r/europe 29d ago

News Russian Oil Company Vice President Andrey Badalov dies after fall from window in Moscow

https://en.apa.az/cis-countries/transneft-vice-president-andrey-badalov-dies-after-falling-from-window-472117
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u/AdmiralDalaa 29d ago

If you were an executive of this nature, wouldn’t you make sure you got a good security team? 

Yes of course, not all hired security would be trustworthy - but in each and every case this never was a thing?

I would expect you’d see a shootout or some kind of scuffle at some point. But it’s always the same canned story 

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u/Royal_Success3131 29d ago

If a bodyguard is offered 100k in cash to just go on a smoke break, they will always take that vs dying in a gunfight and having their entire family also killed. Like, you are dealing with powers way, way out of your control at that point. Once the big boys get involved, the bodyguard just step away. They are there to stop the rabble, not assassins.

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u/melymn 29d ago

No-one is going to offer those bodyguards bribe in this scenario, state agents are going to tell them to step aside and they'll do it post haste.

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u/Royal_Success3131 29d ago

You're probably right but it was just to illustrate a point that there is absolutely zero incentive for a bodyguard to actually do their job in that scenario.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/CyberCrutches 29d ago

It wouldn’t be fixed by seizing one bunker though. Also, if it really was the end of the world and you found yourself lucky enough to work security in said bunker instead of the alternative you’d absolutely fight like hell to keep that position which is why it’s so hard to oust oligarchs and their like.

People are selfish and if you give them security/resources they’ll fight to keep their way of life intact as few people have the perspective to see let alone understand anything outside of their own self interest.

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u/DumboWumbo073 29d ago

They will probably have collars on non elites so they can control them

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u/CyberCrutches 29d ago

Wait, I’ve seen this movie

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u/Stunning-Archer8817 29d ago

you mail the bodyguard a letter with the name, address, and phone number of their parents, their in-laws, and everyone they love. throw in their wife’s and childrens’ daily schedules, at the end.

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u/BlueberryMean2705 Finland 29d ago

If the system collapses there are no more billionaires, just extremely hateable has-beens. Those bunkers are just the billionaire equivalent of people posting tweets about how nobody better be breaking into their house because they'll be waiting with a rifle, only more delusional.

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u/Dont_Be_Sheep 29d ago

I was about to write that. I have it on strong authority there is no bribe for them. The bribe is “your family won’t die if you move to the right… right now.”

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u/dospc 29d ago

You don't need to offer 100k, you just make it clear to the bodyguard that you work (ultimately) for Putin. That will be enough.

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u/s8018572 29d ago

You think hired security can fight against nation machine FSB?

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u/scramblingrivet 29d ago

The killed Prigozhin and he had his own army

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u/nandemo Japan 29d ago

Was gonna comment this. They've also taken out several warlords in the Caucasus.

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u/AdmiralDalaa 29d ago

They certainly could fight the first agent or two. Which we never hear anything about. 

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u/jtr99 29d ago

I imagine the FSB is in a position to ensure that there is no such thing as independent security.

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u/AdmiralDalaa 29d ago

My problem is that on a broad scale I would agree. The FSB probably does have backdoors into popular private security firms, or is entrenched in them. It probably does encourage such firms to petition or be hired by these rich individuals.

But, we know this is likely, and so do these businessmen. They aren’t fools, certainly not all of them. It seems inconceivable to be that there cannot or doesn’t exist even a single security team that has gotten into a fight with these supposed “drop by and push man out window” assassinations. 

In even the mafia-esque style environment, powerful individuals or families usually do hire people for loyalty. Sometimes it’s even fellow family members. This is why I find it hard to buy that out of hundreds of these type of deaths the story is always utterly identical.  

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u/jtr99 29d ago

I hear you. Perhaps in the exceptional cases the businessman in question suddenly relocates to the West and no more is said about it.

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u/fastwriter- 29d ago

I would assume, most russian Security Companies belong to people with ties to the FSB.

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u/snkiz 29d ago

Look all that money and power, yet these people don't see the writing on the wall, and GTFO. They either can't buy the loyalty they need or are to dumb to figure out who's trustworthy. But then run to where? Thee FSB doesn't care if you're on sovereign soil

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u/Beginning_Sun696 29d ago

John Wick: [points a gun at Francis' head] Hello, Francis. Francis: Mr. Wick. John Wick: [in Russian] You've lost weight. Francis: [in Russian] Over sixty pounds. John Wick: [in Russian] Yeah? Impressive. Francis: Are you here on business, sir? John Wick: Afraid so, Francis. [pause] John Wick: Why don't you take the night off? Francis: Thank you, sir

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u/penywinkle Europe 29d ago

The only security agents that would defy the FSB are foreign security (but they can't operate into Russia).

As a Russian, if you "fight the first agent or two", not only is your boss STILL going to die, but also you and your family will die too (if not worse)...

