Lesin picked a fight with Alexei Venediktov, the long-serving and well-connected editor of liberal
radio station Echo Moskvy, in which Gazprom Media has a majority stake. In a dispute over the firing of one of the
station's journalists, Lesin was forced to back down. See the notes from 24 November, 3 December, and 19
December 2014.
The confrontation may have been the proximate cause of Lesin's resignation, which came shortly afterward. With
the brawl around Ekho, "it all fell together," said one source familiar with the situation, who did not want to be
named.
"One of the main reasons was that he owed huge amount of money to Kovalchuk, which he supposedly didn't intend
to pay back," the source said.
He also underestimated his rivals, said two other sources familiar with the matter. The heads of three of Russia's
major TV channels complained to President Putin that Lesin had begun behaving as if he was their boss, as he had
been while press minister.
Lesin said his exit from Gazprom Media was for family reasons.
Illness and Investigation
The outcome left Lesin out of the loop, possibly with some powerful enemies, and perhaps without the support of
Putin.
It was a rare error for a man who "made very few mistakes" during his career, said Pozner.
By the time he left Gazprom Media, Lesin, a heavy smoker and drinker for much of his life, was ill. Lesin lost 30
kilograms after breaking his spine in an accident in 2012, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT, wrote after
his death. His back later became infected, forcing him to undergo a series of 13 operations that continued late into
this year, she said.
In the U.S., meanwhile, Lesin's wealth was under scrutiny. In July 2014, a few months after U.S.-Russia relations
were marred by Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, Senator Roger Wicker requested a Justice
Department investigation into whether Lesin had violated international anti-corruption and money-laundering rules.
Wicker said Lesin owned property worth $28 million in Los Angeles, where his son, Anton Lessine, works in
Hollywood and has produced films including the Brad Pitt feature "Fury" and "Fading Gigolo," starring Woody
Allen. Lesin's daughter also lives in the U.S., where she works for RT.
IN11March16.docx
It is unclear whether the Justice Department or the FBI began to probe Lesin's affairs. Both departments either
declined to comment or did not respond. But Wicker's request has fed speculation about whether Lesin was in
Washington to cut a deal with U.S. authorities some say he was killed by enemies to silence him; others say his
death was faked as part of a witness protection scheme to keep him safe.
People have also questioned why Lesin, who was known to live the high life of a multimillionaire, was staying at the
comparatively un-luxurious, $240-a-night Dupont Circle Hotel.
An investigation into the death by the Washington metropolitan police department is ongoing.
Lesin last year replied to Senator Wicker's accusations over his wealth, telling Forbes Russia that the properties in
Los Angeles found by Wicker did not belong to him, but to his children.
He was worried for them, he said, adding, "I got used long ago to not being loved."]
One more item from 13 November 2015 gave a few more details on the period leading up to
Lesins death in DC:
[
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315994/Vladimir-Putin-s-media-mastermind-dead-DC-hotel-
murdered-FBI-informant-alive-claim-Russians..html
The death from a 'heart attack' of a longtime close ally of Vladimir Putin in a Washington hotel has led to a swirl of
speculation that he was murdered on Moscow's orders after offering to help the FBI.
Mikhail Lesin, 57, was announced last weekend to have been found dead in the US capital. He was a Svengali figure
for Putin, who was alleged to have menaced the Russian media into idolizing the strongman president.
The shock death has created an eave of speculation in Moscow that it is related to previous reports that he was
helping the FBI - and could be murder.
There are even separate allegations that Lesin may still be alive, with his demise faked by the US authorities.
According to this version, he is being kept safe as part of a witness protection scheme, while spilling to the FBI all
he knows on Putin's Russia.
Daily Mail Online can reveal that only weeks before his death was announced, he fathered a child with glamorous
model and flight attendant Victoria Rakhimbayeva.
She is believed to be aged 29, with whom he had enjoyed a close relationship since at least mid-2014.
She has not commented on his death other than to thank friends on social media for their commiserations, but before
the tragedy she made clear that they intended to set up home permanently in New York.
Despite Russian reports of a heart attack, police in DC have said no cause of death has been determined while also
indicating there was no obvious sign of foul play.
'A ruling on the cause and manner of death is pending further investigation,' said a Saturday statement.
IN11March16.docx
Nicknamed the 'Bulldozer', Lesin was one of the key props of the Putin presidency, personally masterminding a
wide-ranging media crackdown which has left the vast majority of Russian TV stations and newspapers obedient to
the Kremlin.
He also set up Russia Today, now RT, seen by critics as a 'propaganda' channel aimed at the West.
But earlier this year, after the break-up of his marriage, and in a new relationship with his Siberian lover who he
may have wed - she referred to him as her 'husband' - he suddenly quit the latest of several high profile positions, as
head of Gazprom Media, a major state owned media conglomerate.
There are unsubstantiated claims in Moscow that when he died he was in debt to billionaire Yury Kovalchuk, one of
Putin's closest big business friends.
'He owed huge amount of money to Kovalchuk, which he supposedly didn't intend to pay back,' an unnamed source
told The Moscow Times.
His presence and death in Washington shocked many Russians.
