Russian politician and sausage tycoon Pavel Antov, who recently criticized the war in Ukraine, died Monday after falling from the third-floor window of a luxury hotel in India. Antov was a member of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and a multi-millionaire who made his fortune owning the country’s largest sausage manufacturer.
According to reports, Antov, who was in India as part of a trip celebrating his 66th birthday, was found covered in blood outside the Hotel Sai International in the eastern Indian city of Rayagada in eastern India.
A police official told local media that investigators attribute Antov’s death to suicide, saying he was depressed following the death of his friend, Vladimir Bidnov in the same hotel. Bidnov was found unconscious in his room last Thursday, surrounded by empty wine bottles.
The Russian embassy in India on Tuesday said the police have yet to discover any criminal link in the death of both Russian citizens in the same hotel within a few days. But local media suggested the deaths looked like Russian hit jobs, reminiscent of a long string of assassinations of President Putin’s critics.
Antov recently posted a message critical of the Russian attacks on Ukraine, which he later removed.
The Russian embassy in India told NDTV: “We are aware of the tragedy that happened in Odisha (the district in Rayagada where the deaths occurred – DI), where two of our citizens died. One of them is Pavel Antov, a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Oblast. We are in constant contact with the relatives of the deceased as well as with local authorities. As far as we know, police do not yet see a criminal component in these tragic events.”
Hotel Sai International describes itself as a “need-oriented enterprise,” and “a wish-fulfillment of the Gen-next aspirant.”
But stay away from our windows.
