Panic in Kremlin as another Russian official commits ‘suicide’ as Putin purge gathers pace | World | News
The former deputy head of a Russian federal agency is reported to have committed suicide. His death is just the latest in a series of suspicious suicides involving Kremlin officials and top business executives.
Boris Avagyan was a top official at Rosimushchistvo (Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency) and a renowned businessman. He also once headed the largest customs brokerage at the Great Port of St. Petersburg. However, in recent times, he has fallen foul of the Kremlin and is under investigation for corruption.
Along with 20 others, Avagyan was implicated in a case involving customs evasions totalling over 4.2 billion roubles – roughly £37.2 million.
The former official was detained in Moscow on September 17 and transferred to St. Petersburg for a pre-trial hearing at the Kronstadt court. However, he absconded during a court session on Tuesday and later turned up at the Armenian Consulate seeking refuge.
The former official was reported dead on Wednesday by a number of Russian media channels.
The Telegram channel Baza claims Avagyan locked himself in a bathroom inside the consulate and then took his own life.
Russian authorities had been investigating the former official for a number of years, but suspended the case against him in August this year, after he signed a contract to fight in Ukraine.
Avagyan appeared to have a change of heart and later cancelled his contract, prompting investigators to rearrest him in September.
His death comes hot on the heels of another suicide involving a Kremlin-linked businessman.
Alexander Tyunin, 50, was found dead with a bullet wound and a rifle near his corpse in the village of Kokoshkino in the Moscow region at the end of last week.
He was the head of the Khimprominzhiniring chemicals plant that produced equipment for the Russian army.
According to Russian media reports, a suicide note was found by his lifeless body, in which he claimed to be suffering from depression.
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