Natalia Bochkareva, the 44-year-old daughter of former Putin ally Vasily Bochkarev, has been discovered dead in her condominium in Moscow’s Presnensky District. On July 11, the concierge of her apartment called the police after she stopped responding to the door. When the authorities forced open the front door, they found her lifeless body.
Preliminary reports indicate that there were no signs of a violent death. Vasily Bochkarev, who governed Penza oblast from 1998 to 2015 and was a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, passed away from lung cancer a year after leaving office. Following her father’s death, Natalia Bochkareva managed the family’s lumber-processing and bakery businesses.
Bochkareva gained attention two years ago when she fell victim to a scam, losing RUB 16 million (GBP 136,000) to a self-proclaimed fortune teller promising to remove a curse. The fortune teller ceased all communication with Bochkareva and failed to fulfill the agreement.
This incident is part of a series of “suspicious” deaths in Russia, particularly in the energy sector, since the escalation of tension preceding Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The cause of Natalia Bochkareva’s death remains unknown pending further investigation.
