Suspicious deaths of Russian businesspeople (2022–present)
# Suspicious deaths of Russian businesspeople (2022–present)

Since the beginning of 2022, multiple unusual deaths of Russian businesspeople or high officials, sometimes including their family members, have occurred under what some sources suggest were suspicious circumstances.

## Analysis

On 3 June 2022 the Dutch NOS news network described the phenomenon as "a grim series of Russian billionaires, many from the oil and gas industries, who have been found dead under unusual circumstances since early this year. The first was on 30 January, when 60-year-old Leonid Shulman, transport chief for Russian energy giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house in the Leningrad region. Beside his body was a suicide note." On 6 July 2022, CNN Portugal described the group as "millionaires with direct or indirect links to the Kremlin found dead in a mystery scenario since the beginning of the year". It referred to a previous investigation by USA Today, which concluded that "38 Russian businessmen and oligarchs close to the Kremlin died in mysterious or suspicious circumstances between 2014 and 2017." In December 2022, The Atlantic labeled the phenomenon "Sudden Russian Death Syndrome", in a possible reference to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SADS (Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome).

Some commentators ruled out suicides or poor health. Other commentators, including Fiona Hill and Mark Galeotti, are skeptical of such conspiracies. They point out the deaths are not necessarily all connected, and that it is far more likely some really are suicides, and some could be killings by competing influential clans to wipe out competitors without a centralized Kremlin effort. The suicide rate in Russia is the third-highest in the world, and similar trends have been noted in 2020 about doctors who have treated COVID-19 patients falling from high windows. Suicides could be further increased especially in the Russian business community due to substantial pressure from the war in Ukraine and international sanctions.

### Calls for further investigations

Friends and families of the deceased Russian businessmen generally found it "unthinkable" that they killed themselves – and in some cases also their wives and children – and have demanded an independent investigation into the mysterious deaths. Igor Volobuyev [uk], the Ukrainian-born ex-vice-chairman of Gazprombank, who left Russia during the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and joined the Freedom of Russia Legion, said in an interview with The Insider that he thought that his former colleague Vladislav Avayev's alleged murder of his family and subsequent suicide had been staged: "Why? That is difficult to say. Perhaps he knew something and posed some kind of danger." Likewise, Sergey Protosenya's son, who was not in Spain when his parents and sister were found dead in Lloret de Mar, stated his father was not the perpetrator ("my father is not a murderer"), but that his parents and sister were murdered by someone else. Protosenya was the former CEO of gas giant Novatek, which published a statement saying he was "a real family man", and called on the Spanish authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation.

Businessman and critic of the Russian federal government Bill Browder has opined that Putin is personally ordering executions of influential business leaders in critical sectors whom he feels will not be yes-men and intimidates their successors with threats of death or violence. In Russian mokroye delo or “wet work” is the name given to the business of assassination with people told to commit suicide or they and their families will receive a visitation.

According to an investigative report by Novaya Gazeta, some of the deaths may be connected to large scale accounting fraud by Gazprom executives, who may have funneled money to a network of businesses owned by friends and family members with ties to the FSB and Russian military.

