Pavel Antov, a Russian sausage tycoon and critic of the Ukraine war, has died after reportedly falling from a window at a hotel in India.
His death came only days after his friend died on the same trip, according to BBC News.
The two were vacationing in the Indian state of Odisha where Antov had been celebrating his birthday at the hotel in Rayagada.
The sausage magnate was well known in the Russian city of Vladimir, located east of Moscow.
Last summer, he was accused of criticizing the Ukraine war as “terror” but later denied having posted a message on his WhatsApp account in which he allegedly condemned a Russian attack on a residential area of Kyiv. He appeared to retract his comment and posted that he was a supporter of Putin and a “patriot of my country.”
The 65-year-old’s death is the latest in multiple suspicious deaths of Russian oligarchs who have been critical of the war.
Russian media reported that Antov fell from a hotel window on Sunday. He was there with a group of four. Another one of the party, Vladimir Budanov, died at the hotel on Friday, according to accounts.
Russia’s consul in Kolkata, Alexei Idamkin, was quoted by Russian state news agency Tass as saying that authorities were not investigating the death as suspicious. Antov was described in reports as either having suffered a health issue or consumed a large quantity of alcohol at the time of his death.
Antov was the founder of the Vladimir Standard meat processing plant. His net worth was estimated by Forbes in 2019 to be around $140 million. He was also involved in local politics in Vladimir.