Lesin was found dead at 11:30am on November 6 while staying on an upper floor at the $240-a-night Dupont Circle
Hotel, seen as modest for his multimillionaire lifestyle.
It is unclear if Rakhimbayeva was in the US with him at the time.
Yet some 16 months earlier, Senator Roger Wicker had called for a Justice Department probe into whether Lesin
was engaged in money laundering.
The status of any subsequent FBI investigation is unclear, but - rightly or wrongly - in Russia it was widely believed
that a probe was indeed under way.
Many elite Russians with links to the Putin regime are currently giving the US, and other parts of the West, a wide
berth amid fears of arrest, hence the surprise and bewilderment at him being in Washington.
But there are also suggestions that Lesin had taken a decision to leave Russia for good before his untimely death in
America.
Prominent commentator Sergey Parkhomenko said of Lesin's death: 'To be honest, I wouldn't rule out the option of a
program for witness protection.'
The one-time close Putin apparatchik is said to have owned property worth $28 million in Los Angeles, a rumored
focus of the supposed FBI investigation, and two adult children who live in America.
Lesin's company the Dastel Corporation bought a 13,000 sq ft Beverly Hills home in August 2011 for $13.8 million
and a 10,600 square foot property in Brentwood for $9 million in 2012, it was reported.
'For over a year he was living under FBI scrutiny and a total check on his assets,' he said.
'For some reason he came to Washington where he suddenly died but not from not of something he had been
suffering from.'
Echoing Kokh, he suggested Lesin 'had something to swap his death for' - adding: 'There was a lot to swap it for.'
IN11March16.docx
Moscow is prone to conspiracy theories when prominent people die before their time, but while Lesin had a number
of medical issues, they were not seen as life-threatening and there was genuine shock among his friends and those
who crossed paths with him.
'Lesin died. It's impossible to believe this,' tweeted Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT.
Alexey Venediktov, one of Russia's most respected journalists, who had dealings - and clashes - with him, wrote
online:
'He left the country. September 25 he had a baby daughter. This September, now, so it's been a month, a month and
a half.
'And honestly, when I found out about his death, my first thought was about the baby, to be honest. It's also about
empathy, because, okay, he's gone but the girl with a baby - how is she?...
The head of Russian media regulator Rospechat, Mikhail Seslavinsky, said of Lesin: 'I saw him a month ago.
'He was full of energy, going through a new period in his life, talking about forgotten feelings because of his
newborn little daughter'.
In private, Lesin 'highlighted his responsibility for all the members of his extended family, loved all of his family,
and was hoping for an harmonious existence in a world new to him.'
He spoke of a succession of surgeries that Lesin - who had been a heavy drinker and smoker - had undergone. These
were not for heart problems, but linked to his spine.
'He was always a fighter, even after going through several complex surgeries, He had recovered, was doing sports,
and looked absolutely healthy,' he said.
Simonyan revealed he had lost 66 pounds after breaking his spine three years ago, and undergone 13 operations after
his back became infected.
After his death was announced, RT said without explanation that Lesin 'had been suffering from a prolonged
unidentified illness'
In the months before his death, Irkutsk-born Rakhimbayeva traveled on an odyssey to some of the most exotic
places in the world, according to her social media accounts
It is unclear if Lesin - who she does not name - was with her at all times, but in one online exchange she made clear
they intended to settle in New York, although she preferred Los Angeles.
'Russia is already left behind, and I haven't yet made it to America,' she wrote at one point.
'Getting there with connections: 3 months in Europe and 3 months in Asia.'
She said: 'Los Angeles is the best city in the world but husband is against', adding 'Poor me.'
She was asked: 'How did you manage to travel so globally between America and Russia, if it's not a secret?
Savings?'
She replied: 'Traveling is about my husband - he's a brilliant mind and a great organizer of his (and also my) life.'
IN11March16.docx
Five weeks ago, she posted from Hawaii, seven weeks ago from Los Angeles. Earlier she was in the Komodo
Islands, Switzerland, Singapore, Bali, and Greece.
'We passed through all the islands in Greece on yacht,' she boasted around nine months ago.
In August 2014, she posted from Italy saying: 'Every day of my life is so full of happiness that it seems it can't get
any better.
'But a new day comes and shows me new goals. I start thinking that happiness has no limits.
'Wish everyone love and unlimited happiness!'
Controversy surrounded him, as when during his stint as press minister the media empire of oligarch Vladimir
Gusinsky media assets - noted for their independence - were transferred to state energy giant Gazprom.
He was also rumored to have played a key role in the creation of a secret tape compromising former Prosecutor
General Yuri Skuratov.
Skuratov was seen in bed with two women, claimed to be prostitutes, forcing the resignation of a man who was
probing alleged corruption in then president Boris Yeltsin's circle.
When he quit Gazprom Media in December, a move seen as a shock, he cited 'family reasons' although there were
unconfirmed claims he had fallen out with other influential figures close to Putin.
Senator Wicker said of Lesin: 'That a Russian public servant could have amassed the considerable funds required to
acquire and maintain these assets in Europe and the United States raises serious questions.'
Another comment from Venediktov: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/12/putin-s-pals-are-russian-