## Suspicious deaths

### Deaths in 2022

| Name | Age at death | Position | Date of death | Count of deaths | Place body was discovered | Circumstances |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Leonid Shulman | 60 | Director of Transport of Gazprom | 30 January 2022 | 1 | Bathroom of a residence in Leningrad Oblast | Suicide note found next to his body |
| Igor Nosov | 43 | CEO of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) and former Deputy governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast | 8 February 2022 | 1 | Moscow | Reportedly suffered a stroke |
| Alexander Tyulakov | 61 | Deputy General Director of the Unified Settlement Center of Gazprom | 25 February 2022 | 1 | Garage of a residence in Saint Petersburg | Suicide note found on his body |
| Mikhail Watford | 66 | Businessman | 28 February 2022 | 1 | Garage of a residence in Surrey, England | British authorities have not found evidence of a crime |
| Vasily Melnikov | 43 | CEO and owner of Medstorm | 23 March 2022 | 4 | Apartment in Nizhny Novgorod | Wife and two sons found dead beside him |
| Vladislav Avayev | 51 | Former Vice President of Gazprombank | 18 April 2022 | 3 | Apartment in Moscow | Wife and 13-year-old daughter found dead beside him |
| Sergey Protosenya | 55 | Former Deputy Chairman of Novatek. | 19 April 2022 | 3 | Garden of a residence in Lloret de Mar, Spain | Hanged from a handrail; wife and daughter found dead in their beds with blunt axe wounds and stab wounds |
| Andrei Krukovsky | 37 | General Director of the Estosadok Krasnaya Polyana, a ski resort owned by Gazprom | 1 May 2022 | 1 | Below a cliff near the Achipse Fortress [ru] in Sochi | Reportedly fell off a cliff while hiking to Achipse Fortress [ru] |
| Alexander Subbotin | 43 | Board member of Lukoil | 8 May 2022 | 1 | Basement of a Jamaican shaman's residence in Moscow | Reportedly died from a drug-induced heart attack during a shamanic ritual, though critics allege toad poison |
| Yuri Voronov | 61 | CEO of Astra Shipping, a subcontractor of Gazprom | 4 July 2022 | 1 | Swimming pool of a residence in Leningrad Oblast | Gunshot wounds to the head, pistol found next to his body |
| Dan Rapoport | 52 | Businessman | 14 August 2022 | 1 | 2400 M Street NW, Washington, D.C., United States | Found in the street after an apparent fall from his high rise apartment building |
| Ravil Maganov | 67 | Chair of Lukoil | 1 September 2022 | 1 | Below a window of the Kremlin Hospital, Moscow | Reportedly hospitalised for heart problems and depression, then "fell out of a window" |
| Ivan Pechorin | 39 | Director of Aviation of the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) | 10 September 2022 | 1 | On a beach in Beregovoy, Amur Oblast | Drowned at Cape Ignatyev, Vladivostok; body found washed up in Beregovoy two days later; allegedly fell from his boat |
| Vladimir Sungorkin | 68 | Editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda | 14 September 2022 | 1 | Roshchino [ru], Khabarovsky District, Khabarovsk Krai | Reportedly suffered a stroke and suffocated while on the way to lunch |
| Anatoly Gerashchenko | 72 | Former Head of the Moscow Aviation Institute | 21 September 2022 | 1 | Stairway within the Moscow Aviation Institute | Reportedly fell down a flight of stairs inside the institute |
| Pavel Pchelnikov | 52 | Director of Digital Logistics, a Russian Railways subsidiary | 28 September 2022 | 1 | On the balcony of an apartment in Moscow | Allegedly shot himself on the balcony of his apartment |
| Nikolay Petrunin | 46 | Deputy of the State Duma | 12 October 2022 | 1 | Unnamed hospital in Moscow | Alleged complications of COVID-19 |
| Nikolai Mushegian | 29 | Co-founder of MakerDAO, a cryptocurrency platform | 28 October 2022 | 1 | Ashford Beach, Condado, San Juan, Puerto Rico | Drowned hours after tweeting. |
| Vyacheslav Taran | 53 | Co-founder of Libertex, a cryptocurrency and foreign exchange market company | 25 November 2022 | 1 | Villefranche-sur-Mer, French Riviera, France | Died in helicopter crash after taking off from Switzerland |
| Vladimir Makei | 64 | Foreign Minister of Belarus (2012-2022) | 26 November 2022 | 1 | Unknown | Reported to have died four days after returning from a Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Armenia accompanying representatives of Vladimir Putin. He was said by his friends to have been "painfully upset" by the collapse of the course he was leading. |
| Grigory Kochenov | 41 | Creative Director of Agima, an IT company | 7 December 2022 | 1 | Volodarsky Street, Nizhny Novgorod | Reportedly fell to his death from his balcony while officials from the Investigative Committee executed a search warrant for his apartment |
| Dmitriy Zelenov | 50 | Co-founder of Donstroy, a construction company | 9 December 2022 | 1 | Antibes, French Riviera, France | Reportedly felt ill and fell over a railing and hit his head, later died in hospital without regaining consciousness |
| Vladimir Bidenov | 61 | Business associate and travel companion of Pavel Antov | 22 December 2022 | 1 | Hotel Sai International, Rayagada, Odisha, India | Died of heart problems; two days later his close companion died at the same hotel under suspicious circumstances |
| Alexander Buzakov | 66 | Director General of the Admiralty Shipyards | 24 December 2022 | 1 | Saint Petersburg | Died suddenly the day after he attended the float-out ceremony of the new Lada class submarine Velikie Luki [ru]. No explanation was given on the cause of death |
| Pavel Antov | 65 | Founder of Vladmirsky Standart, a meat processing company, and deputy (member) of the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast | 24 December 2022 | 1 | Below a window of Hotel Sai International, Rayagada, Odisha, India | Fell out of window from Hotel Sai International; another Russian colleague, Vladimir Bidenov, died in the same hotel two days prior. |
| Alexei Maslov | 69 | Former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces and special representative of Uralvagonzavod. | 24 December 2022 | 1 | Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital, Moscow | Died "unexpectedly" in a military hospital, no cause given. |

