According to rumors, a Russian oligarch died after shamans treated him with toad venom to heal his hangover.
As a former senior executive at the Kremlin-friendly energy firm Lukoil, billionaire Alexander Subbotin, 43, is thought to have ties to Vladimir Putin.
Mr Subbotin is thought to have sought treatment from two controversial shamans, sometimes known as traditional healers or spirit diviners, for a nasty hangover.
The couple allegedly created an incision on the tycoon’s torso and administered toad venom through it.
Shortly after, Mr Subbotin suffered a heart attack and was given a tranquilizer in the form of the plant valerian.
According to local stories, shamans Alexey Pindyurin, also known as Magua Flores, and Kristina Teikhrib, also known as Tina Cordoba, discovered him dead the next day.
The couple already has a shady history, having been accused of assaulting a cosmetics blogger in Mexico last year.
Clients are said to be treated by invoking spirits, sacrificing animals, and soaking in cockerel blood.
They denied treating Mr Subbotin, but said he was one of their friends. The stated cause of death for the oligarch was heart arrest.
Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, there have been a slew of high-profile mysterious fatalities.
Vladislav Avayev, a former Kremlin official, was found dead with his wife and 13-year-old daughter in what seemed to be a murder-suicide.
Sergey Protosenya, a multimillionaire, was discovered hanging in Spain just a few days later.
He reportedly used an axe to murder his wife Natalia, 53, and their teenage daughter Maria.
Protosenya was a previous vice chairman of Novatek, another Kremlin-linked corporation.
Since the battle began, four billionaires and two executives related to the state-owned gas and oil company Gazprom have perished.
In the west, these deaths, along with two other documented suicides, have been suspected of being assassinations.