patriots-until-they-get-sick..html
Venediktov confirmed that in the last few months of his life, Lesin was trapped in problems, investigated in the
U.S., facing debts of about $90 million here in Russia. As such, he expressed doubts about the current version of
Lesins death. He did not have any ID on him in the hotel room, that is very strange; his family were not with him
when he died. They sounded too quick to jump on the heart attack version, as if they were trying to secure some
different story, Venediktov added, expressing a hope to hear the truth about Lesins death.]
Comment: Strange that we read there were no signs of foul playbut now that he died of
apparently being beaten to death. Wouldnt there have been blood all over the place?
What about the murderit had to be murder, didnt it?weapon? Or did he hit his head
in a struggle? How come it took so long to determine the cause of death? Was the beating
administered to cover something else? Was he beaten up in the hotel room or somewhere
else?
This newsru roundup includes another versiya of why Lesin was in Washington:
http://newsru.com/world/11mar2016/lessin.html
IN11March16.docx
Lesin, according to one story making the rounds, could have been sent to the US by certain
Kremlin groups concerned about worsening relations with Washington, hoping to re-establish
contacts at a time of tension and increased competition among Kremlin clansAs far as Lesin
and Kovalchuk: Last year, Rossiya Bank disclosed its relationship with Lesins Video
International (Comment: OK, so that means the bank was lending money to VI, I assume,
and thats the source of Lesins debt to Kovalchuk).
A reader sent this along:
[The March 10 joint statement by the District of Columbia's chief medical examiner and
police department says his "manner of death" is "undetermined." The statement says that in
addition to the "blunt-force injuries to the head" that caused Lesin's death, he also suffered
"blunt-force injuries" to his neck, torso, and upper and lower extremities." The statement
gives no indication how these injuries were sustained.
The New York Times on March 11 quoted an unidentified official as saying that the
injuries to his neck, torso, arms, and legs were the result of what the paper described as
"some sort of altercation" that occurred before he returned to his hotel room.
There were no obvious signs of foul play in the room, but surveillance video showed that
Lesin appeared "disheveled" upon his return to the hotel, the Times quoted a law
enforcement official as saying."
Full story from RFERL: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-lesin-mysterious-death-key-

