Another Russian businessman mysteriously dies after falling from boat

Top Russian energy executive Ivan Pechorin, 39, died after falling overboard from a speeding boat on Saturday 10 September.

Man overboard

Pechorin was the managing director of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (ERDC). He was sailing off the coast of Russky Island in the Sea of Japan when the incident happened, as reported by the New York Post. His body was recovered on Monday 13 September.

The Corporation is Russian President Vladimir Putin's project for developing resources in the Arctic which has become vital in light of the heavy international sanctions imposed on the country for its war in Ukraine, according to Business Insider.

Only a week earlier, Pechorin attended the Eastern Economic Forum, which was hosted by President Vladimir Putin in Valdivostok. Coincidentally, Valdivostok is connected to Russky Island by the world's longest cable-stayed bridge. Pechorin addressed the Forum during a panelsession aimed at combatting sanctions called, 'Everyone has their Own Route: The Logistics of a Changed World', as reported by the Mirror.

A series of mysterious deaths

Pechorin is the second executive from the company to unexpectedly die this year, as reported by Business Insider. In February 2022, Pechorin’s former boss, Igor Nosov, died from a reported stroke at 43 years old.

It comes as another Russian executive died last week after mysteriously falling from a hospital window. However, while that exec's company had criticised Russia's war in Ukraine, according to the Mirror, Pechorin had been personally selected by Putin for his role.

Indeed, Newsweek describes Pechorin as 'Putin's key man', citing Russian publication Komsomolskaya Pravda which said that Pechorin worked under Putin.

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