INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

Two meerkats made famous around the world by their work fronting advertisements for an insurance comparison website have died in mysterious circumstances.

Aleksandr Orlov and his assistant Sergei (left to right below) fell to their deaths from a London high-rise office building on New Year’s Eve.

Their plunge was caught on a mobile phone camera (main picture) by a person passing by who was alerted by their screams.

Their deaths have sparked speculation that they may be two more victims of an alleged covert operation by the Russian Government that has seen a number of high-profile business people killed by falling from buildings in several European cities.

All of those who have died in such incidents, including Aleksandr and Sergei, were known to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for London Metropolitan Police, Inspector Cher Locke-Holmes, (below) said it was too soon to provide a definitive answer to why the pair fell from the building.

“These type of incidents always upset me,” Inspector Locke-Holmes said. “I always wish there had been something I could have done to prevent them.

“ If I could turn back time both Aleksandr and Sergei might still be alive. If I had been in the street where it happened I might have been able to catch them – to say ‘I got you babe’.

“We are continuing our investigation but have no definitive answers about what happened.

“A problem for us is that apart from the chap who took the picture of Aleksandr and Sergei falling, there are no reliable witnesses. The area where it happened is full of transient, homeless people – gypsies, tramps and thieves,” she said.

A Kremlin spokesperson gave only a brief comment on the deaths, saying: “We will not be confirming nor denying the active involvement of Glorious Mother Russia in the welcome and overdue demise of these two traitors. Simples.”

Spokespersons for the families of both meerkats said their deaths would hit their surviving relatives hit hard not least because neither carried any personal insurance cover.