Who Was Pavel Antov, The Russian Who Died After Falling Off His Hotel Room In Odisha?
65-year-old Pavel Antov was found dead at a hotel in Rayagada district, Odisha. Antov’s death has sparked widespread speculation as his friend, Vladimir Bidenov, was found dead in the same hotel two days ago.
Antov (65) and Bidenov (61) were traveling from Delhi with their friends Mikhail Turov (63) and Natalia Panasenko, as well as their travel agent Jitendra Singh, to celebrate Antov’s 66th birthday. According to the police, he was discovered dead after falling out of a third-floor hotel window, lying in a pool of blood.
Many are suspecting that his death was not an accident, as Antov was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine. There are speculations that he might have committed suicide after the death of his close friend.
#INDIA: Russian politician and billionaire Pavel #Antov "fell" from a 3rd floor hotel balcony and died. His friend died few days prior at the same hotel. Consulate of #Russia in India already announced the death as a suicide. Antov was critical of Putin's invasion of #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/xrWxToAxgF
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) December 26, 2022
Who was Pavel Antov?
Pavel Antov was a Russian politician and lawmaker. He was a member of the Vladimir Region Legislative Assembly. According to Russian media reports, he was also the chairman of the Vladimir region's Legislative Assembly's Committee on Agrarian Policy, Nature Management, and Ecology.
Additionally, he was also a sausage entrepreneur and one of the largest meat sausage makers in Russia. He established the "Vladimir Standard" meat company.
Antov was one of Russia's wealthiest lawmakers in terms of declared earnings; according to Forbes, his claimed annual earnings in 2019 were £130 million.
Pavel Antov was a member of the main pro-Putin party United Russia and was outspokenly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault in Ukraine.
There is speculation that Antov's death was not the result of an accident or suicide. In the past, other Russians, particularly businessmen who were critical of Vladimir Putin, have died in similar situations. However, the police have failed to discover a single piece of evidence linking the lawmaker’s death to murder.