facts/27604577.html
But then this question: If Lesin suffered a blunt force blow to the head that proved fatal only
later, how could he get back to his hotel room?]
The rest of the RFE story is worth looking at:
On November 3, 2015,hundreds of guests gathered at the swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel in

the U.S. capital for a dinner honoring Russian billionaire and philanthropist Pyotr Aven and
Susan Lehrman, a Washington socialite, investor, and patron of the arts.
On the guest list that evening, RFE/RL has confirmed, was Mikhail Lesin, a former Russian
press minister, Kremlin adviser, and central player in President Vladimir Putin's
consolidation of state control over the media.
IN11March16.docx
Lesin never showed up. And less than 48 hours later, on November 5, his battered body
was discovered in his 9th-floor suite at Washington's Dupont Circle Hotel.
His death sparked months of fervent speculation about what -- or who -- might have killed
the former Kremlin insider, what he was doing in Washington, and the wall of silence that
both city and federal authorities had erected around the matter.
Exactly who invited Lesin to the dinner, organized by the Washington-based Woodrow
Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, could not be immediately established. The research
center, which focuses on the study of Russia and the former Soviet Union, said he was
slated to sit at the table of one of the event's sponsors but declined to say which.
Lesin's empty seat at the dinner is among a scant handful of details about his final days that
have emerged in the four months since his death, which has spawned theories that he was
killed for spilling Kremlin secrets to the U.S. government -- or even that he entered witness
protection.
The chief city medical examiner in Washington on March 10 shed new light on the
circumstances surrounding Lesin's death, saying he died of "blunt-force injuries to the
head."
This has fueled further speculation about foul play and contradicts initial reports by Kremlin-
funded media that quoted an unidentified family member as saying that Lesin had died of a
heart attack.
Here are answers to five questions about Lesin's death.
Was Lesin Murdered?
The March 10 joint statement by the District of Columbia's chief medical examiner and
police department says his "manner of death" is "undetermined." The statement says that in
addition to the "blunt-force injuries to the head" that caused Lesin's death, he also suffered
"blunt-force injuries" to his neck, torso, and upper and lower extremities." The statement
gives no indication how these injuries were sustained.
The New York Times on March 11 quoted an unidentified official as saying that the
injuries to his neck, torso, arms, and legs were the result of what the paper described as
"some sort of altercation" that occurred before he returned to his hotel room.
IN11March16.docx
There were no obvious signs of foul play in the room, but surveillance video showed that
Lesin appeared "disheveled" upon his return to the hotel, the Times quoted a law
enforcement official as saying.
Why Did Police Launch A Homicide Investigation?
Days after Lesin's death, local police said detectives from its homicide branch were
investigating the case. A source at the homicide branch indicated to RFE/RL in November,
however, that it was being handled by the branch's natural-death unit. The Washington Post
has descried this unit as "assigned to investigate deaths that are not suspected homicides."
It was not immediately clear whether the natural-death unit continues to handle the
investigation, which police described in the March 10 statement as "active." Police
spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told The Washington Post that "we're not willing to close off
anything at this point."
Why Did It Take So Long To Release Autopsy Results?
In the weeks prior to the March 10 release of the cause of death in Lesin's case, the D.C.
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told RFE/RL that in 90 percent of cases the office
handles, the coroner's report is released within 90 days of death. Lesin's death was among
the 10 percent of cases falling under the "more complex" category that can take longer than
90 days, the medical examiner's chief of staff, Beverly Fields, told RFE/RL. She did not
elaborate on what made this case more "complex."
Was Lesin Being Investigated By U.S. Authorities?
This remains unclear. U.S. Senator Roger Wicker asked the Justice Department in August
2014 to investigate whether Lesin, who is seen as the mastermind behind the Kremlin-
funded RT network, used dirty money topurchase pricey California real estate. Wicker
wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the fact "that a Russian public
servant could have amassed the considerable funds required to acquire and maintain" such
expensive assets abroad "raises serious questions."
In December 2014, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik said that Wicker's request
was referred to the Justice Department's criminal division and the FBI, neither of which
have confirmed whether a formal investigation was opened.
IN11March16.docx
Wicker's call for an investigation has driven speculation that Lesin may have been in
Washington to discuss the matter of his California real-estate holdings with federal
investigators. So far, no clear evidence has emerged that this was the case. This, however,
has not stemmed speculation that Lesin may have been in Washington to cut a deal with
the feds -- and that the former Kremlin insider may have been killed to prevent him from
revealing intimate details about the workings of Putin's government.
Lesin, for his part, denied that he owned the California real estate in question. He told the
Russian edition of Forbes magazine that the properties were owned by his children.
His denial was belied by corporate documents filed in California Superior Court showing
that Lesin was the sole shareholder of a corporation known as Dastel. The company,
according to public records, purchased a 1,208-square-meter Beverly Hills home in August
2011 for $13.8 million and a 985-square-meter home in Brentwood for $9 million in 2012.
So What Was Lesin Doing In The United States?
Lesin stepped down as head of state-controlled Russian broadcasting giant Gazprom-

Media in December 2014 for what he described as family reasons. Prior to his resignation,
had spent time living in California -- specifically in Beverly Hills -- for several years prior to
his death, according to his friends and U.S. court documents.
His son, Anton Lessine, is a successful financier of several, well-known Hollywood films --
including projects featuring Woody Allen and John Turturro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and
Brad Pitt. His U.S.-based daughter, Yekaterina Lesina, has worked for RT, which U.S.
officials have called a "propaganda bullhorn" for Putin's government.
RT's editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan, wrote days after Lesin's death that he had invited
her to quit her job and come to Los Angeles to write screenplays. "I'll be your producer,"
she quoted Lesin as saying.
The California Superior Court documents indicate Lesin was in the United States on a
tourist visa. Why he was in Washington at the time of his death remains unclear.
With reporting by Mike Eckel
Kashin on the attack on journalists, rights activists in Ingushetia

IN11March16.docx
See yesterdays notes

https://slon.ru/posts/64987
Kashin dismisses any notions that Kadyrov has finally crossed the line one too many times
nothing will happen. Peskov will say he doesnt know anything about it, Investigative
Committee spokesman Markin will tell us the investigation is ongoing, and there will be leaks
about the investigation from Rosbalt (Comment: Which has published leaks about the
Nemtsov investigation). Over time, the scandal will die downRussia in 2016 is a country in
which a bus can be stopped, journalists and rights activists beaten, and a bus started on fire. Its
not that the bus was burned on the Chechen-Ingush border. It was attacked and burned in
Russia.
Kashin on a Russia with no newsand what that means

