Ukrainian tycoon Mikhail Watford found hanged at £18m mansion ‘feared he was on Putin’s hit list’
THE Ukrainian tycoon found hanged at his posh UK home told a close friend that Russian president Vladimir Putin had put him on a hit list, it emerged last night.
A female neighbour of 66-year-old Mikhail Watford said he had been worried for two years.
And she was “suspicious” about Monday’s death in the garage of his Wentworth Estate pad in Virginia Water, Surrey.
She also said Mr Watford, known as Misha, had been a pal of Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, found hanged at his home in Ascot, Berks, in 2013.
Mr Watford told her Berezovsky had been murdered by an intelligence agency.
The neighbour went on: “I find it hard to believe that Misha would have taken his own life. It doesn’t add up.”
Gags on critics to be halted
By Kate Ferguson and Tom Wells
RUSSIAN oligarchs who use British courts to gag critics will be targeted in a crackdown.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said a new Bill of Rights would protect freedom of speech.
Ministers are also considering how to curb the crippling legal costs which stop journalists and other campaigners from fighting their cases.
He said: “We will not have people close to Putin coming here to try and bankrupt people who shine a light on his excesses.”
There is growing pressure on British lawyers, including big name QCs and firms, accused of helping billionaire Russians crush free speech.
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The businessman, said to have financial concerns after the pandemic, moved to the UK in the early 2000s with Estonian wife Jane.
Police are treating the father-of-three’s death as “unexplained” — but stressed they are not treating it as suspicious at this stage.
All you need to know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Everything you need to know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine...
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