BY
Two
Russian oligarchs were found dead this week alongside their family in luxurious
homes in Russia and Spain, with the two cases discovered
within 24 hours of each other.
Both deaths are believed by police to be cases of murder-suicide,
but the evidence supporting these theories is muddled by the fact that the
events happened so close together, with the two oligarchs the last of several
who have been found to have died by suicide since the beginning of the year.
Here's a list of all the Russian oligarch who have been found
dead in mysterious circumstance since January.
Sergey Protosenya
The body of Sergey Protosenya, former top manager of Russia's
energy giant Novatek, was found together with those of his wife and daughter on
Tuesday in a rented villa in Spain, where the family was reportedly on holiday
for Easter.
The 55-year-old millionaire was found hanged in the garden of the villa in Lloret de Mar by Catalonian police, Spanish media reported, while his wife and daughter were found in their beds with stab wounds on their bodies.
A photo of Sergey Protosenya, a
Russian oligarch that was found dead in his Spain apartment in what police
believe to be a murder-suicide incident.FACEBOOK
According
to local media outlets Telecinco and El
Punt Avui, an axe and a knife were found next to the body of
Protosenya.
Police are investigating two
possible scenarios, say Telecinco: either the Russian oligarch killed his wife
and daughter and then hanged himself, or that the entire family was murdered
and the crime scene was later stage to appear like a murder-suicide.
Protosenya's death was confirmed by Russian state media TASS on
Thursday.
The Protosenya family mainly lived in France. Novatek is the
second largest company in Russia involved in the production of natural gas.
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Vladislav Avaev
Just a day before the body of Protosenya was found in Spain, on
April 18, former vice-president of Gazprombank Vladislav Avaev was found dead
in his multi-million apartment on Universitetsky Prospekt in Moscow, together
with his wife and daughter.
The bodies were reportedly discovered by a relative of the Avaevs after being unable to get in contact with the family for several days.
In #Moscow, former vice-president of "Gazprombank" Vladislav Avaev shot dead his wife and 13-year-old daughter, after which he committed suicide.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 18, 2022
Previously, Avaev worked in the Office of the President and in the State Duma. pic.twitter.com/LUu3fSMszD
The apartment was locked from the inside and a pistol was found
in Avaev's hands, leading investigators to explore the theory that Avaev shot
his wife and his 13-year-old daughter before killing himself.
Privately-owned Gazprombank is the third-largest bank by assets
in Russia.
Vasily Melnikov
On
March 24, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported
the death of billionaire Vasily Melnikov in his luxury apartment in Nizhny
Novgorod, the sixth-largest city in the country.
According
to police investigations mentioned by Kommersant,
Melnikov—who reportedly worked for the medical firm MedStom—was found dead in
the apartment together with his wife Galina and two sons. They had all died
from stab wounds and the knives used for the murders were found at the crime
scene.
Kommersant reported
that investigators concluded that Melnikov killed his 41-year-old wife and
10-year-old and 4-year-old children before killing himself, but neighbors and
relatives struggle to believe this theory. According to the Ukrainian media
outlet Glavred, Melnikov's
company was suffering huge losses because of Western sanctions.
Another
theory, says Glavred,
is a possible confrontation with a former business partner. But according to
sources cited by Kommersant,
police found no traces of any external interference or struggle in the
Melnikovs' apartment.
The children were found in the children's room and Melnikov's
wife in the bedroom. Melnikov was found in the bathroom with a cut artery.
Mikhail Watford
Ukrainian-born Russian tycoon Mikhail Watford was found dead in his
home in Surrey in the U.K. on February 28.
Watford—who had changed his name from the original
Tolstosheya—was born in 1955 in then-Soviet Ukraine and had made a name for
himself after becoming an oil and gas magnate.
Watford,
66, was found hanged in the garage of his home by a gardener, according
to The Daily Mail.
Surrey police said the circumstances around his death were not suspicious, as
reported by the BBC.
Watford lived in the house with his Estonian wife Jane and his
three children.
Alexander Tyulyakov
On February 25, Gazprom's Deputy General Director of the Unified
Settlement Center (UCC) for Corporate Security, Alexander Tyulyakov, was found
dead in a cottage near St. Petersburg, as reported by the Russian newspaper
Gazeta.
Tyulyakov's
body was reportedly found hanged in the apartment's garage. Police found a note
next to his body that led investigators to believe the oligarch had died by suicide.
An
employee of the Investigative Committee for the Leningrad region working on
Tyulyakov's death told independent Russian newspaper Novaya
Gazeta that forensic specialists were already working at the
scene of the apparent suicide when Gazprom's security service staff arrived and
cordoned off the crime scene, leaving police officers outside the house.
Tyulyakov, 61, had worked for Gazprom for about ten years, and
had previously served as Deputy General Director for Corporate Security and
Human Resources at the energy giant.
Leonid Shulman
The first death linked to Russian energy giant Gazprom dates
back to before the Russian invasion of Ukraine had even started, in January.
At that time, 60-year-old Gazprom's top manager Leonid Shulman
was found dead in the bathroom of a cottage in the Leningrad region, next to a
note that led police to believe he died by suicide, according to Gazeta and
Russian media group RBC.
RBC reports that Gazprom Invest said it was investigating the
death of Schulman.
"Our colleague, the head of the transport service, Leonid
Aleksandrovich Shulman, has passed away. The circumstances are being
investigated," RBC quotes the company saying.
According to RBC, Shulman was on sick leave when he died.
Update
4/22/22, 10:52 a.m. EDT: This article has been updated to include information
on Vasily Melnikov and Mikhail Watford.
Update
4/23/22, 11:18 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to avoid underlying
negative connotations around suicide.
Two
Russian Oligarchs Die in Mysterious Circumstances 24 Hours Apart
https://www.newsweek.com/oligarchs-murder-suicide-1699766
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