Vladimir Makei : The Sudden Unexplained Death of Belarus Foreign Minister On 26 Nov 2022

Foreign Minister of Belarus Vladimir Makei died On 26 Nov 2022 according to the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Glaz.

Vladimir Makei: Sudden and Mysterious Death of Belarus Foreign Minister

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, a close associate of President Alexander Lukashenko, died on 26 Nov 2022 at an age of 64. Vladimir Makei was not known to have suffered from any chronic illnesses and a cause of death is unknown.

On Facebook, the Belarus Foreign Ministry wrote on Facebook that Makei “died suddenly today.” They also tweeted ( Twitter ) that he “has passed away”.

Later an official press release was shared at MFA website.

There were speculation about possible foul play in his death after Makei leaned toward Western countries. Belarusian authorities didn’t give the cause of Vladimir Makei’s death. He wasn’t known to suffer from any chronic illness.

Vladimir Makei: A Closer Look at His Life

Vladimir Vladimirovich Makei was born in 1958 in the Grodno region.

Vladimir Makei graduated from the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages in 1980.

His Career Timeline was as follows:

• 1980-1993: Served in the Armed Forces of the USSR and Belarus. Became a reserve colonel.
• 1993-1995: Third secretary of the department of information and humanitarian cooperation, second secretary of the department of analysis and forecasting, second secretary of the secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
• 1995-1996: Deputy Head of the State Protocol Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• 1996-1999: Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the Council of Europe, adviser to the Belarusian Embassy in France.
• 1999-2000: Head of the pan-European cooperation department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
• 2000-2008: Assistant to the President of Belarus.
• 2008-2012: Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus.

Since August 22, 2012, Vladimir Makei served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.

Vladimir Makei Wife And Children

Vladimir Makei married Actress Vera Polyakova-Makei. Vladimir had two children. Vitaly Makei is the elder son and while Artem was born in 2009. There are speculations on Social Media that Vladimir had a daughter names Mariya also. But no enough information is available on her. Only reference available so far is that according to a biography on the ministry’s website, which says he was married and had three children.

Local Media also reported that Makei was having marital problems. Everything was not going smooth with Vera Polyakova-Makei. Vera and the youngest son Artem did not live with Vladimir.

Puzzling Questions Surrounding Vladimir Makei Sudden Death

Vladimir Makei, a close ally of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for over two decades, was seen by many analysts as a key figure in Lukashenko’s efforts to thaw relations with the West, which had been frozen after a brutal crackdown on protests following his allegedly rigged 2020 re-election.

Despite his unwavering loyalty to Lukashenko during the crackdown on the opposition, Makei was seen as more liberal than the Belarusian leader and his inner circle.

Belarus’ ties with the West worsened after the country allowed Russia to station troops that invaded Ukraine on February 24.

In September 2022 , Makei blamed the West for the war in Ukraine, saying that it was “fully responsible for the ongoing bloodshed” and had “made this conflict inevitable.”

Was Vladimir Makei Next in Line for Belarus Presidency?

Vladimir Makei was seen as a potential heir to Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron grip since 1994.

Makei was supposed to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Minsk on Monday, November 28.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei assured the world that no Russian troops would remain in Belarus after joint military exercises on the Ukrainian border. However, on February 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from Belarus.

Vladimir Makei was Poisoned by the Kremlin ?

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, a long time associate of President Alexander Lukashenko, was poisoned in a covert operation by the Kremlin, according to new reports.

The 64-year-old diplomat died suddenly on Sunday after attending a military exercise in Belarus. He was not known to have any chronic illnesses.

Some reports say that Makei had a heart attack, but others allege that he was poisoned. Exiled Russian businessman and Putin critic Leonid Nevzlin claims that Makei was poisoned with a substance developed in an FSB special laboratory.

Nevzlin’s sources say that the clinical picture of Makei’s death is consistent with death from stroke or heart failure, which are common symptoms of poisoning.

Makei was scheduled to attend a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Poland this week, where he was expected to meet with key Western politicians and officials. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been banned from attending the meeting.

Lukashenko has reportedly replaced his cooks and servants in the wake of Makei’s death, fearing that he may be the next target of an assassination attempt.

