Photo: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP / Getty Images
The bodies of a prominent Russian banker and his family were discovered in his Moscow apartment, shortly after the bank was sanctioned by Western countries.
Vladislav Avayev, aged 51 was found dead along with his wife Yelena, aged 47, and his daughter Maria, of 13, at his house in the Russian capital.
Former vice-president of Russia’s Gazprombank, his wife and daughter found shot dead in Moscow.
Preliminary investigation believes that 47-year-old Vladislav Avayev killed his wife and 13-year-old daughter, and later committed suicide. pic.twitter.com/amJtYjc9W1
— IGC NEWS INTERNATIONAL (@NewsIgc) April 19, 2022
Avayev was previously deputy chairman of Gazprombank, the third Russia’s largest bank and one of the main payment channels for Russian oil and gas.
The bank has been sanctioned by several Western countries following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The Russian state media agency TASS reported on Monday that the bodies of three people, including a girl, were discovered in an apartment building in Universitetsky Prospekt, a tree-lined street in southwestern Moscow.
Police spokeswoman Yulia Ivanova told TASS that the bodies were discovered by Avayev’s eldest daughter, Anastasia, aged 26, after hearing that neither the neither the family driver nor the babysitter could communicate by phone.
The daughter discovered the bodies inside his luxury apartment, along with a total of 19 different weapons.
A police source said that a gun was found in Avayev’s hand and that they believe it was a murder-suicide.
The officers alleged that Avayev’s wife and daughter were shot before him and that the gun was found in his hand.
It has not been reported how many shots were fired or the exact circumstances behind their deaths.
Unconfirmed rumors have circulated online that the family may have been experiencing a financial crisis.
Another source alleges that Azayev murdered his family after discovering that his wife was pregnant of five months of another person’s child, although this has not been proven.
A neighbor of the family, Kristina, said: “I heard three shots and screams. A woman was screaming.
“Then two more shots were fired. No one else was yelling. I looked out the window, I thought it was fireworks”.
“It turned out they weren’t, my mother told me they were definitely gunshots”.
Avayev had reportedly worked for Gazprombank for many years before deciding to leave suddenly for unknown reasons recently.
Kremlin analyst Olga Lautman said that Avayev previously worked in Putin’s presidential administration, as well as in parliament.
He was also member of the board of directors of the Central Sports Club of the financial and economic bodies of Russia.
Outside of his job, he was also general director of the RTK company, scientific research and development company, and founder of LLC Carbonics, construction company.
It is not known how long he and his wife were together, but or it is believed that they had two children.
“According to the preliminary version, Avayev killed his wife and daughter and committed suicide,” said the source of the legal agency, adding that a domestic conflict could be behind the murder.
Gazprombank is a privately owned Russian bank that ranks third place in terms of assets in the country.
It was created to meet the financial needs of Gazprom, the natural gas giant that is one of the largest exporters in the world.
Read more Russia captures city of Kreminna in Ukraine” razing everything to the ground”
Ukraine announces new day without evacuation of civilians
Lavrov confirms : Russia started the great battle for Donbas