The vice president of Russia’s state-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has died after allegedly falling from a window at his home in the upscale Moscow suburb of Rublyovka, state media reported Friday.
Transneft confirmed Andrei Badalov’s death at age 62 but did not comment on the circumstances. The company said his work came during a “difficult and stressful period” marked by Western sanctions.
Badalov’s body was found beneath the windows of a home on the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye highway, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.
“The preliminary cause of death is suicide,” the source said, adding that a preliminary investigation was underway.
Badalov had overseen Transneft’s digital transformation since his appointment as vice president in July 2021.
His death is the latest in a string of high-profile and unexplained deaths among senior executives in Russia’s energy sector since the country launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
At least four deaths in 2022 were linked to the state energy giant Gazprom, while others involved executives from Novatek and Lukoil.
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