Panic in Kremlin as top minister goes AWOL amid fears of Putin purge

Russia's veteran Foreign Minister was conspicuous by his absence at an important Kremlin meeting, prompting feverish speculation as to his whereabouts. Fears of a ruthless Putin purge have surged following the mysterious deaths of a number of prominent officials and businessmen over the past year.

Several have inexplicably committed "suicide" by jumping from windows or have been found shot or hanging from trees. Perhaps the most shocking incident was the death of Roman Starovoit in July, who was found dead with gun shot wounds by his car. His death coincided with his dismissal from his government post as transport minister.

The circumstances of Starovoit's death remain contested, with investigators saying he killed himself just after Putin reportedly sacked him on Monday, July 7.

However, Russian media claimed that the minister may have died three days earlier on Friday evening.

Now question marks have arisen over the fate of Sergey Lavrov, Russia's top diplomat. The 76-year-old was notably absent from a key Security Council meeting on November 5, where Putin discussed reviving nuclear tests last conducted in 1990.

Sources told the Russian outlet Kommersant that Lavrov's absence was "coordinated," though he was the only permanent member missing from the session.

It is believed that the Foreign Secretary has fallen out of favour following his botched call in October with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

As a result of the call, a planned peace summit between Putin and Donald Trump in Budapest was cancelled.

The tense phone call convinced the US that Russia was not willing to make any significant concessions towards a peace deal in Ukraine.

Lavrov has also been summarily removed as head of Russia's delegation to this year's G20 summit.

He will be replaced by presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed. Putin will also skip the summit in South Africa, where he faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.