Russia is a beautiful country where sometimes strange things happen, as in all countries you will tell me, but there all the same it pushes the cursors of the unexplained a little. Recently a series of disappearances which mainly affect oligarchs close to power and all working in the energy sector has begun to take shape: a curious coincidence at first glance, which is not unlike the curious disappearances that have occurred in China.
1. Ivan Pechorin, fell from a boat
Ivan Pechorin was general manager of the aerospace industry at the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, not the corner grocer. The 39-year-old man died on September 12 when he fell from a boat while intoxicated, which would have caused his drowning. A regrettable accident that can happen, the only thing a bit fishy in the end is that it is the ninth Russian oligarch linked to the energy industry to die in nine months.
2. Alexander Subbotin, poisoned with toad venom
The former leader of a big Russian oil company died after a drunken evening visiting a couple of shamans he frequented quite often. At home he injected himself with toad venom to get rid of the hangover on a regular basis, because apparently it works, but an overdose would probably have been the cause of death. The shaman would not have called the emergency services when he saw Subbotin throwing up but would have given him a tranquilizer and advised him to go to sleep in his cellar, which amounts to the same thing as going to the hospital we must believe, and that’s where that the man would be dead.
3. Yuri Voronov, found dead in his swimming pool (but still with a bullet in the head)
Important business leader who worked closely with Gazpromthe world’s largest gas producer and exporter, Yuri Voronov was found dead in his swimming pool with a gun by his side in July 2022. It could obviously be a suicide, just as much as it could not be a suicide after all, which did not really help the police to solve this disastrous affair.
4. Sergey Protosenya, found hanged near his murdered family
On April 19 in Lloret Del Mar (Spain), the former president of the gas company Novatek Sergey Protosenya was found hanged in his vacation home. Next to his body the Spanish police also found those of his wife and daughter, both killed with knives. The tracks of the crime of passion followed by a suicide or a triple murder made up had been mentioned by the police but the truth on the case has still not been made. Quite disturbing fact: the day before Protosenya’s death, another Russian oligarch died in fairly similar circumstances (Vadislav Avayev).
5. Vadislav Avayev, found dead with his wife and daughter
So on April 18, the day before the triple disappearance of Sergey Protosenya and his family, another similar crime took place. This former important Kremlin worker was found dead in his apartment in the Russian capital with his also deceased wife and daughter. Needless to say that the same theories have been put forward: triple murder made up or crime of passion followed by suicide, but it’s starting to do a bit much.
6. Vasily Melnikov, suicide after the murder of his family
You will have the impression of reading the same point three times in a row, but it is nevertheless completely true: the boss of Medstorm was found at his home last March deceased along with his entire family. The man allegedly committed suicide after killing his wife and two children with a knife because his company was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the war in Ukraine. Quadruple murder or crime of passion followed by suicide, you begin to know the music.
7. Mikhail Watford, found hanged in his garage
Oil and gas tycoon Mikhail Watford was found hanged in his garage in London on February 28, 2022, which British authorities still found suspicious, the man in his 60s had lived in England since the 2000s and had (presumably) no real reason to commit suicide, which did not help to solve the investigation.
8. Alexander Tyulyakov, hanged in his garage
The techniques of suicide are a little strangely similar, but Alexander Tyulyakov the former deputy director of Gazprom was also found dead hanged in the garage of his home in Saint-Petersburg. We found next to his body a note explaining his gesture, which may indeed constitute a motive. It’s the repetition of targeted disappearances that is a bit messy.
9. Leonid Shulman, dead in his bathroom
The former CEO of Gazprom (making it the third person to die in connection with this company) was found dead in his bathroom in January, also accompanied by a note that explained his suicide. The man had cut his veins in his bathtub and was the first of the long and intriguing series of deaths that had occurred since the beginning of the year.