https://slon.ru/posts/64915
Kashin looks at whats in the news latelythe sports doping scandal; the murderous nanny;
Savchenko on hunger strike.The real news is that there is no news. Russia is ruled by power
personalized in one manhis moods, policy swings, can change and do change. It was not long
ago we heard of a Russian SpringRussia, it turned out, was an empire, and Putin the
Emperor. Then came sanctions, a dragged out war in Eastern Ukraine, Syria and the economic
crisis, low oil pricesThis spring we live in a Russia whose historic mission has not taken
shapeand Putin knows that. The 2016 we have is not the 2016 that Putin imagined two years
ago. That is already obvious and thats the main news for a country in which there is suddenly no
news.
Stanovaya has commented on Kashins no news piece: https://slon.ru/posts/64956
So theres no news. Putin has lost. But is that the case? Stanovaya thinks that Putin tends to
alternate between periods of sharp focus on concrete problems with maximum mobilization
and down periods of devastation that usually dont last long (Comment: Thats been his
tendencyunder intense pressure, Putin can drop out of sight for while, I think to
recharge. He has appeared, as noted earlier, to be near the breaking point a few times,
dropped out of sight, then re-surfaced. He dropped out of sight during the under-the-
carpet crisis after the Nemtsov murder, for example). Maybe Putin is just going through one
of his down periods (Comment: Has Putin not been appearing publically? He was just
handing out state awards yesterday. He may be in slow down mode, but not in a depressed
phase).
Russian politics tends to be that way as wellmanic-depressiveIn 2004-05, the manic phase
was all about the color revolution in UkraineIn 2006, anti-Georgian hysteriaAfter a quiet
phase under Medvedev, vlast was back to manic activity, re-constructing the vertical. In 2014, it
was Crimea and the Kiev junta. Last year, it was Turkey. The manic periods tend to come
IN11March16.docx
when Russian vlast feels that it is vulnerableThe manic behavior is caused by Moscow
desiring two opposing goals at once: it wants the love of the West (Comment: I would say the
sense of being accepted, of being equal. Theres been a love-hate insecurity in Russia about
its relations with the West for a long, long time. Its common when a country/civilization/
encounters a technologically superior other), having done things to lose the Wests trust.
The West for us is both an enemy and a partner. We are afraid, but want to be friendly. When
the strategic task of establishing relations as equal partners has failed, then you get the
fluctuations, the reactionary policies(Comment: Belkovskiy has often said that Putin wants
the Wests loveand has even compared him to a jilted lover, as I recall)
The Ukrainian round in that manic phase was over last fall. The new obsession is to outplay
the West in the Near East. Its outside Russias traditional field of influence so has not caused
so much hysteria. The audience is the international community, with whom Putin wants to
establish a complex system of geo-political horse trading. The hysterical propaganda is
addressed to the Russian peopleWhen it comes time to cut off the hysterics, then depression
sets in (She gives Putins big press conference at the end of last year as an examplehe didnt
touch on the crisis, or social problems, there was no criticism of elites, a sort of indifference was
manifested). Its not that Putin thinks he has losttheres an emotional exhaustion with the
Ukraine crisis, in which a certain equilibrium has been established. The Syrian campaign has not
worked out as a way to make a complete exit from Ukraineits going to be a long and
complicated struggle.
The depression will grow until Putin finds a new obsessionmaybe a new effort to halt NATO
expansion, or some kind of foreign policy provocation that will appear to be a blow to Russian
national security. Putin will be expecting new treachery from outsideif it doesnt happen,
maybe he will come up with one. The system cant function any other way. There will be
newsand it will probably be bad
A declaration from Strelkovs 25 January Committee (The crisis and Russias fate)
http://novorossia.pro/25yanvarya/1668-zayavlenie-komiteta-25-yanvarya.html
The degradation of state and public institutions has reached a stage in which the system cannot
react to the threats facing RussiaOur so-called elite has shown it has no ability to perform
the basic functions of a true national eliteA mono-sector economy (raw materials based) has
been built in our countrythe countrys basic resources have wound up in the hands of a closed
group of bureaucrats and oligarchs. There is no honest economic competition or defense of
private property, no independent courts, credits for small and medium business are hard to come
byThe Russian economy is over-regulated, and suffers from arbitrary actions by
bureaucratsCorruption is the basic principle of the present systemThe conscious destruction
of the middle class and small/medium business is continuingThere are no real politics, no free
elections or real political competition in our countryThere is no division of powers, no
freedom of speechThere are no actual institutions or law, personal connections are what
matter
IN11March16.docx
All of this leaves Russia vulnerable to pressure from geo-political opponents, threatening the
country with loss of sovereignty, the destruction of Russias military potential, the collapse and
dismemberment of the Russian Federation, a social and economic catastrophe, civil war,
