Another death of a Russian official. This time on a flight from Cuba to Russia
Pyotr Kurchenko is the latest prominent figure to have died under mysterious circumstances while returning from a business trip from Havana. The senior Russian lawmaker, reportedly critical of the invasion of Ukraine, died over the weekend, on a flight from Cuba to Russia, on board a plane with the Russian delegates he was traveling with. Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education confirmed the death and said that Kurcherenko “became ill” on the plane and that the flight made an emergency landing in southern Russia but doctors couldn’t save him.
Since late January 2022, shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there have been a string of mysterious deaths of prominent officials, tycoons, and intelligence and military officials in Russia and across the globe. The string of mysterious deaths has garnered lots of attention, with many questioning whether the brutal repressive Soviet-era like forces were to blame.
In January, Dmitry Medvedev, former President and Prime Minister, once seen as a “reformer,” went to his Telegram, to issue a stark warning to Russians criticizing the invasion or Russia’s war crimes. He threatened Russian critics abroad, with assassination, calling them “traitors who have gone over to the enemy and wish their Fatherland to perish, including some insignificant pieces of shit who, until recently, considered themselves to be among the so-called intellectual elite.” Medvedev added that “the bosses” have discussed “how to act”—“according to the law” or “justice.”
“I'll have to give a clarification,” Medvedev went on. “Of course, only by law. But if the law does not work or does not reach the goal, then according to the special rules of wartime. “
“Let us recall the experience of the Great Patriotic War, and other countries as well,” Medvedev added. “In times of war, there have always been such special rules. And quiet groups of impeccably inconspicuous people who effectively perform them.”
For decades, I have been documenting the assassinations and assassination attempts by Russia’s security services of critics and individuals the Kremlin deems traitors and last year, I decided to start a separate file for the increasing number of prominent Russians who have died under mysterious circumstances. This list will continue to be updated.
January 30, 2022- Leonid Shulman 60 years old
Director of Transport of Gazprom
Found dead in a bathroom of his residence in Leningrad Oblast. A suicide note was found next to his body.
February 8, 2022- Igor Nosov 43 years old
CEO of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation(KRDV) and former Deputy Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Reportedly suffered a stroke in Moscow.
February 25, 2022- Alexander Tyulakov 61 years old
Deputy General Director of the Unified Settlement Center (top executive) of Gazprom. Died in a garage of a residence in Saint Petersburg. A suicide note was found on his body.
February 28, 2022- Mikhail Watford 66 years old
Oil and gas tycoon. Was found hanged in a garage of his residence in Surrey, England. British authorities opened an investigation.
March 23, 2022- Vasily Melnikov 43 years old
CEO and owner of Medstorm. Found dead in his house in Nizhny Novgorod. His wife and two minor children were also found dead, all stabbed to death.
April 18, 2022- Vladislav Avayev 51 years old
Former Vice President of Gazprombank. Avayev, together with his wife and daughter, was shot dead in his luxury Moscow apartment.
April 19, 2022- Sergey Protosenya 55 years old
Former Deputy Chairman of Novatek. Found dead in Spain alongside his wife and daughter.
May 1, 2022- Andrei Krukovsky 37 years old
General Director of the EstosadokKrasnaya Polyana, a ski resort owned by Gazprom. Reportedly "fell off a cliff" while hiking to Achipse Fortress in Sochi.
May 8, 2022- Alexander Subbotin 43 years old
Former top manager of Lukoil. Died in a basement of a shaman in Moscow reportedly from toad poison.
June 15, 2022- Lev Sotskov 90 years old
Retired SVR (Foreign Intelligence Services) Major General, Lev Sotskov, allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in his apartment in Moscow.
July 4, 2022- Yuri Voronov 61 years old
CEO of Astra Shipping, a subcontractor of Gazprom. Found dead in a swimming pool of his residence in Leningrad Oblast with gunshot wounds to the head and a pistol next to his body.
July 21, 2022- Yevgeny Lobachev 76 years old
Retired FSB Major General. The security forces believe that the general could have committed suicide, but the investigators did not find a suicide note at the scene of the incident.
August 14, 2022- Dan Rapoport 52 years old
Russian businessman and an international investment banker, Kremlin critic. Found in the street after an apparent fall from his high-rise apartment building in Washington, DC.
September 1, 2022- Ravil Maganov 67 years old
Chairman of Lukoil. Died after falling out of the window on the sixth floor of a hospital in Moscow after being admitted to the hospital due to heart problems.
September 10, 2022- Ivan Pechorin 39 years old
Director of Aviation of the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV). Found dead from drowning, in Vladivostok, days after falling out of a motorboat.
