Found dead in the pool
Another oligarch mysteriously dies
7/5/2022 9:44 p.m
After a series of unexplained deaths of wealthy Russians, another is discovered lifeless in his mansion. According to a media report, it is multi-millionaire Yuri Voronov, who had connections to Gazprom. Russian investigators speak of a “dispute with business partners”.
Another Russian oligarch has died under circumstances that are still unclear. As the British Daily Mail reported, multi-millionaire Yuri Voronov was found dead in the pool at his mansion in an affluent St. Petersburg suburb. According to the report, the 61-year-old was found with a gunshot wound to the head, a pistol was nearby and several spent shells at the bottom of the pool.
According to the newspaper, Voronov is the head of a logistics company that had lucrative contracts with Gazprom in the Arctic. The Russian investigative committee attributes the death to a “quarrel with business partners,” it said. His wife reportedly told investigators that her husband believed she had been cheated out of “a lot of money” by “dishonest” contractors.
In recent months, a series of mysterious deaths of Russian oligarchs have led to rumors that the murders, like suicides, may have been staged. There was speculation about possible punitive actions by the Kremlin. For example, Alexander Tyulyakov, deputy director general of Gazprom, was found hanged in his villa near St. Petersburg a day after Russia attacked Ukraine. In the same area, a month earlier, former Gazprom executive Leonid Schulman was found dead in the bathroom of his home. Farewell letters were found on both of them. In England, oligarch Mikhail Watford was found hanged in the garage of his mansion.
The Russian state news agency TASS reported in March on the death of oligarch Vasily Melnikov, his wife and two children near Nizhny Novgorod. According to investigators, Melnikov first killed his wife and children and then himself. In April, former deputy head of Gazprom Bank Valdislav Avaev and former manager of Novatek, Russia’s largest private gas producer, Sergey Protosenya died. Both are said to have killed their wife and children first and then themselves. In May, 37-year-old Andrei Krukovsky, director of the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort, Russia’s main winter sports resort, reportedly had an accident while hiking. In the same month, Alexander Subbotin, manager of the oil giant Lukoil, is said to have died at the hands of a shaman.