Russian oil boss dies ‘from toad poisoning’

A former top manager of the Russian energy corporation Lukoil has died from suspected toad poisoning, reports say.

Following a session with a local shaman in Mytishchi, a city northeast of Russia’s capital Moscow, Alexander Subbotin a Lukoil board member, allegedly died in a basement after an anti-hangover session with the healer.

Subbotin visited the shaman, Magua, and his wife at their home, the Telegram channel Mash claims, to treat a hangover using toad venom.

“They made an incision on the skin, dripped toad poison there – and after vomiting the patient allegedly got better,” the channel said.

Mash also claims that Subbotin knew the couple for a long time and had regularly used their services.

It notes: “And so he came to them once again – to treat a hangover. Suddenly he felt unwell – his heart ached. The owner decided not to call an ambulance, gave Corvalol and put the businessman to sleep in the basement. There the man died. the deceased were just friends.”

According to reports, the shaman told police that they were just friends with Subbotin - the brother of Valery Subbotin, ex-vice president of Lukoil.

The tale of Subbotin’s curious demise is one in a number of unusual deaths involving Russia’s energy sector, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Recently, four current and former Gazprom officials – along with a further Russian energy official – died under mysterious circumstances over the course of several weeks, in the build-up to, and aftermath of, the Ukraine invasion.

In two cases, the executives’ wives and children, in Moscow and a Spanish resort town, were also discovered gruesomely hacked to death.