At least five prominent Russian businessmen committed suicide by the end of January. In a sixth case, investigations into the causes of death are still open. Four of them had ties to Russian state energy giant Gazprom or one of its subsidiaries: CNN reports, which also adds that three of them killed members of their families before committing suicide. Also among the dead is Sergey Protosenya, former president of Novotek, who was found lifeless with his wife and daughter in Spain in what was originally described as a murder-suicide. But there are many doubts about that.
The identities of the dead businessmen
The first was the head of transport at Gazprom Invest, Leonid Schulman: was found dead in his hut in Leninsky village near Leningrad on January 30, 2022 after leaving a goodbye note at the scene. Just a month later, in the same village, the corpse Alexander Tulakov – another gas giant executive – was found dead in his garage. Novaya Gazeta reported that he committed suicide. It was February 25: On the last day of the month, he was instead found dead at his home in Surrey, England. Mikhail Watford, a Russian billionaire of Ukrainian descent. The causes of death are under investigation and a hearing will be held on July 29. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reveals the identity of the fourth Russian tycoon found dead: he is the businessman Vasily Melnikov, which owned MedStom, a medical supply company. At the end of March, he was found dead with his family in Nizhny Novgorod: According to CNN reports, he, his wife and their two children were stabbed to death.
The investigations
Finally, earlier this month, two other Russian businessmen died in what appeared to be incidents of killing and suicide. Vladislav Avayevthe former vice president of Gazprombank, was found dead in his locked apartment in Moscow with his wife and daughter Sergei Protosenya, a former executive of gas producer Novatek, partly owned by Gazprom. Protosenya was found dead north of Barcelona and a source close to the investigation revealed to CNN that the bodies of his wife and daughter were also found dead nearby in the coastal town of Lloret de Mar. reported on the bodies of the two women, the investigations focus on the domestic violence hypothesis, although Protosenya’s son claims he does not believe this version. However, the Catalan police have ruled out that the killings could be the work of the Russian mafia.
