At least eight prominent Russian businessmen have died under unusual circumstances this year, including by apparent suicide or unexplained accidents.
Six of the men were connected to Russia’s two largest energy companies, Gazprom and Lukoil. The most recent death occurred Thursday when Lukoil’s chairman, Ravil Maganov, fell out of a hospital window. Lukoil released a statement afterward claiming that Maganov’s death followed a serious illness.
“Lukoil’s many thousands of employees mourn deeply for this grievous loss and express their sincere condolences to Ravil Maganov’s family,” the company said, according to Reuters.
RUSSIA HALTS NATURAL GAS FLOW TO EUROPE ‘INDEFINITELY,’ RAISING PRESSURE ON WEST
In May, another manager from Lukoil, Alexander Subbotin, was found dead near Moscow, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Lukoil spoke out against Russia’s war in Ukraine earlier this year, calling for sympathy for the victims and an end to the invasion, according to CNN.
Leonid Shulman, the former head of transport at Gazprom, was the first businessman to die this year. Police near Leningrad, where Shulman was found, are investigating the death as a suicide after a note was discovered on the scene, CNN reported.
Three other former Gazprom businessmen died this year, including Vice President Vladislav Avayev, and top executives Sergey Protosenya and Alexander Tyulakov, according to Reuters. Avayev was found dead with his wife and daughter in his Moscow apartment in April. Investigators believe Avayev killed his wife and daughter before killing himself, according to the Russian publication Kommersant.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The two deaths unrelated to the energy industry were those of Mikhail Watford, a Ukrainian-born Russian oil and gas billionaire who died in February, and Vasily Melnikov, who owned the medical supply company MedStom, according to CNN.
