Russia's 'highest-earning elected politician' who had criticised Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine as “ terror ” has been found dead after a mysterious fall at a hotel in India.
Sausage multi-millionaire Pavel Antov from the main pro-Putin party, United Russia, had been on a trip to celebrate his upcoming 66th birthday.
A male friend in his party had died “from a heart attack” on Thursday last week, and the wealthy regional MP perished two days later.
The married tycoon, an MP in the legislative assembly in Vladimir region, was listed as Russia’s highest-earning elected official in 2019.
Indian media reports say the Russian meat mogul “jumped” from the roof of the hotel and was found in a pool of blood.
His Indian guide rushed him to hospital but he was declared dead by a doctor.
The Russian Consul General in Calcutta Alexei Idamkin told TASS that he “fell” out of a hotel window in Rayagada, Odisha state.
“We are closely following the investigation and receiving all the information from the Odisha police,” the diplomat said.
The MP’s friend was named as Vladimir Budanov, 61, also Russian.
There were two other unidentified men in the group.
In June, Antov criticised the war and air strikes on Kyiv as Russian “terror” wounding Ukrainian civilians.
He highlighted a Russian missile strike and said: "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."
He evidently then swiftly came under intense pressure after which he withdrew the comment and made a grovelling apology.
He made an about face and claimed his post on social media had been “an unfortunate misunderstanding” and a “technical error”.
He insisted he had “always supported the president” and “sincerely” backed the goals of Putin’s military operation - but local journalists strongly disputed his version.
The diplomat said: “There was a tour group of four staying at a hotel in Rayagada.
“Last Thursday, a Russian man called Vladimir B. died.
“According to the police, the cause of this was a heart attack.
“On Saturday, a second Russian, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Region, Pavel Antov, fell out of the window.”
Russian media outlet SHOT said Indian police “do not rule out the possibility that Pavel Antov may have become depressed over his friend's death and committed suicide”.
Antov's death at three star Sai International Hotel was confirmed by the vice-speaker of the Vladimir legislative assembly Vladislav Kartukhin
Antov is survived by his wife and daughter.
In 2019 his declared annual earnings were listed as £130 million in an analysis by Forbes Russia.
This led to him being labelled the country's wealthiest lawmaker by earnings.
