Who's Dead?

Shall we have a look-see at what Mr Putin has (prob'ly) been up to this year?

Some of the "Circumstances" read like:

Shot four times in the back with a bolt action rifle -

an apparent suicide.

During 2022, multiple unusual deaths of Russian-connected businessmen, and sometimes their family members, occurred under what some sources suggest were suspicious circumstances.

Analysis
On 3 June 2022, the Dutch NOS news network described the phenomenon as "a grim series of Russian billionaires, many from the oil and gas industries, who have been found dead under unusual circumstances since early this year. The first was on 30 January, when 60-year-old Leonid Shulman, transport chief for Russian energy giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house in the Leningrad region. Beside his body was a suicide note."

On 6 July 2022, CNN Portugal described the group as "millionaires with direct or indirect links to the Kremlin found dead in a mystery scenario since the beginning of the year". It referred to a previous investigation by USA Today, which concluded that "38 Russian businessmen and oligarchs close to the Kremlin died in mysterious or suspicious circumstances between 2014 and 2017."

Friends and families of the deceased Russian businessmen generally found it "unthinkable" that they killed themselves – and in some cases also their wives and children – and have demanded an independent investigation into the mysterious deaths.

Igor Volobuyev, the Ukrainian-born ex-vice-chairman of Gazprombank, who left Russia during the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and joined the Freedom of Russia Legion, said in an interview with The Insider that he thought that his former colleague Vladislav Avayev's alleged murder of his family and subsequent suicide had been staged: "Why? That is difficult to say. Perhaps he knew something and posed some kind of danger."

Likewise, Sergey Protosenya's son, who was not in Spain when his parents and sister were found dead in Lloret de Mar, stated his father was not the perpetrator ("my father is not a murderer"), but that his parents and sister were murdered by someone else. Protosenya was the former CEO of gas giant Novatek, which published a statement saying he was "a real family man", and called on the Spanish authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation.

Businessman and critic of the Russian federal government Bill Browder has opined that Putin is personally ordering executions of influential business leaders in critical sectors whom he feels will not be yes men and intimidates their successors with threats of death or violence.

List of deaths (as close as the editors can get it)

(Name - Age - Position - Death Date - Place Body Was Discovered - Circumstances)

Leonid Shulman
60
Director of Transport of Gazprom
30 January 2022
Russia Bathroom of a residence in Leningrad Oblast
Suicide note found next to his body.

Igor Nosov
43
CEO of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) and former Deputy Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
8 February 2022
Russia Moscow
Reportedly suffered a stroke

Alexander Tyulakov
61
Deputy General Director of the Unified Settlement Center of Gazprom
25 February 2022
Russia Garage of a residence in Saint Petersburg
Suicide note found on his body

Mikhail Watford
66
Businessman
28 February 2022
United Kingdom Garage of a residence in Surrey, England
British authorities have not found evidence of a crime

Vasily Melnikov
43
CEO and owner of Medstorm
23 March 2022
Russia Apartment in Nizhny Novgorod
Wife and two sons found dead beside him

Vladislav Avayev
51
Former Vice President of Gazprombank
18 April 2022
Russia Apartment in Moscow
Wife and 13-year-old daughter found dead beside him

Sergey Protosenya
55 Former Deputy Chairman of Novatek.
19 April 2022
Spain Garden of a residence in Lloret de Mar, Spain
Hanged from a handrail; wife and daughter found dead in their beds with blunt axe wounds and stab wounds

Andrei Krukovsky
37
General Director of the Estosadok Krasnaya Polyana, a ski resort owned by Gazprom
1 May 2022
Russia Below a cliff near the Achipse Fortress in Sochi
Reportedly "fell off a cliff" while hiking to Achipse Fortress

Alexander Subbotin
31
Board member of Lukoil
8 May 2022
Russia Basement of a Jamaican shaman's residence in Moscow
Reportedly died from a "drug-induced heart attack" during a shamanic ritual, though critics allege "toad poison"

Yuri Voronov
61
CEO of Astra Shipping, a subcontractor of Gazprom
4 July 2022
Russia Swimming pool of a residence in Leningrad Oblast
Gunshot wounds to the head, pistol found next to his body

Dan Rapoport
52
Businessman
14 August 2022
United States Below a window of an apartment in Washington, D.C.
Reportedly died in a fall from his apartment

Ravil Maganov
67
Chairman of Lukoil
1 September 2022
Russia
Below a window of the Kremlin Hospital, Moscow
Reportedly hospitalised for heart problems and depression, then "fell out of a window"

Ivan Pechorin
39
Director of Aviation of the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV)
10 September 2022
Russia On a beach in Beregovoi, 160 km (99 mi) from Vladivostok
Drowned at Cape Ignatyev, Vladivostok; body found washed up in Beregovoe two days later; allegedly fell from his boat

Vladimir Sungorkin
68
Editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda
14 September 2022
Russia Roshchino, Khabarovsky District, Khabarovsk Krai
Reportedly suffered a stroke and suffocated while on the way to lunch

Anatoly Gerashchenko
72
Former Head of Moscow Aviation Institute
21 September 2022
Russia Moscow
Fell down a flight of stairs inside the institute

Pavel Pchelnikov
52
Director of Digital Logistics, a Russian Railways subsidiary
28 September 2022
Russia On the balcony of an apartment in Moscow
Allegedly shot himself on the balcony of his apartment

Vyacheslav Taran
53 Co-founder of Libertex, a foreign exchange market
29 November 2022 France Villefranche-sur-Mer, French Riviera, France
Died in helicopter crash after taking off from Switzerland

Grigory Kochenov
41
Creative director of Agima, an IT company
7 December 2022
Russia Below the balcony of an apartment in Nizhny Novgorod
Fell to his death from his balcony while police officers were supposedly conducting a search of his apartment

Dmitriy Zelenov
50
Co-founder of Don-Stroy, a construction company
9 December 2022
France Antibes, French Riviera, France
Reportedly felt ill and fell over a railing and hit his head, later died in the emergency room without regaining consciousness

Vladimir Bidenov
61
Business associate and travel companion of Pavel Antov
22 December 2022
India Hotel Sai International, Rayagada, Odisha, India
Died of heart problems despite him never previously having any, two days later his close companion died at the same hotel under suspicious circumstances

Alexander Buzakov
66
Director General of the Admiralty Shipyards
24 December 2022
Russia Saint Petersburg
Died suddenly the day after he attended the float-out ceremony of the new Lada class submarine Velikie Luki [ru]. No explanation was given on the cause of death

Pavel Antov
65
Founder of Vladmirsky Standart, a meat processing company, and deputy (member) of the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast
24 December 2022
India - below a window of Hotel Sai International, Rayagada, Odisha, India
Fell out of window from Hotel Sai International; another Russian colleague, Vladimir Bidanov, died in the same hotel two days prior.