Russian businessmen and managers of Russian giants (energy/business/financial) “mysteriously” passed away in the last – war-torn over Ukraine – months, not only inside but also outside of Russia, some of them committed suicide, others as a result of diseases and others in the context of deadly attacks, but they all remain – at least for the moment – inexplicable and mysterious.

Since February 24, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and then, ten well-known Russians were found dead, some of them with their families, with the vice president of Lukoil Ravil Maganov to be added to this long and terrible list that continues to grow.

Scams (like 67-year-old Maganov from Lukoil, who fell from the 6th floor of the central clinic in Moscow … on the day Vladimir Putin visited the same clinic), suicide by hanging (like the oligarch Mikhail Watford or Alexander Tyulakov from ” Gazprom”), wild murders not only of business executives, but also members of their families (for example, Vladislav Avaev from Gazprombank, Sergey Protoseny from Novatek or Vasily Melnikov from MedStom) and mysterious “heart attacks” (such as the former director “Lukoil” by Alexander Shubotin) came to compose an outrageous fiction, the reality of a thriller, which seems to have everything: wars (see Ukrainian), quarrels (international, but possibly also domestic), financial interests, energy shortages and … a lot darkness.

All this in wartime, when tension simultaneously spills over the de facto border of Ukraine: from Crimea (see attacks on the Russian air base in Saki) to Russian Belgorod (see explosions in warehouses) and the Moscow region itself, where, on August 20, Daria Dugina , the daughter of Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed in a car explosion in which she was traveling.

“Who killed Daria Duginaya? Russian special services “show” a Ukrainian woman with a Mini, Kyiv denies its involvement, the mystery remains,” K wrote last Sunday, emphasizing that for ultra-conservative Russian circles, “Dugina’s murder is perceived as an event that conveys the war in Moscow.”

However, the “mystery” still covers the deaths of several other Russian businessmen or managers who have died in recent months in Russia, Britain and Spain. Who are they;

Ravil Maganov

For a number of years, the director of the oil company Lukoil, 67-year-old Maganov, who in 2019 was even awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky during a ceremony in the Kremlin in the presence of Putin himself, fell from the 6th floor of a clinic in Moscow. By a diabolical coincidence, on the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin was in the same clinic to say goodbye to the late Gorbachev.

Russian sources report that Maganov suffered from depression. Others claim he “accidentally” fell while smoking near a window. Lukoil himself mentions in his report that Maganov “died after a serious illness” (“…died after a serious illness”). Critics of the Kremlin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on the other hand, were quick to withdraw a statement in which Lukoil’s board of directors last March expressed “deep concern about the tragic events in Ukraine” and then took a stance on the side of “all the victims” of the war.

Sergey Protoseniya

Protosenia, 55, the former CEO of Novatek, a liquefied natural gas company, was found hanged in a luxury villa in Spain last April. His wife and daughter were also found dead in the same place as him. In one common scenario, Protosenia killed his daughter and wife and then committed suicide. However, this scenario is disputed both by Novatek, which describes the 55-year-old man as a “wonderful family man”, and by the surviving son of the deceased.

Vladislav Avaev

A former Gazprombank vice president who also worked for the Kremlin, Avayev, 51, was found dead in his Moscow apartment last April. His wife and daughter were also found dead in the same place as him. According to one version, Avaev killed them and then committed suicide… as another protosen. However, Igor Volobuev, for his part, himself a former head of Gazprombank who resigned and defected to Kyiv, characterized the “suicide” in question as “staged” a few months ago.

Michael Watford

A native of Ukraine, 66-year-old oligarch Mikhail Watford was found hanged last February in his apartment in Surrey, southeast England. Official cause of death: suicide.

Vasily Melnikov

The 43-year-old billionaire, whose name is associated with the Russian medical equipment supplier MedStom, was found dead (with a knife wound) in an apartment in the (Nizhny Novgorod) region in western Russia. His wife and two minor sons were found dead with him.

Alexander Tyulakov

61-year-old head of “Gazprom” Tyulakov was found hanged in the garage of a house near St. Petersburg in February last year. Official cause of death: suicide.

Vladimir Lyakishev

The 45-year-old former owner of the Karavaev Brothers restaurant chain was found dead last May on the 16th floor of the house where he lived. Presumably he was shot in the head.

Yuri Voronov

The founder and CEO of the Astra-Shipping company, which collaborated with Gazprom, was found dead in the pool in July last year. He – and he – was shot in the head.

Andrey Krukovsky

Last spring, the 37-year-old general director of the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort (which is co-owned by Gazprom) died in the Sochi region. Official cause of death: fall from a hill.

Leonid Shulman

The 60-year-old head of Gazprom Invest, which handles Gazprom’s investment projects, was found dead in the bathroom of a house north of St. Petersburg last January, about a month before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. It is said that he committed suicide because he could not bear the pain in his legs from which he was suffering.

Alexander Shubotin

Subotin, the former head of the Lukoil oil company, was found dead in his basement at home in a city northeast of Moscow last May. He reportedly used alcohol and drugs.

Two versions

Much has been written about the above cases in the international press in recent months. According to one view, some of the dead committed suicide because they could not bear the burden and destruction inflicted on their lives by Western sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

From another point of view, the cases under consideration, or at least many of them, are connected with internal Russian disputes, the result of which may be either financial / business disputes, or fraud, or cases of awareness and / or leakage of classified information …

In any case, one cannot fail to notice that in many of the cases under consideration, two company names reappear: in this case Gazprom and Lukoil.