Does Russian Oligarchs Kill Themselves?

In Russia, there is a long history of power and wealth being concentrated in the hands of a few. This has led to a culture of secrecy and corruption, where oligarchs can do whatever they want without fear of retribution. In recent years, there have been several high-profile suicides among Russian oligarchs.

Some people say that these suicides are simply due to the stress of being wealthy and powerful. Others believe that there is more to it than that and that these suicides may be part of a larger conspiracy.

Does Russian Oligarchs Kill Themselves?

Since late January, at least five well-known Russian businesspeople have reportedly committed suicide, three of whom are also believed to have murdered family members.

Four of the deceased men worked for Gazprom, the state-owned energy company of Russia, or one of its subsidiaries.

Leonid Shulman

Calls to Gazprom from CNN went unanswered. According to Russian state media RIA Novosti, a senior executive at Gazprom was discovered dead at his cabin in the Leninsky village close to Leningrad on January 30, 2022.

According to RIA, a suicide note was discovered at the scene, and the death was being looked into as a suicide. The individual has been identified as Leonid Shulman, the transport director at Gazprom Invest, by the Russian national television network RenTv.

Alexander Tyulakov

A month later, another senior Gazprom executive was discovered deceased in the same village. On February 25, Alexander Tyulakov’s body was discovered in his garage, according to the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. According to Novaya Gazeta, he committed suicide.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the two cases.

Mikhail Watford

Russian millionaire Mikhail Watford, who was born in Ukraine, was discovered dead on February 28 in his Surrey, England, residence.

The coroner is looking into the death, according to Surrey Police, who informed CNN that a hearing will take place on July 29.

Vasily Melnikov

According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Vasily Melnikov, another businessman from Russia, was discovered dead in Nizhny Novgorod in late March beside his family.

MedStom, a supplier of medical equipment, belonged to Melnikov. The Investigative Committee of Russia reports that on March 23, a 43-year-old man, his 41-year-old wife, and their two children, ages four and ten, were discovered dead from stab wounds.

As of late April 2022, the regional branch of the Investigative Committee had not updated the status of its investigation and had not returned CNN’s request for comment, CNN reported. At the time, in March, the committee said there “were no signs of unauthorized entry into the apartment” and that “knives were found and seized.”

“[Investigators] are considering several versions of what happened, including the murder of the children and wife by the head of the family, followed by self-inflicted death,” the committee said, as quoted by CNN.

In April 2022, two more Russian businessmen died in apparent murder-suicides.

Vladislav Avayev

According to Russian state news outlet Tass, Vladislav Avayev, a former vice-president of Gazprombank, was discovered dead in his Moscow flat on April 18 together with his wife and daughter.

Tass said that officials were looking into the Avayevs’ murders as a murder-suicide, citing a source in law enforcement.

The family driver and the nanny informed a relative that they could not be reached by phone or entered the apartment because the door was locked from the inside, according to Yulia Ivanova of the Investigative Committee for Moscow, who was quoted by Tass.

Igor Volobuev, a former vice president of Gazprombank who recently emigrated from Russia to Ukraine, told CNN that he did not think Avayev committed suicide.

He was in charge of very big sums of money and had to deal with VIP clients as part of his job, Volobuev said he did not believe Avayev had taken his own life, and suspected he had known something that made him a risk to others.

Sergei Protosenya, A Russian Gas Magnate, And His Wife Natalya

According to the source, Protosenya’s body was discovered outside while the two women’s bodies, which had evidence of abuse, were discovered inside the family’s opulent home. The incident is being looked into as a double homicide with a suicide that followed in a domestic violence case.

Protosenya’s son questioned the account of the events in an interview with the Daily Mail, indicating that his father was actually murdered.

He adored my mother, and Maria, my sister, in particular. As his princess, she was. He was powerless to hurt them in any way.

Fedor Protosenya, who was present at the family’s home in France at the time of the event, claimed, “I don’t know what happened that night, but I know that my dad did not hurt them.”

According to Catalan police in the Girona region, where the town of Lloret de Mar is situated, “the hypothesis continues to be a domestic violence case despite the statements by the son,” they told CNN on Friday.

“The Catalan police have taken statements from the son. Other hypotheses have been ruled out. Also ruled out was a triple homicide,” the police’s press official told CNN.

The official continued, “That this was the work of the Russian mafia? Well, no.”

Novatek, his former employer, described him as “an outstanding person and a wonderful family man.”