September 14, 2022- Vladimir Sungorkin 68 years old
Editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda. Died “suddenly,” while on his way to lunch, after showing signs of “suffocation,” in Khabarovsk Krai.
September 21, 2022- Anatoly Gerashchenko 72 years old
Former Head of Moscow Aviation Institute. Reportedly fell down a flight of stairs inside the institute.
September 28, 2022- Pavel Pchelnikov 52 years old
Director of Digital Logistics, a Russian Railways subsidiary. Found with a gunshot wound on his balcony in Moscow. Suicide is listed as the cause of death.
October 12, 2022- Nikolay Petrunin 46 years old
Deputy of the State Duma and former gas executive. Died allegedly from complications of COVID.
November 25, 2022- Vyacheslav Taran 53 years old
Founder of Forex Club and co-founder of Libertex, a cryptocurrency and foreign exchange company. Died in a helicopter crash near the French town of Villefranche-sur-Mer.
December 7, 2022- Grigory Kochenov 41 years old
Creative Director of IT company, Agima. Reportedly fell to his death from his balcony in Nizhny Novgorod during a police search.
December 9, 2022- Dmitriy Zelenov 50 years old
Real estate tycoon and co-founder of Don-Story construction company. While dining with friends on the French Riviera, Zelenov reportedly suddenly became ill, falling down a flight of stairs and suffering critical head injuries
December 22, 2022- Vladimir Bidanov 61 years old
Business associate and travel companion of Pavel Antov who died a few days later (see below). Died at a hotel in India of heart problems, though reportedly had no prior history. The Russian Consulate General of Calcutta confirmed the death and reported that his body was cremated within 48 hours.
December 24, 2022- Pavel Antov 65 years old.
Sausage tycoon. Founder of the meat processing company, Vladmirsky Standart, and deputy member of the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast. Reportedly died from falling out the third-floor window of the Sai International Hotel in India.
December 24, 2022- Alexander Buzakov 66 years old
Director General of the Admiralty Shipyards. Reportedly died “suddenly” in St Petersburg a day after he presided over the floating-out of a fourth-generation Lada-class submarine. No cause of death was given.
December 25, 2022- Alexei Maslov 69 years old
Former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces and special representative of Uralvagonzavod. The company announced in a statement that he died “unexpectedly” at a military hospital, after an expected scheduled visit that was canceled in Yekaterinburg. No cause of death was given.
January 5, 2023- Magomed Abdulaev 61 years old
Former Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan. Reportedly died from being hit by a car while crossing the street.
January 26, 2023- Dmitry Pawochka 49 years old
Former manager of Roscosmos, Sukhoi, Lukoil, Bank Menatep, and Russdragmet. Was found dead after a fire broke out on the 17th floor of a building on Leningradsky Prospekt, Moscow after allegedly falling asleep with a cigarette.
February 13, 2023- Vladimir Makarov 72 years old
Former Russian police general in charge of overseeing the crackdown on opposition protests. Reportedly found dead in an apparent suicide following his dismissal by Putin.
February 16, 2023- Marina Yankina 58 years old
Head of the financial support department of the Ministry of Defence for the Western Military District. Found dead after falling from a window on the 16th floor of a high-rise building in St Petersburg.
February 22, 2023- Viatcheslav Rovneiko 59 years old
Oil magnate, co-founder of Urals Energy, and former KGB spy who is believed to have worked with current SVR chief, Sergei Naryshkin, in Belgium during the Cold War. He was 'found unconscious' late at night at his home in an elite gated village near Moscow.
March 3, 2023- Andrey Botikov 48 years old
A Russian scientist who helped develop Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine was allegedly strangled to death with a belt in his Moscow apartment.
April 4, 2023- Igor Shkurko 49 years old
Deputy director of Yakutskenergo. He was found dead in his prison cell in a detention centre in Yakutsk, the day after submitting an appeal against, what he claimed, was an unjust bribery allegation. Suicide was the cause of death reported.
April 4, 2023- Andrei Michkov 51 years old
Father of top 2023 NHL Draft prospect, Matvei Michkov. After missing for two days he was reportedly found dead in a pond near Sochi. An investigation into the cause of death was opened.
May 20, 2023- Pyotr Kucherenko 46 years old
State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Reportedly fell seriously ill on board a flight returning from Cuba on Saturday and died. A few months ago a prominent journalist recalled Kurcherenko criticizing the invasion of Ukraine in private conversations. “It’s impossible [for me to leave Russia], they confiscate our passports. And there’s no world that would be happy to see a deputy Russian minister after this fascist invasion,” journalist Roman Super recalled Kucherenko saying.