The suspicious death of Russian businessmen over the past three months raises concerns as to its being reported as suicide. Three of them were reported to have killed their family before committing suicide.
Four of the murdered men worked for Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy conglomerate, or one of its subsidiaries.
According to Russian state media RIA Novosti, a top executive at Gazprom was discovered dead at his cabin in the village of Leninsky near Leningrad on January 30, 2022.
According to RIA, a suicide note was discovered at the scene, and the death was being investigated as a suicide. The individual has been identified as Leonid Shulman, the chief of transport at Gazprom Invest, according to Russian state television RenTv.
A month later, another top Gazprom executive was discovered deceased in the same village. According to Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper, Alexander Tyulakov was discovered dead in his garage on February 25. He committed suicide, according to Novaya Gazeta.
Mikhail Watford, a Russian billionaire born in Ukraine, was discovered dead in his Surrey mansion on February 28.
The death is being probed by the coroner, according to Surrey Police, who stated a hearing will be conducted on July 29.
According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, another Russian businessman, Vasily Melnikov, was discovered dead with his family in Nizhny Novgorod in late March.
Melnikov was the owner of MedStom, a medical supply firm. On March 23, a 43-year-old man, his 41-year-old wife, and two children ages four and ten were found stabbed to death, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.
Two additional Russian businessmen died in suspected murder-suicide events earlier this month.
According to Russian state news outlet Tass, Vladislav Avayev, a former vice-president of Gazprombank, was found dead in his Moscow apartment on April 18 with his wife and kid.