Nikita Olegovich Isaev (russian: Никита Олегович Исаев; 12 November 1978 – 16 November 2019) was a Russian politician, journalist, and anti-corruption and environmental activist.
Before his death, Isaev was the former head of the New Russia movement and was appointed as an adviser for regional development by
Sergei Mironov
Sergey Mikhailovich Mironov (russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Миро́нов; born 14 February 1953) is a Russian politician. He was Chairman of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, from 2001 to 2011 ...
. In 2019, he died on a train from
Tambov
Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna and ...
to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. The official cause of death was a heart attack. In 2021, a joint-investigation by ''
Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'',
Bellingcat
Bellingcat (stylised as bellngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014 ...
and ''
The Insider'' linked the
Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB) unit that allegedly
poisoned
A poison can be any substance that is harmful to the body. It can be swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin. Poisoning is the harmful effect that occurs when too much of that substance has been taken. Poisoning is not t ...
the opposition leader
Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, Russian opposition ...
to Isaev's death, saying that FSB agents had followed him since December 2018. The investigation noted that Isaev was loyal to the Kremlin but was known to have a fraught relationship with the FSB, which makes it difficult to identify a possible motive for him to be killed by the FSB. However, they noted that Isaev traveled abroad frequently, and had purchased flight tickets for a family trip to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
on 5 December 2019 (three weeks after his death). The investigators therefore consider the possibility that the FSB may have suspected that Isaev was about to
defect
A defect is a physical, functional, or aesthetic attribute of a product or service that exhibits that the product or service failed to meet one of the desired specifications. Defect, defects or defected may also refer to:
Examples
* Angular defec ...
.
References
1978 births
2019 deaths
Russian journalists
Russian activists
Russian politicians
{{Russia-journalist-stub