Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Lukoil board called for the conflict to end as soon as possible, expressing its sympathy to victims of “this tragedy”.
Maganov was a prominent member of the Russian business elite. He was a close associate of one of Lukoil’s founders, Vagit Alekperov, a former Soviet oil minister who resigned from his position as CEO shortly after the UK and EU imposed sanctions on him.
Maganov had worked at Lukoil since 1993 and had overseen refining and exploration divisions before being named chair of its board of directors in 2020.
The incident occurred on the same day Vladimir Putin visited the hospital in order to pay his respects to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.
My “go to” brilliant Russian friend (still patriotically Russian but not willing to return) believes Putin not only paid his respects to Gorbachev, but then “happened to stop by for a chat” with the Lukoil Chairman. The sequencing was such that many many Russians, especially those who have read their Solzhenitsyn, will have the same thought.
Why? Because clear disciplinary guidelines boost team morale, and exemplary acts showing leaders personally involved in enforcing discipline are part of a necessary “leadership mystique” for autocracies. Here is video from The Godfather exquisitely showing the “ceremony” properly done, with humiliatingly fake reassurance playing a key role.
Could this ever happen here in the home of the brave?
Jose Padilla?
Padilla was arrested in Chicago on May 8, 2002, on suspicion of plotting a radiological bomb (“dirty bomb”) attack. He was detained as a material witness until June 9, 2002, when President (some guy) designated him an enemy combatant and, arguing that he was not entitled to trial in civilian courts, had him transferred to a military prison in South Carolina.
The fraud began to unravel rapidly on March 19, 1997, when Filipino Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman reportedly committed suicide by jumping from a helicopter in Indonesia.[11][12] A body was found four days later in the jungle, missing the hands and feet, “surgically removed”.[13] In addition, the body was reportedly mostly eaten by animals.