Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty Vladimir Putin’s “keeper of secrets” died on Christmas Day, less than two years after the Russian president fired him. Colonel-General Yuri Sadovenko, 56, died from “heart disease” on Christmas Day in Moscow, according to Russian news outlets. The Sun reports that the Ukrainian-born Sadovenko was close to former Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu. Sadovenko served as the deputy defense minister up until he and Shoigu were ousted in May 2024 as part of a massive shakeup at the Kremlin. Shoigu, to whom Sadavenko had reportedly acted as a “gatekeeper,” is now the secretary of Russia’s security council. Read more at The Daily Beast.