Two Russian Oligarchs And Their Families Found Dead One Day Apart

Police are investigating the deaths of two Russian oligarchs found dead alongside their families one day apart. 

On Monday, 18 April, former vice president of private banking company Gazprombank, Vladislav Avayev was found dead in his apartment in Moscow. He had a gunshot wound.

The following day, Tuesday, 19 April, former senior manager at Russian gas giant Novatek, Sergei Protosenya was discovered hanged in Spain.

Both of the men's wives and children were also found dead beside them.

Avyev is thought to have shot his wife, 47-year-old Yelena and daughter, 13-year-old Maria before turning the gun on himself according to investigators.

The deaths are suspected as being a murder-suicide.

Police spokesperson Yulia Ivanova told Russian state-owned news agency TASS that Avayez's 26-year-old daughter Anastasia discovered the bodies after finding the 14th floor apartment locked from the inside.

Police were also told by Anastasia that a gun was found in Avyev's hand.

Similarly, Protosenya was reportedly discovered with an axe and knife at his side. Reports state his wife, Natalia and daughter, Maria were found dead in their beds with stab wounds.

According to Spanish news outlet Telecinco, the family had been away for Easter, staying in a rented luxury mansion in Lloret de Mar.

The bodies were discovered by police after Protosenya's son - who currently resides in France - couldn't get hold of his family.

A statement released by police said: "Police officers from the Generalitat-Mossos d'Esquadra of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Girona Police Region are investigating the deaths of three people in a home in Lloret de Mar.

"This afternoon, [police] received a warning that the Lloret de Mar Local Police had found the body of three people in a private home in the town. Several police officers have moved to the scene. The DIC has opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the deaths."

Protosenya is reported as being worth around 400 million euros and investigations are underway to figure out whether the deaths were staged by a third party.

Protosenya and Avayev shared close connections in their job roles in banking company Gazprombank and gas company Novatek.

Just last month, another Russian oligarch in the oil and gas industry, 66-year-old Mikhail Watford, was found dead in Surrey.

A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border another member of Gazprom, 61-year-old executive Alexander Tyulyakov was also found hanged in St Petersburg.

Russia has been subject to heavy sanctions from the West since Putin's 'special military invasion' first begun, with US President Joe Biden having resolved to ban all Russian oil imports.

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