A longtime inmate who was a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin in thwe 1990s has reportedly died in prison aged 68.
Officials at Russia's Federal Service for Convictions' Implementation said on December 15 that Yury Shutov had died of a heart attack in a penal colony in Perm last week.
Shutov became known in the 1990s for collecting incriminating evidence against St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak and his then-aide Vladimir Putin.
Shutov was arrested 1992 and charged with extortion and damaging private property. The charges were dropped later.
In 1998 Shutov alleged that Putin had blackmailed Sobchak to secure his job in the mayor's office.
In February 2006, Shutov was sentenced to life in jail for organizing murders of some local businessmen, a charge Shutov had denied.