On October 20, 2024, Russian Oligarch Mikhail Rogachev, a former vice president of Yukos, was found dead after reportedly falling from a window in his Moscow apartment. Rogachev, once a high-ranking executive in both Yukos and Norilsk Nickel, joins a growing list of prominent Russian figures whose deaths under suspicious circumstances have become a disturbing trend.
This spate of deaths started gaining attention shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Many of the victims have been oligarchs, energy executives, or political insiders—often linked to Russia's key industries or military.
In 2022, for instance, Ravil Maganov, chairman of Lukoil, died after a fall from a hospital window. That same year, Sergey Protosenya, a former executive at Novatek, was found hanged in Spain alongside his family, sparking questions about a potential cover-up. Vladislav Avayev, former vice president of Gazprombank, was also found dead in his Moscow apartment with his wife and daughter.
These deaths have been officially labelled as accidents or suicides, but their recurrence has led to rampant speculation. Some believe these incidents are linked to internal power struggles, political purges, or the Kremlin’s efforts to maintain control over the nation’s oligarchs as Russia faces mounting economic sanctions and political isolation.
The most troubling aspect of this trend is how frequent and unexplained these incidents have become. In addition to window falls, victims have died under bizarre circumstances—like Pavel Antov, a multimillionaire who fell from a hotel window in India in December 2022, and Vladimir Egorov, an oil businessman found dead after falling from a roof in December 2023.
As Russia’s geopolitical situation grows more precarious, the elite, once seen as untouchable, have been increasingly caught in the crosshairs. Whether these deaths are accidents, suicides, or something far more sinister, they paint a chilling picture of life within Russia’s upper echelons, where wealth and power are no longer guarantees of safety.
The ongoing trend leaves many questioning how far these mysterious fatalities will go, and what, if anything, they reveal about the Kremlin’s tightening grip on its inner circle.
