Vladimir Egorov, a politician from Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, was found dead in his backyard in Tobolsk, Siberia. On the body "there are no external signs of violence", investigators explained to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Local media reported that police have yet to establish the cause of death of Egorov, 46, but the Tobolsk City Duma published an obituary on its social media page saying that Egorov died "as a result of an accident."
The unofficial Telegram channel Baza - which has links to Russian security services - said Yegorov's body "was discovered in the courtyard of his house on Kedrovaya Street on Wednesday".
Egorov's death extends the list of deaths in unclear circumstances of prominent Russian figures, including several businessmen linked to Russia's two largest energy companies.
Among these Ravil Maganov, president of Lukoil, the second most important Russian oil and gas company, who last year spoke out against Russia's war in Ukraine. Maganov died when he fell from the window of a Moscow hospital, according to the Tass news agency.
Then, Russian sausage magnate-turned-MP Pavel Antov, another member of the United Russia party who in 2018 topped the Forbes list of the 100 richest civil servants in the country, died in India after falling from the third floor of his hotel. Months earlier he had affirmed his support for Putin after denying that he had published an anti-war message on WhatsApp, explaining it as an "unfortunate misunderstanding and a technical error".
In May, however, Russian Deputy Minister of Science and Education Pyotr Kucherenko died after falling ill while on a plane with a Russian delegation returning from a business trip to Cuba.
A journalist who said he had spoken to Kucherenko in previous months said the man feared for his safety.
(Unioneonline)