Russia: the number of businessmen mysteriously dead since the war in Ukraine grows
The deceased have in common that they came from the business and commercial worlds, that they made a fortune, and for some of them that they got involved in politics, or even that they were close to Vladimir Putin.
© Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
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In India, the criminal police continue their investigation into the death of a wealthy Russian businessman, Pavel Antov, on December 24, two days before his traveling companion, Vladimir Budanov, who was found dead after a heart failure .
The death of Pavel Antov adds to a long list of prominent Russian businessmen who have died in murky circumstances since the start of the war in Ukraine.
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Fallen from a balcony, or on the stairs, committed suicide by hanging or being shot, sometimes found near their loved ones, also dead... Since the beginning of the year, 21 Russian tycoons have been found dead. .
Their names, including that of Pavel Antov, appear on the Wikipedia page dedicated to them, entitled "
mysterious death of Russian businessmen in 2022
".
Accidents or suicides, the circumstances of the deaths are sometimes identical at close intervals, as in April, when in the space of two days, two energy tycoons, Sergey Protosenya and Vadislav Avaev, were found dead, the one in Spain, the other in Russia.
In both cases, they would have committed suicide after killing their wife and children.
The same scenario would have been tied for the billionaire Vasily Melnikov.
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To read also: Russia: Ravil Maganov, leader of Loukoil, dies in troubled circumstances
Businessmen related to the energy industry
The deceased have in common that they came from the business and commercial worlds, that they made a fortune, and for some of them that they got involved in politics, or even that they were close to Vladimir Putin.
And for many, these people are linked to the energy industry: about a third of these deaths were from large Russian oil and gas companies or research or funding organizations in this sector.
The dark series also began just before the invasion of Ukraine at Gazprom, with the suicide of the general manager Leonid Shulman, and the death a few days later of a senior executive of the company.
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To read also: India: two Russian oligarchs die mysteriously, a first in the country
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Russia
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Vladimir Poutine