Russian oligarchs die under suspicious circumstances less than a day apart

Russian oligarchs die under mysterious circumstances less than a day apart

Russian oligarchs die under mysterious circumstances less than a day apart Source: Facebook

Investigations have been launched after two Russian oligarchs die less than a day apart and under suspicious circumstances.

In both cases they are believed to have murdered their wives and daughters before killing themselves, with a surviving child raising the alarm.  

The first a former Kremlin official and Gazprombank Vice President, Vladislav Avayev, was found dead in his luxury Moscow apartment. The 51-year-old was found alongside the bodies of his wife and 13-year-old daughter on Monday April 19th, with authorities saying that it appeared that he had shot them before turning the gun on himself.

The bodies were found by their 26-year-old daughter Anastasia who called on them after she was unable to get hold of her family.

The second former Novatek Deputy Chairman Sergey Protosenya, was found dead at their mansion in Lloret de Mar, in the east of Spain. The 55-year-old was found along with his wife Natalya, 53, and 18-year-old daughter, Maria.

The Guardia Civil say that it looks as if the two woman had been stabbed, before Protosenya hanged himself in the garden. The alarm was raised by the couple’s teenage son, who was staying in France, after he was unable to reach his parents.

Spanish police are investigating whether the deaths were the result of a domestic murder-suicide or an organised hit.

Spanish website, El Punt Avui, reports that police found some inconsistencies at the sight of the murder, with the two women were stabbed as they slept leaving a pool of blood. But no blood stains were found on Protosenya, the report said.

With the war in Ukraine ongoing and rumours of rifts, the deaths of the two oligarchs within hours of each will raise some eyebrows. Spanish detectives are combing through the evidence to establish whether the incidents were tragedies sparked by domestic violence, or whether they are the work of hit man.

Although it is unclear as to what role either played in Russian affairs or whether they were targets of sanctions, what is clear is that Putin had vented his unhappiness with “westernised Russians”.

He said: “I do not judge those with villas in Miami or the French Riviera. Or [those] who can’t get by without oysters or foie gras or so-called ‘gender freedoms’…The problem is they mentally exist there, and not here, with our people, with Russia.”

The statement was followed up with a call for “self-purification” of the nation. That it is believed led to a strong of private jets leaving the country, with the wealthy concerned that they too were on the target list.

Calls have been made for a thorough investigation into the suspicious deaths of the two Russian oligarchs who died less than a day apart.


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Written by

Peter McLaren-Kennedy

Originally from South Africa, Peter is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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