Makei’s death is a major blow to Lukashenko, who has relied on his foreign minister to help navigate the country’s deteriorating relations with the West. It is also a sign that Putin is willing to use increasingly extreme measures to silence his critics and consolidate his control over Belarus.

Russian Oligarchs Mysterious Deaths in 2022 ( Till Nov 2022)

Leonid Shulman

Leonid Shulman , a top executive for the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, was found dead of a reported suicide in a cottage in the village of Leninsky on Jan. 30 , 2022

Igor Nosov

The CEO of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Igor Nosov, died on 8 Feb 2022.

Alexander Tyulakov 

Alexander Tyulakov , another top executive for Gazprom, was found dead on 25 February 2022 in a garage.

Mikhail Watford 

Ukraine-born oligarch Mikhail Watford was found dead on 28 February 2022 , three days after Tyulakov at his home in England.

Vasily Melnikov

On March 24 ,2022, Russian media reported that billionaire Vasily Melnikov, who owned the medical supply company MedStom , his wife, and their two sons were found dead in their luxury apartment in Nizhny Novgorod. They had all been stabbed, and the murder weapons Knifes were found at the scene.

Vladislav Avayev 

Vladislav Avayev, the former vice president of Gazprombank, one of the largest banks in Russia, which has ties to the energy industry, was found dead in his apartment in Moscow along with his wife and daughter on April 18. 

Sergey Protosenya 

Sergei Protosenya, a former deputy chairman of Novatek, a Russian natural gas firm, was found hanged while his wife and daughter were found stabbed to death at a villa in Spain on 19 April 2022.

Andrei Krukovsky

Andrei Krukovsky, the director of the Gazprom-owned Krasnaya Polyana ski resort, mysteriously fell off a cliff while hiking and died in May 2022.

Alexander Subbotin 

Former top Lukoil executive Alexander Subbotin was found dead in 8 May 2022 in the basement of a house near Moscow.

Yuri Voronov

Yuri Voronov, a 61-year-old Russian business executive having ties with Gazprom was found dead in his swimming pool with a gunshot wound to the head in Leningrad region at around 2 p.m on 4 July 2022.

Dan Rapoport

Dan Rapoport, a Latvia-born American businessman was found dead in front of a luxury apartment building by the D.C. Metro Police Department on 14 August 2022 .

Ravil Maganov

The chairman of the board of Russia’s largest private oil company LUKoil Ravil Maganov, 67, died on 1 Sept 2022 after falling from from the sixth-floor window of the Moscow ‘s Central Clinical Hospital. The hospital is also known as the Kremlin Clinic for its treatment of patients from Russia’s political and business elite. Ravil was reportedly hospitalized for heart problems and depression.

Ivan Pechorin

Ivan Pechorin ,managing director of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation,  died on Sept 10 ,2022 , after he fell from his boat in the waters off Russky Island near Cape Ignatiev in the Sea of Japan.

Vladimir Sungorkin

Komsomolskaya Pravda editor-in-chief Vladimir Sungorkin, a prominent figure in the Russian media landscape, has died in mysterious circumstances on a business trip on 14 Sept 2022. 

Anatoly Gerashchenko

Russian aviation expert Anatoly Gerashchenko, who worked as the head of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), has died after falling down the stairs. Gerashchenko is said to have slipped and tumbled down the stairs to his death.

Pavel Pchelnikov

Pavel Pchelnikov [ Павел Пчельников ] , the head of communications at Russian Railways subsidiary Digital Logistics, wasfound dead on his balcony by gunshot wound in the green Kolomenskaya Embankment neighbourhood of Moscow on Wednesday morning 28 September 2022. 

Nikolai Petrunin

State Duma deputy from the Tula region Nikolai Petrunin died on 12 October 2022 . He had been in a coma for a month with complications linked to severe Covid

Nikolai Mushegian

Nikolai Mushegian , MakerDAO Co-Founder was found dead in the water off a Puerto Beach on 28 October 2022, hours after he tweeted that the CIA and Mossad would “torture me to death.”

Vyacheslav Taran

Russian Cryptocurrency billionaire Vyacheslav Taran, 53, founder of Forex Club and president of the Libertex Group died in a helicopter crash near the French-Italian border on 25 November 2022.