separatism, and leaving us with no chance of reunifying the Russian peopleThe raw materials
based economy, falling oil process, and Western sanctions have the country in economic crisis.
The economic crisis will only get worseand the current leadership is incapable of dealing with
itRussia is involved in two conflictsin Ukraine and in Syria. The contradictory course taken
in these conflicts threatens Russia with military defeatRussias geo-political opponents want to
use those conflicts to deepen the economic crisis in Russia and repeat the impact of the Russia-
Japan war in which a defeat abroad weakened the regime at home. In the Middle East, Russia is
now faced with confrontation with Turkey and, thus, with NATO. Russia is isolated politically.
The conditions for truce are for Russia to give up the Donbass and Crimea, which will cause a
political crisis in RussiaFor the majority of elites, the Russian Spring was just an empty
populist sloganRussias re-orientation to China has failed.
The patience of the people is running out. The protest mood is growingThe split in the
elite is widening, representing a serious threat to Russian security. A part of the elite has
supported pro-Western, anti-national and anti-state positions. And they are planning an anti-
constitutional change of power, as in Ukraine. The preparations for a coup are moving forward,
supported by the US and its allies. The aim is the complete capitulation of Russia, the remains of
a collapsed Russia turned into a Western colonyIf the pro-Western elites win out, then another
part of the elite, Putin, his allies, the siloviky, stand to risk losing their assets, their freedom, and
even their lives. Any opposition to the conspiracy has been ineffectiveA systemic crisis is
building in Russiawe have reached the point where a significant part of anti-crisis measures
cannot be realized, but vlast does not understand this and the negative trends will reach their end
no later than 2018. If no political forces capable of becoming a genuine national elite appear
before then, Russia will share the fate of the Soviet Union in 1991 and Ukraine in 2014.
From: Bob<robertotto25@gmail.com>
Senttime: 01/10/201612:15:30PM
To: JohnBDunlop<jbdunlop@stanford.edu>
Subject: WasPutinsMediaChiefReadytoSnitchBeforeHeDroppedDead?-TheDailyBeast
WasPutinsMediaChiefReadyToSnitchBefore
HeDroppedDead?
WhenpolicefoundMikhailLesindeadinaWashington,D.C.,hotelroom,themostinterestingquestion
wasntthecauseofhisdemise,butwhathewasdoingintheUnitedStatesinthefirstplace.
TheformerpropagandachiefforRussianpresidentVladimirPutin,nicknamedthebulldozerforhishistory
ofrollingoverhisopposition,LesinhadbeenunderscrutinybytheFBIandtheJusticeDepartmentfor
potentialmoneylaunderingandviolationofcorruptionlaws.Lesinwassuspectedofhidingill-gottengainsin
nearly$30millionworthofluxuryrealestateinsouthernCalifornia,anastoundingsetofassetsforaman
supposedlycollectingacivilservantssalary.Hedalsobeenconsideredforsanctionsthatwouldhave
preventedhimfromobtainingavisatoentertheUnitedStates.
Sen.RogerWicker,aRepublicanfromMississippiwhohasspentyearslookingintocorruptionandhuman-
rightsabusesinRussia,hadaskedtheJusticeDepartmenttoinvestigateLesin.InDecember2014,the
departmentconfirmedithadreferredLesinscasetotheCriminalDivisionandtotheFBI.Whileofficials
declinedtosaywhethertheyformallyopenedaninvestigation,severalclosewatchersofLesinscasetold
TheDailyBeasttheythoughtitwasallbutcertainthathewasbeingpursuedbyU.S.lawenforcement.And
ifhewasntunderactivecriminalinvestigation,theFBIhadenoughevidencetoconsideropeningacase,
theysaid.Abureauspokespersondeclinedtocommentonthematter.
SowhydidLesin,whowas57,temptfatebyenteringtheUnitedStatesthispastNovember?
Thepurposeofhisvisitwasnevermadeclear.Buthewasstayinginamid-rangehotelonWashingtons
DuPontCircle.Whilenotshabby,itsdoesntseemthekindofplacethatattractspeoplewhobuy
multimillion-dollarestates.Itdoes,though,offeracomparativelylowper-nightrate,perhapsmoreinline
withU.S.governmentbudgets,andisknowntohostforeigngovernmentofficialsandvisitorsonexchange
programs.ItsalsolocatedashortdrivefromFBIandJusticeDepartmentheadquarters.
ThesearethebroadstrokesofLesinscase.AndinsomeforeignpolicycirclesinWashingtonaswellasin
RussianmediatheyhavefueledspeculationthatLesinwasmurderedaftercomingtoWashingtontocuta
dealwiththeFBI.
LesincertainlywouldhavehadalottosayaboutPutinsinnercircleheworkedwith,andreportedlyowed
moneyto,someofthemostpowerfulmeninRussianmediaandfinance.Andhewouldhavehada
powerfulincentivetocooperatewithU.S.authorities,namelyhangingontohisseveralmansionsinLos
Angeles,whichpotentiallycouldhavebeenseized.Atleasttwoofthehomesareknowntobeoccupied,
respectively,byhisdaughterandhisson,aHollywoodfilmproducerwhosestarisontherise.
Addingtothemystery,theprecisecauseofLesinsuntimelydemisehasntbeenrevealed.Almost
immediately,thebroadcastingoutfitRT(RussiaToday),widelyseenasaKremlinmouthpiece,reportedthat
Lesindiedofaheartattack,citinganunnamedfamilymember.
ButaspokespersonfortheWashington,D.C.,policedepartmenttoldTheDailyBeastthatLesinsdeathis
stillunderinvestigation.Andalthoughacoronerperformedanautopsynearlytwomonthsago,thepolice
arentsayinghowhedied.Thatsanunusuallylongtimenottopubliclystateacauseofdeath.
Theconspiracytheoriesarearguablywell-founded,becauseitwouldntbethefirsttimesomeonewhoposed
apoliticalthreattoPutinwoundupdeadunderunusualcircumstances,includingpoisoning.
LesinwasalsobeingsqueezedbytheU.S.government.Twoyearsagohedbeennominatedbyhuman-
rightsgroupsfortheso-calledMagnitskylistofRussianhuman-rightsviolators,whichwouldhaveallowed
