A Russian sausage magnate who briefly criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has died after falling from the third-floor window of a luxury hotel in India.
Pavel Antov was a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party and a multi-millionaire, having founded one of the country’s largest sausage makers. He was reportedly on a trip to celebrate his upcoming 66th birthday when he was found lying in a pool of blood outside the Hotel Sai International in Rayagada, in the southern state of Odisha.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Belarus this month.Credit:AP
An unnamed police official told India’s NDTV news outlet they suspected that he took his own life after becoming depressed about the death of his friend, who was found dead in the same hotel.
Vladimir Bidenov was found unconscious in his hotel room on Thursday, surrounded by empty wine bottles.
Antov was the founder of Vladimir Standard, a major meat producer, and had a declared annual income of just under £130 million ($232 million).
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In July, he posted a story on his WhatsApp messaging app, criticising Russia’s missile attacks on Kyiv as “terrorism”. He was referring to reports of a girl that had been pulled from rubble after her house had been shelled.
Shortly afterwards, Antov apologised for the post and said it had been posted by someone else. He said he was “a supporter of the president and my country’s patriot” and “shared the goals” of the Kremlin’s invasion.
Alexei Idamkin, Russia’s consul general in Calcutta, told the Tass news agency that there was no foul play in the lawmaker’s death.
