ANOTHER RUSSIAN OFFICIAL MEETS THE KREMLIN’S MOST RELIABLE INVESTIGATOR: GRAVITY
Sergey Shalaginov, a police colonel and former deputy head of the Sverdlovsk region’s Center for Countering Extremism—known in Russia as “Center E”—has been found dead outside a high-rise building in Yekaterinburg.
His body was discovered near an apartment tower on Shchorsa Street. Shalaginov had recently submitted his retirement papers after years inside the Interior Ministry and was awarded the ministry’s “For Combat Cooperation” medal in 2022.
Pro-Kremlin outlet URA.Ru initially reported that Shalaginov had taken his own life following dismissal and a conflict with senior officials. That article subsequently disappeared.
The regional Interior Ministry confirmed his death but denied any professional dispute, claiming he retired because of his length of service and had even been offered a promotion.
There is presently no evidence proving that Shalaginov was murdered, and Russian authorities have not publicly established all the circumstances of his death.
Still, Russia has developed a remarkable pattern: officials, executives and security figures encounter career trouble—and suddenly windows become involved. In most countries, that would generate questions. In Putin’s Russia, gravity appears to close the investigation before it has even begun.- Ukraine: News