The Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has been found dead at his home near Ascot in Surrey, it has been announced. The details of his death remain unclear but initial reports suggest he committed suicide, though that is yet to be independently confirmed.
He was found this morning, some reports suggesting he was found in his bath but little else is known. It is difficult to overestimate how many enemies he had, a Russian journalist told Sky News.
Mr Berezovsky had been living in this country for the past 13 years and had houses in Surrey and in the Knightsbridge area of London. He had been trying to re-build his life here after a somewhat ignominious departure from Russia, where he claimed to be in fear of his life. He had fallen out with President Vladimir Putin, and became vociferously anti-Kremlin.
In a notorious High Court case last year he sued and accused Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract. He lost, and was left with legal bills of tens of millions of pounds as a result.
The man who had once been worth billions was left flat-out broke as a result, signifying an extremely low point in a career that stretched back through several Russian presidents whose confidence he had.
He was also a close associate of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian agent who was poisoned by polonium and died in 2006, and who Berezovsky was at one time accused of murdering. Mr Litvinenko's widow, Marina, had recently appealed for help to pay her legal bills, after Mr Berezovsky said he could no longer afford to support her.
Berezovsky had said he was now unable to fund her fees for a long-awaited inquest into her late-husband's death. The inquest next year is expected to hear evidence that Russian agents murdered the dissident. In an interview with the Guardian last December, Mrs Litvinenko said she believed her husband was the victim of a Kremlin plot.
