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Individual · Former associates
DECEASED · 8 November 2022
Viktor Cherkesov
Former presidential envoy / drug-control chief
Cherkesov was a longstanding Putin associate who served as his northwestern presidential envoy and led the Federal Drug Control Service from 2003 until 2008.
WHY THIS ENTITY MATTERS
RH ASSESSMENT
Cherkesov adds an earlier security-service connection to the historical record. His removal from the drug-control post cautions against assuming uninterrupted standing or access.
Death record · 8 November 2022
His death in St Petersburg was announced on 8 November 2022. Rosbalt’s account, reported by The Moscow Times, described severe illness.
Evidence limit: No specific medical diagnosis or finding of foul play is established by the cited obituary. Inclusion here does not imply a suspicious death.
- Record type
- Historical individual dossier · deceased
- Former role
- Former presidential envoy / drug-control chief
- Network sector
- Former associates
- Documented links
- 1
Profile
Cherkesov was a longstanding Putin associate who served as his northwestern presidential envoy and led the Federal Drug Control Service from 2003 until 2008.
Scope note: this foundation dossier is limited to the selected public records behind the RH Russia network. It does not claim a complete biography, ownership history, command structure, or account of private influence.
Documented connections
Every relationship below is labeled by evidence type and carries the limitation recorded in the network source ledger.
Cherkesov became Putin’s northwestern presidential envoy in 2000 and later led the drug-control service until 2008.
Limit: These are historical offices. Later sidelining means an early association should not be read as continuing access.
The Moscow Times · Cherkesov obituary, 9 November 2022Historical scope & limits
- This is a selected historical record, not a complete biography or list of deceased Russian elites.
- Historical relationships may predate the five-year death window. Position in the chart is a subject grouping, not a rank of closeness.
- Inclusion does not imply assassination, suspicious circumstances, or responsibility by Putin. See the individual death record and its limitations.
Source record
- 01The Moscow Times · Cherkesov obituary, 9 November 2022
Reports the 8 November death after severe illness, a long association with Putin, and removal from the drug-control post in 2008. The article’s erroneous 1997 date for Putin’s FSB appointment is not used here.