1. Mikhail Yuryevich Lesin was a Russian political figure, media executive and advisor to president Vladimir Putin.
17 Facts About Mikhail Lesin
1. 2.
Mikhail Lesin died in a Washington, DC, hotel room under unusual circumstances.
3.
Mikhail Lesin was born in Moscow to a Jewish family involved in military construction.
4.
Mikhail Lesin spent his childhood years in Mongolia while his father, Yuri, worked on military construction projects.
5.
From 1976 to 1978, Mikhail Lesin served in the Soviet Army and Soviet Naval Infantry of the USSR Armed Forces.
6.
However, in 2001 with Mikhail Lesin acting as mediator, "Media Most" assets were transferred to Gazprom-Media under the terms of Protocol No 6, which allowed oligarchs to escape prosecution and be given the freedom to leave the country if they turned over their assets to the state.
7.
From 2010 to 2011, Mikhail Lesin was on the board of directors for National Telecommunications, which at the time belonged to the National Media Group.
8.
Mikhail Lesin resigned from Gazprom-Media in December 2014, citing family reasons.
9.
Mikhail Lesin led the Kremlin's efforts to censor Russia's independent television outlets, according to accusations by US Senator Roger Wicker in 2014.
10.
Mikhail Lesin was found dead before noon on Thursday, 5 November 2015, in The Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, DC He was found without any identification in a hotel room that was in his name.
11.
On 28 October 2016, after a year-long investigation, Washington's chief medical examiner and federal authorities released a joint statement saying Mikhail Lesin died of blunt-force trauma to his head, sustained in his hotel room induced by falls amid acute ethanol intoxication.
12.
The investigation found Mikhail Lesin had been on a days-long alcohol bender, saying:.
13.
The secret report, unconfirmed by the FBI, alleges that Mikhail Lesin was bludgeoned to death by men working for an oligarch close to Putin.
14.
The report says the men were ordered to scare but not kill Mikhail Lesin, but went too far.
15.
Mikhail Lesin was married to Valentina Ivanova and had a daughter, Catherine, from his first marriage in 1979; and a son, Anton, from his second marriage in 1983.
16.
Mikhail Lesin had five grandchildren at the time of his death.
17.
In 2015, Mikhail Lesin had a daughter with Victoria Rakhimbayeva, a former Maxim model with whom he had been close since mid-2014.