### Deaths in 2023

| Name | Age at death | Position | Date of death | Count of deaths | Place body was discovered | Circumstances |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Magomed Abdulaev | 61 | Former Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan [ru] | 5 January 2023 | 1 | Makhachkala, Dagestan | Died at a hospital after being hit by a car while crossing a street |
| Dmitry Pavochka | 49 | Former manager of Roscosmos, Sukhoi, Lukoil, Bank Menatep and Russdragmet, while presently or formerly involved with many others. | 26 January 2023 | 1 | 17th floor of a building on Leningradsky Avenue, Moscow | Burned alive after falling asleep with a lit cigarette |
| Vladimir Makarov | 72 | Former police general in charge of cracking down on anti-war protesters. | 13 February 2023 | 1 | At his suburban home northwest of Moscow | State-run TASS news agency reported him found dead, in an apparent suicide, following his dismissal by President Vladimir Putin. |
| Marina Yankina | 58 | Head of the financial support department of the Ministry of Defence for the Western Military District. | 16 February 2023 | 1 | House on Zamshina Street, St. Petersburg | Found dead after falling from a window on the 16th-floor of a high-rise building. |
| Viatcheslav Rovneiko | 59 | Oil magnate, co-founder of Urals Energy, co-owner of Belgian oil company Nafta (B) NV, director of Interregional Fuel Union; ex-KGB spy. | 22 February 2023 | 1 | Unspecified gated village near Moscow | Found unconscious in his house; subsequent medical help could not save his life. |
| Igor Shkurko | 49 | Deputy director of Yakutskenergo [ru]. | 4 April 2023 | 1 | Pre-trial detention center in Yakutsk | Found dead in his cell; allegedly suicide. |
| Pyotr Kucherenko | 46 | State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation | 20 May 2023 | 1 | Mineralnye Vody Airport, Stavropol Krai | Died after falling ill on board a flight from Cuba to Russia. |
| Artyom Bartenev | 42 | Federal Judge of the Kirovsky District Court | 8 June 2023 | 1 | Underneath his apartment in Kazan, Tatarstan | Found dead after falling 12 stories from his apartment window. |
| Grigory Klinishov | 92 | Physicist and co-creator of the Soviet hydrogen bomb RDS-37. | 17 June 2023 | 1 | Inside his apartment in Moscow | Found dead in his apartment from an apparent suicide, leaving a note. |
| Kristina Baikova | 28 | Vice-president of Loko-Bank [ru], head of department for work with corporate clients. | 24 June 2023 | 1 | Underneath her apartment in Khodynsky Boulevard, Moscow | Fell off her apartment at the 11th floor; circumstances of the incident have not yet been clarified. |
| Andrei Fomin | 57 | Prosecutor of Chuvashia (since 2020) | 1 July 2023 | 1 | In the Volga river near Cheboksary | Fell ill while swimming in the Volga river and drowned. |
| Aleksey Avramenko | 46 | Minister of Transport and Communications [be] of Belarus (since 2019) | 4 July 2023 | 1 | Unknown | Died suddenly. |
| Alexander Nikolayev | 72 | Worked for Rosatom since 2016. Former diplomat. 2003-8 Russia’s Consul-General in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea. | July 2023 | 1 | Konakovo, Tver region | Beaten up near his home and died three weeks later. |
| Natalia Bochkareva | 44 | Daughter of former Governor of Penza Oblast Vasily Bochkarev. Managed her families lumber-processing and bakery businesses | 14 July 2023 | 1 | Moscow | Found dead inside her apartment. |
| Anton Cherepennikov | 40 | Billionaire owner and head of state-affiliated company Citadel specializing in digital wiretapping and equipment and telecommunications monitoring technology, sanctioned by the US in February 2023 | 22 July 2023 | 1 | Unknown | Heart attack |
