The Indian police are investigating the mysterious deaths of two Russian citizens at the same hotel in the eastern state of Odisha within two days last week.
Russian sausage tycoon and politician Pavel Antov died in India after falling from the third-floor window of his luxury hotel. His death came two days after his companion Vladimir Bidenov died at the same hotel on December 22.
Pavel Antov was reportedly on a trip to celebrate his 65th birthday, on December 22, when he was found dead in a pool of blood outside the Hotel Sai International in Rayagada, in India’s eastern state of Odisha, where he was on holiday with three other Russian nationals.
India’s NDTV news outlet reported that police suspected Antov took his own life after becoming depressed about the death of his friend who was found dead in the same hotel. “So far, it seems that Antov accidentally fell from the hotel terrace,” he said.
“He was probably disturbed by the death of his friend and went to the hotel terrace and likely fell to his death from there,” the police chief said. The investigators are probing if he fell accidentally or ended his life.
Death of Antov’s friend
Antov’s death came just two days after his friend and travel companion Vladimir Bidenov died of a heart attack in India in the same hotel. Bidenov was 61 and had a preexisting heart condition, a police official told the media.
Police said they were reviewing CCTV footage, questioning hotel staff and waiting on detailed autopsy reports, but so far there was no sign of foul play in Bidenov’s case.
Who was Pavel Antov?
Pavel Antov was a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party and a multi-millionaire. He was the founder of Vladimir Standard, one of Russia’s largest sausage-making companies. He had a declared annual income of just under $232 million. In 2018, he topped the Forbes ranking of the 100 richest civil servants in Russia. His income in 2018 amounted to about 9.97 billion rubles, according to Forbes Russia.
Anti-war controversy
Antov made the headlines in July earlier this year after posting an anti-war status on his WhatsApp messaging app, criticizing Moscow’s missile attacks on Kyiv as “terrorism”. The story referred to reports of rescuing a girl from the rubble of her house that had been shelled.
Shortly afterward he deleted the status and apologized for the post, blaming an “unfortunate misunderstanding and a technical error”. Pledging his support for the Putin government, Antov said he was “a supporter of the president and my country’s patriot” and “shared the goals” of the Kremlin’s invasion.
Russia’s reaction
Russian Consul General in India’s Kolkata city, Alexey Idamkin, told the Russian state-run TASS news agency that “A tourist group of four people was vacationing at a hotel in Rayagada. Last Thursday, Russian Vladimir B. died. According to police, the cause of this was a heart attack. Last Saturday, the second Russian, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir region, Pavel Antov, fell out of the window”.
The diplomat said that the Russian consulate is closely following the investigation and getting all the information from the Odisha police.
Unusual deaths of Russian businessmen
In 2022, more than 20 unusual deaths of Russian-connected businessmen, and sometimes their family members occurred under suspicious circumstances. Many of them belonged to the oil and gas industries.
- In January, when 60-year-old Leonid Shulman, transport chief for Russian energy giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house, with a suicide note beside his body.
- On February 8, Igor Nosov CEO of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) and former deputy governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast reportedly died of a stroke.
- On February 25, Alexander Tyulakov, Deputy General Director of the Unified Settlement Center of Gazprom was found dead in Garage of a residence in Saint Petersburg with a suicide note.