Washingtontodenyhimavisaandseizehisassetsinthiscountry.Lesinwasnotplacedonthepubliclist,
whichconsistsmainlyofmid-levelofficialsnotasinfluentialastheformerpropagandachief.ButU.S.
officialsmaintainaclassifiedannexwhichreportedlyincludesmoreseniorRussians,includingthosecloserto
Putin.ItsnotknownwhetherLesinwasonthatlist,butactivistslobbiedhardtoputhimthere.
Hewouldhavebeenanidealcandidate.NotonlywasheoneofRTsfoundingfathers,creditedwith
conceivingofthenetworkwhileworkingforPutininordertocounterwhathesawasanti-Russiajournalism
intheWest.(ItsbeenalongtimesinceIwasscaredbythewordpropaganda,Lesinsaidin2007,
accordingtoRT.WeneedtopromoteRussiainternationally.Otherwise,wedjustlooklikeroaringbearson
theprowl.)
LesinwasalsoalongtimePutincrony,andheplayedacentralroleinanearlyprojectbytheRussian
strongmantogutthecountrysindependenttelevisionstation,NTV,whichhadairedcriticalreportsabout
governmentcorruption,thewarinChechnya,andhadbecomeasoapboxforprominentPutincritics.While
Lesinwasservingastheinformationminister,RussiajailedNTVsfounderandmajorityshareholder,
VladimirGusinsky.
Whilehewasthere,theinformationministermadeanoffer:Gusinskycouldhavehisfreedomifheagreed
totransferhismediaholdingstoGazprom,thestate-ownedenergymonopoly,accordingtoRussian
journalistVladimirKara-Muzra,whohasprobedLesinsfinancialandrealestateholdings.Itwasanaked
powerplaythattheEuropeanCourtofHumanRightsfoundwaspoliticallymotivatedandamountedto
state-sanctionedblackmail.
Gusinksydidn'tendupgoingalongwiththedealtohandoverthemediacompany.ButGazpromtookover
NTVanyway--byforce--andin2013LesinbecametheheadofGazprom-Media,anactualstate-runmedia
organization.RT,whichreportedthecauseofLesinsdeathbeforeamedicalexaminerhadevenseenhis
body,merelyreceivesfundingfromthestate.
TheGazpromtakeoverhasraisedconcernsamongU.S.investigatorsthatLesinmayhavecomebya
fortunethroughillegalseizuresofprivateproperty,andthenlaunderedthoseproceedsbystashingthemin
Americanrealestate,accordingtotwosourceswhohavefollowedLesinsfinancesandaskednottobe
identified.
LandingLesincouldhaveledinvestigatorstoother,evenbiggerfish.AsWickerwrotetothen-Attorney
GeneralEricHolderin2014,LesinmayalsohaveclosebusinesstieswithindividualssubjecttoU.S.
sanctions,aswellasorganizations,includingBankRossiya,whichiscloselylinkedtoGazprom,andthe
banksowner,YuryKovalchuk,abillionairewhoranksamongRussiasrichestpeople,isreportedlycloseto
Putinpersonally,andwassanctionedbytheTreasuryDepartmentafterRussiainvadedCrimea.
IfLesinwerefoundtobeviolatingU.S.money-launderinglaws,itcouldprovidearareopportunitytosnare
aseniorPutinaide.AfterWickerpressedtheissue,relyinginpartonpublicpropertyrecordsthatclearly
linkedtheL.A.mansionstoLesin,theJusticeDepartmentconsideredwhethertogoafterhim.
Followingthenewsofhisdeath,theKremlinissuedastatementonbehalfofPutin,notingThepresident
hasahighappreciationforMikhailLesinsmassivecontributiontothecreationofmodernRussianmass
media.
ButhavingLesinasaninformantwouldbeenabigcontributiontoU.S.lawenforcementandintelligence.
AndtheinformationthatWickerandhisstaff,aswellashuman-rightsgroupsandjournalists,dugupon
LesinmayhavepushedhimclosertotheFBIsarms.
AbouttwoweeksaftertheJusticeDepartmentinformedWickerthattheallegationsagainstLesinwere
referredtotheFBI,LesinresignedastheheadofGazprom-Media,citingunspecifiedfamilyreasons.
Kara-Murza,thejournalistandPutincritic,whohimselffellmysteriouslyilllastsummer,hasdirectlylinked
thedepartmentsannouncementtoLesinssteppingdownandsaiditshowedthatthethreatofsanctionsand
prosecutioncouldbeusedtobringdowncorruptRussianofficials.
Thatsjustoneexampleofhoweffectivethisprocesscanbeifitsappliedproperly,ifitsdoneagainstthe
rightpeople,Kara-MurzasaidinremarksattheAmericanEnterpriseInstitute,aWashingtonthinktank,in
October.Kara-MurzadeclinedtodiscussLesinscasewithTheDailyBeast,citingtheLatinadmonitionde
mortuisnihilnisibonum.Ofthedead,[say]nothing,unlessgood.AndIhavenothinggoodtosayabout
him.
Meanwhile,Lesinschildrenhavealsokeptmum.Hisson,AntonLessine(thesurnamesarespelled
differently),didntrespondtoarequestforcomment,andhisdaughtercouldntbereached.Antonhasbeen
onarollinHollywood,helpingfinancinghigh-profilemovieswithA-listtalent.Hewastheexecutive
produceroftheArnoldSchwarzeneggeractionvehicleSabotage,theBradPittWWIItankpicFury,2015s
BillMurraycomedyRocktheKasbah,and2016stransgenerationalbuddyflickDirtyGrandpa,starring
RobertDeNiroandZacEffron.
Timesaregoodforthesonoftheex-Putinaide,whoseemstohavecomeoutofnowhereinthefamously
hard-to-crackworldofbig-budgetfilmmaking.HerecentlypurchasedamansioninL.A.sPacificPalisades
foranaskingpriceofnearly$4million.HowexactlytheLesinfamilycameintosuchgoodfortuneisa
questionthathaspiquedtheinterestofU.S.investigators.
Asmightanotherquestion:WasLesinindebt,andreadytofleeRussiaforanewlife?AfterLesinsdeath,
TheMoscowTimesreportedthathemayhavesteppeddownfromGazprom-Mediaafterlosinganinternal
powerstruggle.Joblessandwithhigh-levelenemies,Lesinalsoowedahugeamountofmoneyto
Kovalchuk,thebillionairebanker,whichhedidntintendedtorepay,thenewsorganizationreported,citing
anonymoussources.
Healsounderestimatedhisrivals,TheMoscowTimeswrote.TheheadsofthreeofRussia'smajorTV
channelscomplainedtoPresidentPutinthatLesinhadbegunbehavingasifhewastheirboss,ashehad
beenwhilepressminister.
ThewallswereclosinginonLesin--inWashingtonandinMoscow.PerhapsLesinstriptothatDuPont
Circlehotelwashisfirststeptowardsanewlife.ButifhedbecomeanenemyofPutinandhisfriends,
eventheFBImightnothavebeenabletosavehim.
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From: WayneAllensworth<swallen@1scom.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency

Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus Forecast

UkraineGDP Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit

Internet Notes 11 March 2016

Lesins death due to blunt force trauma

Authorities on Thursday released no other information about the mysterious death of

[Lesins death (This looks fishy)

See the 6 November notes

Heres the outline of a theory involving Wicker, mentioned above:

We got more on Lesin in the 11 November 2015 notes:

[More on the death of Lesin

See the 6 and 9 November notes.

Illness and Investigation

His presence and death in Washington shocked many Russians.

It is unclear if Rakhimbayeva was in the US with him at the time.

'Getting there with connections: 3 months in Europe and 3 months in Asia.'

'Wish everyone love and unlimited happiness!'

Another comment from Venediktov: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/12/putin-s-pals-are-russian-

A reader sent this along:

Full story from RFERL: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-lesin-mysterious-death-key-

The rest of the RFE story is worth looking at:

On November 3, 2015,hundreds of guests gathered at the swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel in

Here are answers to five questions about Lesin's death.

Was Lesin Murdered?

Why Did Police Launch A Homicide Investigation?

Why Did It Take So Long To Release Autopsy Results?

Was Lesin Being Investigated By U.S. Authorities?

So What Was Lesin Doing In The United States?

Lesin stepped down as head of state-controlled Russian broadcasting giant Gazprom-

With reporting by Mike Eckel

Kashin on the attack on journalists, rights activists in Ingushetia

See yesterdays notes

Kashin on a Russia with no newsand what that means

Stanovaya has commented on Kashins no news piece: https://slon.ru/posts/64956

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