- The mystery overshadows the death of the head of Lukoil, who died after falling from the hospital window.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Toad poison, suicide notes, car accidents... up to ten oligarchs have died in seven months under strange circumstances

Putin will not attend Mihail Gorbachev's funeral. Nor to that of Ravil Maganov, the president of the Russian oil company Lukoil, who died this Thursday after falling out of a window of the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital where he was admitted. Citing Russian law enforcement sources, the Russian news agency TASS has described the event as a "death by suicide".

Maganov was 67 years old and had been against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just started the war, Lukoil, the largest Russian private oil company, called for the cessation of hostilities and their resolution through diplomatic channels. Six months later, he fell out of a window.

"Calling for an early end to the armed conflict, we express our sincere sympathy with all the victims who are affected by this tragedy... We strongly support a lasting ceasefire and the resolution of the problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy," said the statement from Lukoil's board of directors.

It is suggested that Maganov may have slipped from a balcony while smoking

Why was Maganov admitted to a hospital? According to Russian state media, citing an unnamed source, the businessman had been admitted to the Central Moscow Clinical Hospital for a heart condition and had been taking antidepressants.

The security cameras could give revealing information, but, coincidentally, they had been turned off for repairs. That's according to Baza, a Russian news site with links to the police. The Guardian tells that this website suggests that Maganov could have slipped from a balcony while smoking.

He was a close associate of one of Lukoil's founders, Vagit Alekperov, a former Soviet oil minister who resigned as CEO shortly after the EU imposed sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Maganov was chairman of the Lukoil board of directors since 2020.

Alexander Subbotin

But its "loss" is not the first of the year for this oil company (of the year of Putin's invasion of Ukrainian territory). On May 8, Alexander Subbotin, a former top manager of Lukoil, was found dead in the basement of a residence in Mytishchi, a northwestern suburb of Moscow. Russian media reported that the house in question was owned by a shaman.

Subbotin was looking for a hangover remedy, which included toad poison 

According to the TASS agency, Subbotin had gone to get a hangover remedy, which included toad poison. The story of this Russian agency tells that the poison that the shaman injected him with, to make him vomit, caused him severe chest pain. The next day he was found dead from a heart attack.

Those of Maganov and Subbotin are strange deaths, but more so if we observe that there are already ten Russian oligarchs who have died since the start of the war in Ukraine.

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Leonid Shulman

In reality, Shulan died before the Russian tanks crossed the border with Ukraine. A senior executive of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, his lifeless body was found in the bathroom of a cabin. Apparently, he had cut his wrists. There was a suicide note saying that she didn't want to be a "disabled person" or a "burden" to her family. According to Novaya Gazeta, Shulman was complaining of excruciating pain in his injured leg.

Alexander Tyulyakov

He was also a Gazprom executive. On February 25, he was found hanged in the garage of a country house near St. Petersburg. According to Novaya Gazeta, the police found a suicide note next to his body. Unverified information indicates that the day before Tyulyakov had been beaten and that Gazprom fired the forensic experts who performed the autopsy on him.

Michael Watford

Oil and gas tycoon, Watford (originally Tolstosheya) lived in the United Kingdom, where he moved with his wife in the 2000s. On February 28, he was found hanged in the garage of his home in Surrey (England).

Vasily Melnikov

Owner of the Medstom medical equipment supply company, he was found dead on March 24 along with his wife and two children. The four bodies were found in the luxurious Nizhny Novgorod apartment where they lived. According to the police, Melnikov stabbed his family before committing suicide, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported at the time.

Sergey Protonsenya

It happened in Spain, in Lloret de Mar (Girona), on April 19. Protonsenya was for seven years vice president of the Russian natural gas giant Novatek. He was spending a few days on vacation in a luxury villa with his wife and daughter. He stabbed them both to death and then committed suicide. For the Mossos d'Esquadra, it was a case of gender violence, but his son Fedor continues to reject that possibility. The truth is that the body of the oligarch did not show blood stains.

Vladislav Avaev

His body was found the same day as Protonsenya's. Former vice president of the state gas company Gazprombank, he had held important positions in the Putin Administration. He was found dead in his Moscow home along with the bodies of his wife Yelena (who was pregnant) and their youngest daughter. All three had gunshot wounds. According to the official account, he had a gun in his hand.

Gabrielyan and Merzlyakov

Vladimir Gabrielyan and Sergey Merzlyakov were senior officials at VK, a Russian social network created by Pavel Durov, co-founder of Telegram. They were the deputy general manager and his head of acquisitions. Both died in a car accident on the coast of the White Sea, in the Barents Sea. According to the RIA Novosti agency, the car overturned while crossing the Bugryanitsa River. Corpses washed up on the shore.

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