Russian oligarch dies ‘suddenly’ as list of Putin’s wealthy critics dying keeps growing

So far, at least 23 wealthy Russians, critical of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, have died in suspicious circumstances since the start of the invasion.

A former Russian army chief, Alexei Maslov, with longstanding ties to Ukraine is the latest to die “suddenly”. He worked for the Uralvagonzavod machine-building company, the largest tank manufacturer in the world.

Maslov, who was commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces from 2004 to 2008, passed away on Sunday in a Moscow military hospital, the company said.

The former military leader, originally from a Russian region bordering Ukraine, had close ties to the country that Russia invaded in February. Maslov’s military career began in Soviet Ukraine, where he studied at a high school for military commanders in Kharkiv, the UK’s Express reported.

Meanwhile, to keep track of all suspicious deaths in Putin’s circles since the start of the war, Wikipedia has created a specific page – 2022 Russian businessmen mystery deaths – where the name, date of death, place, circumstances and role are written.

In some instances the families, including wives and children, of the businessmen have also died.

On Sunday, another wealthy Russian businessman and United Russia MP, Pavel Antonov, who criticized the war in Ukraine, was found dead after a fall from the third floor of a hotel in Rayagada, in India.

Tass news agency reported that Antov “committed suicide because he was depressed by the death two days earlier, apparently of a heart attack, of a Russian friend, Vladimir Budanov, who was part of a group of four tourists who arrived in the hotel a few days before.”

According to the New Indian Express, Antov was “visibly upset” after attending Budanov’s funeral.

On June 3, 2022, the Dutch news network NOS described the phenomenon as “a grim series of Russian billionaires, many from the oil and gas industries, who have been found dead in unusual circumstances since the beginning of this year”.

The first was on January 30, when 60-year-old Leonid Shulman, head of transport at Russian energy giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house in the Leningrad region.

On July 6, 2022, CNN described the group as “millionaires with direct or indirect ties to the Kremlin found dead in mysterious scenarios since the beginning of the year”.

Between January 30 and September 21 this year, 12 wealthy businessmen died.

On September 12, Ivan Pechorin, a top manager of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok after falling off his luxury yacht and drowning near Cape Ignatyev in the Sea of Japan.

So far this month, December 2022, there have been six suspicious deaths, as listed by Wikipedia.