A Russian multi-millionaire has been shot dead in his mansion, and the latest elite with ties to energy giant Gazprom have died in recent months.
Yuri Voronov, 61, head of a logistics company that had lucrative deals with Gazprom in the Arctic, was found dead at his home in an ultra-wealthy suburb of St Petersburg around 2pm Monday.
Voronov was found floating in the pool with a gunshot wound to the head, a Grand Power pistol nearby, and several spent casings at the bottom of the pool.
He is at least the sixth wealthy Russian businessman to die under mysterious circumstances since the beginning of the year, many of them with Gazprom ties, and two of them died in the same St. Petersburg suburb as Voronov.
Yuri Voronov, 61, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head around 2 p.m. Monday at his villa near St. Petersburg
Voronov was found swimming in the pool at his villa in an exclusive suburb of St. Petersburg (neighborhood, pictured above).
The Russian investigative committee is investigating Voronov’s death, which they currently attribute to a “quarrel with business partners”.
His wife reportedly told investigators Voronov believes he was cheated out of “a lot of money” by “dishonest” contractors and partners.
But a string of deaths at other mansions near St. Petersburg have led to rumors of staged murders that look like suicides.
Alexander Tyulakov, 61, a senior Gazprom finance and security official, was found hanged by a lover at his home in the exclusive Leninsky housing complex in February.
Investigators said he killed himself, but local reports said his body showed signs of being beaten – suggesting the hanging was staged.
Three weeks earlier, 60-year-old Leonid Shulman was found stabbed to death in his bathroom on the same housing estate.
Shulman was a transport manager at Gazprom Invest, a branch of the energy giant that handles its investment projects.
Billionaire Alexander Subbotin, 43, a former executive at energy giant Lukoil, was also found dead in May after “taking the advice of shamans”.
Alexander Tyulakov, 61 (left), and Leonid Shulman, 60 (right), were found dead in the same St. Petersburg suburb after being hanged and stabbed, respectively
Vladislav Avayev, 51, who had ties to Gazprombank, was found dead earlier this year after apparently killing 41-year-old woman Yelena and their 13-year-old daughter
One theory is that he was poisoned with toad venom, which caused a heart attack.
In April, wealthy Vladislav Avayev, 51, a former Kremlin official, appeared to have committed suicide after killing his wife Yelena, 47, and daughter, 13.
He had high-level ties to Russia’s leading financial institution, Gazprombank.
Friends have denied reports he was jealous after his wife admitted she was pregnant from her driver.
There are claims that he had access to the financial secrets of the Kremlin elite.
A few days later, multi-millionaire Sergey Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in Spain after apparently killing his wife Natalia, 53, and their teenage daughter Maria with an axe.
He was a former vice chairman of Novatek, a company also closely associated with the Kremlin.
As with Avayev, it is suggested that this may have been an assassination attempt intended to appear as murder and suicide.
Last week, a cellphone multimillionaire and his wife were found stabbed to death in another case that raises questions.
The naked Yevgeny Palant (47) and his wife Olga (50), both born in Ukraine, were found with multiple stab wounds by their daughter Polina (20).
Immediately briefing the media claimed the woman took her own life in a jealous rage after Palant said he was leaving her.
However, this has been fiercely denied by the couple’s best friend.
Sergey Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in Spain after apparently killing his wife Natalia, 53, and their teenage daughter Maria with an axe