Putin ally, pregnant wife and daughter found dead in luxury home
The former Vice President of one of Russia’s largest banks and ex-Kremlin official has been found dead alongside his family in an apparent murder-suicide.
Vladislav Avayev, 51, was found dead in his luxury Moscow apartment by his 26-year-old daughter Anastasia.
Avayev’s 13-year-old daughter, Maria, and 47-year-old wife, Yelena, were also found dead at the apartment, local media reported.
Reports claim Yelena was pregnant at the time of her death. But it is unclear who the father of the child actually was with allegations the child was not Avayev’s.
Preliminary investigations suggest Avayev killed his wife and daughter and then killed himself, Russian media reported.
Avayev previously served as the Vice President for Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bank. It is unclear if Avayev severed ties with the bank after he left, La Repubblica reported.
He also served in Vladimir Putin’s administration.
Neighbour thought gunshots were fireworks
A neighbour heard gunshots but initially thought they were fireworks.
The neighbour said following the gunshots, no one was screaming, the International Business Times reported.
Another neighbour theorised that Avayev’s suicide could be due to the sanctions imposed on Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine.
Police are investigating the deaths.
While sanctions have hurt Russia, Moscow is pushing forward with its offence on eastern Ukraine.
Russian troops poured into the Donbas region of Ukraine, the country's eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories.
If successful, the Russian offensive in what is known as the Donbas would essentially slice Ukraine in two and give President Vladimir Putin a badly needed victory.
Moscow's forces failed to claim the capital, Kyiv, so the battle for the Donbas region will potentially be pivotal.
In what both sides described as a new phase of the war, the Russian assault began Monday (local time) along a front stretching more than 480 kilometres from northeastern Ukraine to the country’s southeast.
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces tried to “break through our defences along nearly the entire front line.”
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