Since the beginning of 2022, numerous Russia-related people, particularly businessmen and officials, have died under what some sources suggest were suspicious circumstances. Incidents include individuals who have suspiciously fallen out of windows, killed themselves, and died unexpectedly in accidents. Many businessmen were linked to energy companies such as Gazprom and Lukoil. The phenomenon has been called "sudden Russian death syndrome" or "sudden oligarch death syndrome", a play on sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.

Many analysts have suggested some deaths are political assassinations by the Russian state, including the Federal Security Service, related to greater pressure from the Russo-Ukrainian war and ensuing international sanctions against Russia. Others have argued more really are suicides, and some could be killings by competing influential clans to wipe out competitors.

Analysis On 3 June 2022, the Dutch NOS news network described the phenomenon as "a grim series of Russian billionaires, many from the oil and gas industries, who have been found dead under unusual circumstances since early this year. The first was on 30 January, when 60-year-old Leonid Shulman, transport chief for Russian energy giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of his country house in the Leningrad region. Beside his body was a suicide note." On 6 July 2022, CNN Portugal described the group as "millionaires with direct or indirect links to the Kremlin found dead in a mystery scenario since the beginning of the year". It referred to a previous investigation by USA Today, which concluded that "38 Russian businessmen and oligarchs close to the Kremlin died in mysterious or suspicious circumstances between 2014 and 2017." The phenomenon has been called "sudden Russian death syndrome" or "sudden oligarch death syndrome", a play on sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. A number of them died by falling from heights, including possibly being thrown out of windows.

Some commentators ruled out suicides or poor health. Other commentators, including Fiona Hill and Mark Galeotti, are skeptical of such conspiracies. They point out the deaths are not necessarily all connected, and that it is far more likely some really are suicides, and some could be killings by competing influential clans to wipe out competitors without a centralized Kremlin effort.

The suicide rate in Russia is the third-highest in the world, and similar trends were noted in 2020 about doctors who had treated COVID-19 patients falling from high windows. Suicides could be further increased especially in the Russian business community due to substantial pressure from the war in Ukraine and international sanctions.

Calls for further investigations Friends and families of the deceased Russian businessmen generally found it "unthinkable" that they killed themselves – and in some cases also their wives and children – and have demanded an independent investigation into the mysterious deaths. , the Ukrainian-born ex-vice-chairman of Gazprombank, who left Russia during the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and joined the Freedom of Russia Legion, said in an interview with The Insider that he thought that his former colleague Vladislav Avayev's alleged murder of his family and subsequent suicide had been staged: "Why? That is difficult to say. Perhaps he knew something and posed some kind of danger." Likewise, Sergey Protosenya's son, who was not in Spain when his parents and sister were found dead in Lloret de Mar, stated his father was not the perpetrator ("my father is not a murderer"), but that his parents and sister were murdered by someone else. Protosenya was the former CEO of gas giant Novatek, which published a statement saying he was "a real family man", and called on the Spanish authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation.

Businessman and critic of the Russian federal government Bill Browder has opined that Putin is personally ordering executions of influential business leaders in critical sectors whom he feels will not be yes-men and intimidates their successors with threats of death or violence. In Russian mokroye delo or “wet work” is the name given to the business of assassination with people told to commit suicide or they and their families will receive a visitation.

According to an investigative report by Novaya Gazeta, some of the deaths may be connected to large scale accounting fraud by Gazprom executives, who may have funneled money to a network of businesses owned by friends and family members with ties to the FSB and Russian military.

