Vladimir Putin critic dies mysteriously in another suspicious fall, days after death of friend

Pavel Antov, aRussian politician and multi-millionaire entrepreneur, died after falling from a window of his hotel room in India. During the summer he had criticised the war in Ukraine but then withdrew his opposition.

Mysterious circumstances, and a tragic birthday

Pavel Antov travelled to India with three friends to celebrate his 66th birthday, Daily Mail reports.

Antov was a member of the main pro-Putin political party ‘United Russia’ and served as deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Region.

Antov was considered the highest-earning public official in Russia. In 2019, Forbes Russia listed Antov’s net worth to exceed £130 million, a fortune he has made with a sausage business.

Just two days before Antov’s death in the same hotel in India, one of his friends who was accompanying him died from a heart attack.

The local authorities in India have said the case is under investigation, yet officials have also led the public to believe that Antov could have died of suicide due to being depressed by the death of his friend.

Regretting the critique

According to the Daily Mail, in June, Antov had criticised the war in Ukraine on his social media by describing Russian air strikes as ‘terror’:

A girl has been pulled out from under the rubble, the girl's father appears to have died. The mother is trying to be 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.

Reportedly, Antov fell under great pressure and then took back the statement, apologising and calling his post 'an unfortunate misunderstanding' and a 'technical error'.

Antov tried thereafter to reaffirm his commitment towards Vladimir Putin but local journalists disputed his claims.

According to a report by NDTV, Antov’s death raised suspicion of a hit-job since other Putin critics have been assassinated in the same manner in Russia.

Sources used:

-DailyMail: ‘Another Putin critic 'falls out a window' to his death: Sausage tycoon plummets from luxury hotel - two days after his male friend died of a 'heart attack' on their trip to India’

-NDTV: ‘Russia Lawmaker Who Died In Odisha Was A Putin Critic. What Embassy Said’