24 September 2023 , 21:50
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The Russian exile who claims he has survived three Putin-backed assassination attempts has spoken out on the threat of “physical elimination” he faces.
Igor Sychev, 48, most recently received a death threat promising to make his murder look like a “poison suicide”, after he fled Russia in March 2016. Igor had already suffered multiple threats against him and his family and real attempts at his life.
Now British police are looking into a supposed kill order which came from Putin’s cronies, following a phone call warning him that his family would be killed unless he dropped a legal case against a number of oligarchs. Recordings of the phone call have been submitted to British and Latvian police.
The father-of-two took the company he used to work for - PhosAgro, a Russian fertiliser company owned and run by oligarchs - to court for not paying him. He says he now lives in constant fear of being killed after a terrible nine years which saw him lose his job, home, and family. Igor worked for PhosAgro for two decades, helping the company settle high-profile tax disputes in 2014.
A spokesperson for PhosAgro described the allegations as “wild and unsubstantiated”, but Igor feels the recent threats are linked to the ongoing case. "I just want to get justice," he said. “I did my part of the work perfectly, and I was supposed to receive a reward of one percent of the shares.”
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Igor won't go back to Russia while Putin is in power - and hasn't seen his children in two years (Igor Sychev)He says PhosAgro refused to pay his dues, and that is when he launched a court case against them in the UK. While the case went on, Igor went through three car crashes in Moscow - all of them nearly fatal. The situation has got so bad that Latvian authorities have reportedly asked him to go into witness protection, according to the Sun.
Igor says that in each car crash a "wheel flew off and the brakes were turned off and two out of three cars were just in pieces". Separate photographs showing three brand new Jeeps destroyed allegedly show the aftermath of the three assassination attempts.
He claims that Russian investigators opened a criminal investigation after confirming that the Jeeps were deliberately tampered with before the crashes. "The most important thing is that they tried to stage them as car accidents… it was a pure miracle that I survived," he said. “Shortly after [the investigation was opened], the case vanished without any documentary traces," he said.
Igor claims he was involved in three car accidents when in three separate new Jeeps (Igor Sychev)Russian authorities then brought a criminal case against him and raided his home with armed men and dogs, stealing his passport and informing him he would be arrested in eight days. The case was “fabricated” according to Igor.
And that’s when the company made their move, Igor says. “When they thought that I was their hostage, [PhosAgro] associates contacted me demanding that I should stop my pursuit of them in the court and pay £3 million to Russian police as a bribe.”
Igor fled Russia using a secret passport stored at the UK embassy, but says at this point he became their “number one enemy” because he made a “fool” out of them. "I suppose this is the main reason why they hate me so much,” he said. "They put so much effort into this fabricated criminal case against me."
Igor claims Russian authorities confirmed the cars had been tampered with (Igor Sychev)Igor recorded alleged threats from PhosAgro’s representatives and handed them over to police forces. In one, a man shouts in Russian: "You can be killed today or tomorrow.” Another shows a man telling Igor: “You will lose your wife and children. Why do you need this war?"
The threat which gave Igor the largest fright, he said, came in the form of an email. The unknown sender said they had "stumbled on information and evidence about murder plans against [Igor]". It is unknown whether this was also a threat from the same people.
The sender wrote: "Igor, I wish to bring your attention to the below: Order to kill you. By poison to make it look like suicide, or a freak fall to make it look like an accident." Further emails from the sender stated to Igor that "the threats to your life are real" and "they must finish the mission as soon as possible".
Igor requested the UK’s National Crime Agency to investigate the calls, and Detective Inspector Michael O’Sullivan of City of London police said they are looking into the allegations. "We have had a report of malicious communications. We treat any such allegations seriously. We will not be commenting further at this stage.”
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But he refuses to give up the fight against PhosAgro, saying: "The question is difficult. It has been going on for nine years so far and just dropping this would be foolish. I just want to get justice. Igor says he is now “more afraid” because they have “ruined their reputation” - believing embarrassment may make them try even harder. "They want to save face and my murder would solve a lot of problems for them,” he said.
His former wife and two children are still in Russia - and he hasn’t seen them in seven years. "I hoped that by divorcing my wife, it would provide some kind of safety for them." But he won’t be going home any time soon. "Even if they stop their case against me, I wouldn't return until Putin's reign has ended and justice might one day be served," Igor said.