Suspicious deaths

2022

Name Age at death Position Date of death Count of deaths Place body was discovered Circumstances January Leonid Shulman 60 Director of Transport of Gazprom 30 January 2022 1 Bathroom of a residence in Leningrad Oblast Suicide note found next to his body. February 43 CEO of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) and former Deputy governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast 8 February 2022 1 Moscow Reportedly suffered a stroke. Alexander Tyulakov 61 Deputy General Director of the Unified Settlement Center of Gazprom 25 February 2022 1 Garage of a residence in Saint Petersburg Suicide note found on his body. Mikhail Watford 66 Businessman 28 February 2022 1 Garage of a residence in Surrey, England British authorities have not found evidence of a crime. March Vasily Melnikov 43 CEO and owner of Medstorm 23 March 2022 4 Apartment in Nizhny Novgorod Wife and two sons found dead beside him. April Vladislav Avayev 51 Former Vice President of Gazprombank 18 April 2022 3 Apartment in Moscow Wife and 13-year-old daughter found dead beside him. Sergey Protosenya 55 Former Deputy Chairman of Novatek. 19 April 2022 3 Garden of a residence in Lloret de Mar, Spain Hanged from a handrail; wife and daughter found dead in their beds with blunt axe wounds and stab wounds. May Andrei Krukovsky 37 General Director of the Estosadok Krasnaya Polyana, a ski resort owned by Gazprom 1 May 2022 1 Below a cliff near the in Sochi Reportedly fell off a cliff while hiking to . Alexander Subbotin 43 Board member of Lukoil 8 May 2022 1 Basement of Aleksei Pindyurin's residence in Moscow Reportedly arrived at the residence under the influence of alcohol and drugs to participate in a ritual intended to relieve the hangover, and then died of a heart attack, though critics allege toad poison. June Alexei Ogarev 64 Former senior Kremlin official, diplomat, arms dealer and oil business executive 16 June 2022 1 Rublevka, RussiaFound dead. Yevgeniy Palant 47 Telephone mogul and philanthropist 27 June 2022 2 Zarechye, RussiaFound dead together with his wife Olga with multiple stab wounds. July Yuri Voronov 61 CEO of Astra Shipping, a subcontractor of Gazprom 4 July 2022 1 Swimming pool of a residence in Leningrad Oblast Gunshot wounds to the head, pistol found next to his body. August Dan Rapoport 52 Businessman 14 August 2022 1 2400 M Street NW, Washington, D.C., United States Found in the street after an apparent fall from his high rise apartment building. September Ravil Maganov 67 Chair of Lukoil 1 September 2022 1 Below a window of the Kremlin Hospital, Moscow Reportedly hospitalised for heart problems and depression, then "fell out of a window". Ivan Pechorin 39 Director of Aviation of the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) 10 September 2022 1 On a beach in Beregovoy, Amur Oblast Drowned at Cape Ignatyev, Vladivostok; body found washed up in Beregovoy two days later; allegedly fell from his boat. Vladimir Sungorkin [ru] 68 Editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda 14 September 2022 1 , Khabarovsky District, Khabarovsk Krai Reportedly suffered a stroke and suffocated while on the way to lunch, his deputy would die a year later. 72 Former Head of the Moscow Aviation Institute 21 September 2022 1 Stairway within the Moscow Aviation Institute Reportedly fell down a flight of stairs inside the institute. Pavel Pchelnikov 52 Director of Digital Logistics, a Russian Railways subsidiary 28 September 2022 1 On the balcony of an apartment in Moscow Allegedly shot himself on the balcony of his apartment. October Nikolay Petrunin 46 Deputy of the State Duma 12 October 2022 1 Unnamed hospital in Moscow Alleged complications of COVID-19. NovemberColonel Vadim Boyko44Deputy head of the Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School, involved in mobilization efforts16 November 20221 Office at Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School, VladivostokReportedly died by suicide after shooting himself in the chest five times. Vyacheslav Taran 53 Co-founder of Libertex, a cryptocurrency and foreign exchange market company 25 November 2022 1 Villefranche-sur-Mer, French Riviera, France Died in helicopter crash after taking off from Switzerland. Vladimir Makei 64 Foreign Minister of Belarus (2012–2022) 26 November 2022 1 Unknown, likely Minsk, Belarus Reported to have died four days after returning from a Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Armenia accompanying representatives of Vladimir Putin. He was said by his friends to have been "painfully upset" by the collapse of the course he was leading. December Grigory Kochenov 41 Creative Director of Agima, an IT company 7 December 2022 1 Volodarsky Street, Nizhny Novgorod Reportedly fell to his death from his balcony while officials from the Investigative Committee executed a search warrant for his apartment. Dmitriy Zelenov 50 Co-founder of Donstroy, a construction company 9 December 2022 1 Antibes, French Riviera, France Reportedly felt ill and fell over a railing and hit his head, later died in hospital without regaining consciousness. Alexander Lapin Former head of Krasnoyarsk’s landscaping and green construction authority 11 December 2022 1 the Investigative Committee office in Krasnoyarsk, Russia Fell from a seventh-floor window of an Investigative Committee office during questioning in a corruption case, with security footage said to show him sitting on the windowsill before the fall. Vladimir Bidenov 61 Business associate and travel companion of Pavel Antov 22 December 2022 1 Hotel Sai International, Rayagada, Odisha, India Died of heart problems; two days later his close companion, Pavel Antov, also died at the same hotel under suspicious circumstances. 66 Director General of the Admiralty Shipyards 24 December 2022 1 Saint Petersburg Died suddenly the day after he attended the float-out ceremony of the new Lada class submarine . No explanation was given on the cause of death. Pavel Antov 65 Founder of Vladmirsky Standart, a meat processing company, and deputy (member) of the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast Fell out of window from Hotel Sai International; another Russian colleague, Vladimir Bidenov, died in the same hotel two days prior. Alexei Maslov 69 Former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces and special representative of Uralvagonzavod. Died "unexpectedly" in a military hospital, no cause given. Vladimir Nesterov 73Director General of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center 28 December 2022 1 Unknown

2023