Being a Russian oligarch used to seem like a glamorous gig for Vladimir Putin’s hand-selected henchmen who ran Russia’s mining, energy and utility companies.
The job came with a 10 or 11-figure net worth and, of course, a mega yacht or two to sail the seas in luxury.
But lately, the job has gotten a little bit deadly. At least eight prominent Russian businessmen have died by suicide or some other unexplained reason. Six of those now-dead men were associated with the two biggest energy companies in Russia.
As for a cause of death, it looks like you could point to speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s largest privately owned oil and gas company is called Lukoil, and two of the “suicides” are committed by that company’s execs. Four more worked for the huge state-owned energy company called Gazprom. Earlier this year, Lukoil leaders started speaking out against the war, and it’s been a deadly decision.
Chairman Ravil Maganov died this week after falling out of a window in a hospital he was at in Moscow. It’s being spun as suicide, with the state media saying he suffered from depression and had a long illness he had been battling but people close to Maganov aren’t buying that explanation.
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