Who was Pavel Antov, Russian lawmaker and Ukraine war critic, found mysteriously dead at Odisha hotel?

Pavel Antov, a Russian national, has been found dead “mysteriously” at a hotel in Odisha’s Rayagada district.

As per reports, he died after “falling” from the third-floor window of a hotel in Rayagada, where he was celebrating his 66th birthday. His death comes after his friend and co-traveller Vladimir Bidenov was found dead at the same hotel on 22 December, PTI reported.

The police are looking at several angles in the case. Inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Rayagada town police station, Rashmi Ranjan Pradhan, told Indian Express that Antov could have died after falling from the terrace “accidentally”, or he might have died by “suicide” after Bidenov’s death.

Who was Pavel Antov and why has his death raised questions? Let’s take a closer look.

Pavel Antov

Pavel Antov was a Russian lawmaker and a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

Antov was the founder of the meat company Vladimir Standard.

He was one of the leading manufacturers of meat sausages in Russia, notes Indian Express.

The multi-millionaire politician was also a chairman of the agriculture committee at the legislature in Vladimir region, east of Moscow.

Pavel Antov (64), one of russia’s richest politicians, died after falling from a window in a hotel in India.

Russian consul general in Calcutta stated the police see nothing suspicious about Antov’s demise.#StopPutin #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/vvy5OiJk6H

— olexander scherba🇺🇦 (@olex_scherba) December 26, 2022

He was ranked Russia’s highest-earning lawmaker by Forbes, with a declared annual income of nearly 130 million pounds (Rs 130 crore), as per the UK’s Telegraph.

Criticised Russia-Ukraine war

In July, the Russian sausage magnate condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine but later denied it was his view.

He apparently reacted to a Russian missile attack on a residential block in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district that killed a man and his seven-year-old daughter and left her mother wounded.

“A girl has been pulled out from under the rubble, the girl’s father appears to have died. The mother is being pulled out with a crane” she is trapped under a slab. To tell the truth, it is extremely difficult to call this anything other than terror,” Antov had written on social media, as per Indian Express.

After a huge backlash, he had removed the WhatsApp message and said it was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” and a “technical error”.

In another post on social media, he said he was a “supporter of the president”, a “patriot of my country” and supported the war. He also emphasised that the WhatsApp message was posted “accidentally” on his messenger and had come from someone whose opinion on the “special military operation in Ukraine” he did not agree with, as per BBC.

What did Odisha Police, Russian embassy say?

Antov was found lying in a pool of blood outside the hotel on Sunday, police said as per Hindustan Times.

Vivekananda Sharma, superintendent of police, Rayagada, said Antov “was depressed” after Bidenov’s death.

“Four people came to stay in a hotel in Rayagada on 21 December. On 22 December morning, one of them (B Vladimir) died. After post-mortem, it was found that he suffered a heart stroke”, Sharma said, as per ANI. 

His friend, (Pavel Antov) was “depressed after his death and he too died on 25 December,” the news agency quoted the police official as saying.

The hotel owner also claimed the Russian sausage tycoon was disturbed after his friend’s cremation, as per ANI. 

Tourist guide Jitendra Singh told reporters that Budanov may have “consumed a lot of alcohol as he had liquor bottles”. He was found lying unconscious in his room on the hotel’s first floor surrounded by empty wine bottles, reported NDTV.

“He (B Vladimir) might have consumed a lot of alcohol as he had liquor bottles. He was a heart patient and had medicines with him. His other friend too was drinking,” Singh said, as per the news agency.

“We are aware of the tragedy that happened in Odisha, where two of our citizens died. One of them is Pavel Antov, 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,” the Russian embassy in India told NDTV.

Reacting to the news, Vyacheslav Kartukhin, vice speaker of the Regional Parliament, said on its Telegram channel as per NDTV, “Our colleague, a successful entrepreneur, and philanthropist Pavel Antov passed away. On behalf of the deputies of the United Russia faction, I express my deep condolences to relatives and friends.”

Meanwhile, speculations are rife that his death could be a possible “hit job”.

Similar unexplained deaths concerning Russian tycoons who openly spoke against the war have been seen previously as well, notes BBC.

Ravil Maganov, head of Russia’s oil giant Lukoil, had reportedly fallen from a hospital window in Moscow in September.

With inputs from agencies

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