It is known that many famous Russian businessmen committed suicide in just three months

Links with Gazprom

In the first reported death this year, a senior Gazprom executive was found dead in his cottage in the village of Leninsky near Leningrad on January 30, 2022, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported.

RIA reported that a suicide note was found at the scene and investigators are investigating the death as a suicide. Russian national broadcaster Rentevi identified the man as Leonid Shulman, head of transport at Gazprom Invest.

A month later, another senior executive at Gazprom was found dead in the same village. Alexander Tyulakov was found dead in his garage on February 25, Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper, reported. Novaya Gazeta reported that he died by suicide.

CNN’s calls to Gazprom were not returned.

CNN did not receive a request for comment on the two cases from the Russia Investigative Committee.

Two more Russian businessmen with ties to Gazprom died in apparent murder-suicides in April.

One of them, Gazprombank Vice President Vladylav Avayev, was found dead in a Moscow apartment with his wife and son on April 18.

Citing a law enforcement source, TASS said authorities are investigating Aveyev’s death as a murder-suicide.

Yulia Ivanova, a representative of Moscow’s Investigative Committee, said that a relative found Avayev’s body after being told by the family’s driver and nanny over the phone that they would not be able to contact them or enter the apartment. , because the door was locked from the inside.

Igor Volobuyev, a former vice president of Gazprombank who recently left Russia for Ukraine, told CNN that he does not believe that Avayev killed himself.

“His job was to deal with a private bank, which means dealing with VIP clients. He was handling a lot of money. So, did he kill himself? I don’t think so. I think he knew something and it was him. He created some kind of danger,” Volobuyev told L in April. CNN said.

The Russian Investigative Committee did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the matter.

Just one day later, on April 19, Serge Protosenia, a former executive at gas producer Novatec, which is partly owned by Gazprom, was found dead at his home in Lloret de Mar, a Mediterranean resort near Barcelona.

The bodies of his wife and daughter were found inside the family’s luxury home with signs of abuse, an official source close to the investigation told CNN last week, adding that Protosenia’s body was found outside in the garden. Source.

A child asks for first discoveries

Catalan police in the province of Girona, where the city of Lloret de Mar is located, told CNN on Friday that they had completed an investigation into the case and sent the results to court.

The police force has concluded that the deaths were a double homicide followed by a suicide, he said.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in April, Protosenia’s son questioned his version of events, suggesting instead that his father had been killed.

“The Catalan police have taken statements from the boy. Other hypotheses have been ruled out. There was also a triple murder,” a police press officer told CNN at the time. The official added: “Was this the work of the Russian mafia? Well, no.

Protosenia’s former employer, Novatec, said he was a “wonderful man and a wonderful family man.”

“Unfortunately, there have been speculations in the media on this topic, but we are sure that these speculations do not correspond to reality. We hope that the Spanish law enforcement agencies will conduct a thorough and objective investigation and rectify the situation,” the company said in a statement.

Coroner’s decision

Ukrainian-born Russian oil and gas billionaire Mikhail Watford was found dead at his home in Surrey, England on February 28.

Surrey police told CNN they do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances.

Another Russian businessman, Vasily Melnikov, was found dead with his family in Nizhny Novgorod in late March, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.

Melnikov owned a medical equipment company called MedStom. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, a 43-year-old man, his wife, 41, and two children, aged four and 10, were stabbed to death on March 23.

The committee did not identify Melnikov, but the age of the dead and the location of the crash match the Kommersant report.

The Investigative Committee’s state branch has not updated the status of the investigation and did not return CNN’s request for comment. “There were no signs of unauthorized entry into the apartment” and “knives were found and seized,” he said in March when the incident occurred.

“[Investigators] They are considering several versions of what happened, including the killing of the children and his wife by the head of the family and self-inflicted wounds.

How to get help: In the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Global Suicide Prevention and Friends can provide contact information for disaster centers around the world.