Russian ‘Lady Di’ Perishes in Car Accident

Diana Lebedeva, a 19-year-old heiress and member of Moscow’s young jet set was killed this week in an auto accident. Many dubbed her the Russian “Lady Di” and were shocked by the similar way she died.

As reported in the Sun, Lebedeva was driving in Switzerland with a friend, Azer Yagubov, a 23-year-old socialite from Azerbaijan. Yagubov apparently lost control of the BMW SUV and wound up crashing into Lake Lugano early Thursday morning. Their bodies were recovered at the bottom of the lake.

While friends and family mourn and news begins to spread of the tragic incident, some circumstances are stirring up questions.

There is active speculation about what happened before the accident. According to the Daily Mail, there are “unconfirmed reports claiming the vehicle had been in a ‘race’ when it got into trouble on a bridge above the lake in canton Ticino.”

Additionally, Lebedeva is the granddaughter of a well-known adversary of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s. Her grandfather, Platon Lebedev, was convicted of financial crimes in the early 2000s and is an associate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, another businessman seen in the West as a political enemy of Putin’s. Amnesty International regarded both men’s treatment and conviction as “deeply flawed and politically motivated.”

Perhaps merely coincidental, Lebedeva was born in the same year that Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in an automobile accident. Similar to Diana, Lebedeva was known for her beauty, glamour, and sense of fashion.

The deaths were confirmed by Russian officials in Switzerland, and the bodies have been returned to Russia.

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