Undoubtedly Vlad's ruthless doing.Atleast eight prominent Russian businessmen havereportedly died by suicide or in as yet unexplained accidents since lateJanuary, with six of them associated with Russia's two largest energycompanies.
Fourof those six were linked to the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom or oneof its subsidiaries, while the other two were associated with Lukoil, Russia'slargest privately owned oil and gas company.
Earlierthis year, the company took the unusual public stance of speaking out againstRussia's war in Ukraine, calling for sympathy for the victims, and for the end of theconflict.
Lukoil chairman Ravil Maganov has died after falling from a Moscow hospital window, another "suicide" of prominent Russian businessman (CNN)
Lukoil'schairman Ravil Maganov died this week after falling out of the window of ahospital in Moscow, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Lukoilconfirmed the death on Thursday in a statement published on its website.
Maganov"passed away following a severe illness," Lukoil said, making nomention of a fall. "Maganov immensely contributed to the development ofnot only the company, but of the entire Russian oil and gas sector."
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Anothertop Lukoil manager, Alexander Subbotin, was found dead near Moscow in May afterreportedly visiting a shaman, TASS reported. Russia's State News Agency quotedan official as saying authorities were called to an unconscious man sufferingfrom a heart failure. TASS reported the police opened a criminal investigationinto the case.
Links with Gazprom
Inthe first of the deaths reported this year, a top executive at Gazprom wasfound dead in his cottage in the village of Leninsky near Leningrad on January30, 2022, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.
RIAreported that a suicide note was found at the scene and that the investigatorswere investigating the death as a suicide. Russian national broadcaster RenTvhas identified the man as Leonid Shulman, the head of transport at GazpromInvest.
Justa month after that, another top executive at Gazprom was found dead in the samevillage. Alexander Tyulakov was discovered dead in his garage on February 25,according to Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper. Novaya Gazetareported he died by suicide.
CNN'scalls to Gazprom have not been returned.
At least eight Russian businessmenhave died of suspected suicides or accidents in the last six months. (CNN)
CNNhas asked Russia's Investigative Committee for comment on the two cases but hasnot received a response.
Twomore Russian businessmen with links to Gazprom died in apparent murder-suicideincidents in April.
Oneof them, Vladislav Avayev, the former vice-president of Gazprombank, was founddead with his wife and daughter in his Moscow apartment on April 18, accordingto TASS.
Citinga source in law enforcement, TASS claimed authorities were investigating theAvayevs' deaths as a murder-suicide.
YuliaIvanova, a representative of the Investigative Committee for Moscow, was quotedby Tass as saying that a relative discovered the Avayevs' bodies after beingtold by the family driver and the nanny that they could not contact them on thephone or get into the apartment, since the door was closed from the inside.
IgorVolobuev, a former VP of Gazprombank who recently left Russia for Ukraine, toldCNN that he did not believe Avayev killed himself.
Several prominent Russian figures have died since February. (CNN)
"Hisjob was to deal with private banking, that means dealing with VIP clients. Hewas in charge of very large amounts of money. So, did he kill himself? I don'tthink so. I think he knew something and that he posed some sort of risk,"Volobuev told CNN in April.
Russia'sInvestigative Committee did not respond to CNN's request for comment on thiscase.
Justa day later, on April 19, Sergey Protosenya, a former executive at the gasproducer Novatek, which is partially owned by Gazprom, was found dead at hishome in Lloret de Mar, a Mediterranean resort near Barcelona.
Thebodies of his wife and daughter, showing signs of having suffered violence,were found inside the family's luxury home, an official source close to theinvestigation told CNN last week, while the body of Protosenya was found in thegarden outside, according to the source.
Son questions initial findings
Catalanpolice in the province of Girona, where the town of Lloret de Mar is located,told CNN on Friday that they have since completed their investigation into thecase and sent the findings to a court.
Thepolice force said its conclusion was that the deaths were a double murder andsubsequent suicide.
Speakingto the Daily Mail in April, Protosenya's son questioned thatversion of events, suggesting instead that his father was murdered.
"TheCatalan police have taken statements from the son. Other hypotheses have beenruled out. Also ruled out was a triple homicide," the police's pressofficial told CNN at that time. "That this was the work of the Russianmafia? Well, no," the official added.
Several of the deaths involve peoplefrom Russian energy giant Gazprom, a company which has publicly expressedspoken out against Russia's war in Ukraine. (Nine)
Novatek,Protosenya's former employer, said he was "a wonderful person and awonderful family man."
"Unfortunately,there have been speculations on this topic in the media, but we are convincedthat these speculations are not related to reality. We hope that the lawenforcement agencies of Spain will conduct a thorough and objectiveinvestigation and sort out what happened, " the company said in astatement.
Coroner's ruling
MikhailWatford, a Ukrainian-born Russian oil and gas billionaire, was found dead inhis home in Surrey, England on February 28.
SurreyPolice told CNN it did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.
AnotherRussian businessman, Vasily Melnikov, was found dead alongside his family inNizhny Novgorod in late March, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Melnikovowned MedStom, a medical supplies company. According to Russia's InvestigativeCommittee, a 43-year-old man, his wife, 41, and two children aged four and 10were found stabbed to death on March 23.
Thecommittee did not name Melnikov, but the ages of the dead and the location ofthe incident match the Kommersant report.
Theregional branch of the investigative committee has not updated the status ofits investigation and did not return CNN's request for comment. At the time ofthe incident, in March, it said there "were no signs of unauthorized entryinto the apartment," and that "knives were found and seized."
"[Investigators]are considering several versions of what happened, including the murder of thechildren and wife by the head of the family, followed by self-inflicteddeath," the committee said.