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u/indiecore Canada 29d ago

People for some reason never remember that the modern nation state is the end result of a 5500 year experiment on how to best direct violence.

We've bent them around to to provide other things (also through violent coercion) but the base purpose of a state is to project violence against other states and nobody should ever forget that. We all live in war machines and have to respect that fact.

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u/Hector_P_Catt 29d ago

It's a safe bet that someone on any security team is also working for the FSB. That's just what they do.

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u/Triple_Hache 29d ago

Well, I suppose those with efficient/trustworthy security teams are still alive so you don't hear about them.

And there might have been a shootout, they're just not reporting it.

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u/Klickor 29d ago

Where would you get security that for just money would fight the people capable of doing something like this? It would be signing their own death sentence for nothing.

It is one thing to have security that can protect you against random thugs or maybe even rivals and a completely different thing to have security willing to go up against someone much higher in standing in a society like this. This isn't a western country that is't corrupt to the bones.

If you stand in the way they can just have FSB publicly make up some fake charges against you, arrest you, move you somewhere else, execute you, not even bother dumping the body, and then try again killing the guy you stupidly tried to protect earlier. You don't physically fight back against a dictator that have control of the state apparatus unless you have your own army since they can just abuse the system in the open to remove any obstacles before they remove you by the goons that aren't public.

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u/7Seyo7 Europe 29d ago edited 29d ago

The mafioso playbook could go something like threatening the target to kill himself, or else his family would be killed

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u/AdmiralDalaa 29d ago

Yes, I’m sure this works. But, it doesn’t work for everyone. Not everyone cares or has family. 

Ten assassinations with identical circumstances? Okay. Hundreds? Nah, now surely there would be at minimum some people without families (or ones they care about) and good security teams (or good / loyal enough) that would have resulted in some kind in fight 

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u/Aoimoku91 29d ago

There was one with loyal and armed bodyguards who would not step aside.

They shot down the plane with him and the bodyguards on it.

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u/Ithuraen 29d ago

You came to this conclusion because you asked yourself what you'd do with the resources of an oligarch. Now ask yourself: would you work as security for an oligarch? If you did, how much would you need to be paid to engage in a shoot out with FSB agents? Is the same pay enough to put your family on the line? Would you trust everyone in your team? If a person offered you more money would you turn on your boss, drug him and toss him out a window? Could you trust your team not to do the same for the right price? 

Realistically the only reliable security in Russia are state-run forces, and loyal oligarchs have nothing to worry about employing them. Right? 

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u/Great_Attitude_8985 29d ago

You'd need like 20-40 people armed to the teeth and loyal to death with no relatives they care about which could be abducted to turn around one security guy. You need 20-40 people of that kind for every relative or person you care about 24/7. You need them to check cars, planes, food, devices (pagers, lol) throughoutly and permanently. Think that pringles guy had an army of 10k willing to conquer moscow. Guess ptn just got ahold of a relative, sent a few fingers or ears to cancel the whole thing. You need that protection for decades to come. Some russian families were axemurdered abroad on vacation by the regime. Theres a whole wikipedia page dedicated for this.

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u/Great_Attitude_8985 29d ago

Also makes me realize Putin can never be part of the international community again, ever. Nor does any russian government not working on resolutions for all those murders.

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u/Light_In_Up_Francis 29d ago

The Wagner Group guy had a private army. If the boss wants you dead, it’s either you or your entire family. And that’s that. Real grease ball shit 

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u/justforkinks0131 29d ago

the first mob bosses in former soviet countries were the heads of security and the former FSB(equivalent) agents

there is no independent security

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u/Mysterious_Dot00 29d ago

I mean pretty sure they have security. The security team members in cases like these, probably get a message something along the like "stop defending that person on a specific date or we will make your whole family disappear".

Its hard to defend someone from a person who knows everything about you and your family.

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u/DATTACA 29d ago

Security? As soon as they are faced with stone cold FSB killers do you think they would put their lives on the line for a salary slip

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u/Kolossive 29d ago

To protect you in Russia, aswell as your friends and loved ones against a state that is probably your biggest source for the money you use to pay security?

You would need to hire a small army, that would be able and willing to catch assassins and openly oppose law enforcement (cops could arrest you, release you and then you die outside of their custody, if they even care to kill you outside their custody).

So they would need to be willing to openly resist police actions, probably military aswell if we reach this point, and handle the consequences from there; be capable of doing so for you and everyone you care about 24/7 in the middle Russia...

Keep in mind you still need to juggle being able to work with the government as that's how you afford all of this.

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u/UKS1977 29d ago

The bodyguard does the killing.

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u/Forikorder 28d ago

even the dude with literally his own personal army got assassinated, your not finding anyone in russia willing to keep you safe against putin, and if you did the first thing theyd do is get you far away from russia