On December 22 and 25, two Russian tourists died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel in Odisha, India. As per reports, on December 21, four Russian tourists checked into Sai International Hotel in Rayagada, Odisha. One of them, Vladimir Budanov, was found dead inside the hotel room on December 22. Reports suggest that Budanov died from a heart attack, and Pavel Antov allegedly committed suicide after attending his funeral on December 25. Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Sharma confirmed the two deaths to the news agency ANI.
He was rushed to the district headquarters hospital (DHH), where he was declared brought dead. The Russian tourists had checked in at the hotel after visiting Daringbadi hill station in district Kandhamal. Vladimir’s son had asked the police to cremate his father at Rayagada itself. The Russian Embassy was also informed that he would not be able to reach the place.
The deceased Russians were President Putin’s critic
As per reports, one of the Russian tourists who died in a span of 3 days was a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dubbed the ‘highest-earning elected politician’ in Russia, Antov was a multi-millionaire. He was elected PM by the main pro-Putin party, United Russia. He has been an open critic of the President for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Antov was in India with three of his friends to celebrate his 66th birthday.
The Russian Counsel General in Kolkata, Alexei Idamkin, said in a statement that Antov died after he fell out of a hotel window. He said, “We are closely following the investigation and receiving all the information from the Odisha police.”
In June this year, Antov had termed the Russia-Ukraine war as Russian ‘terror’ wounding Ukrainian civilians. He also highlighted a missile strike, following which a girl was pulled out from under the rubble. The girl’s father had died in the attack. He had said, “The mother is trying to be pulled out with a crane – she is trapped under a slab. To tell the truth, it is extremely difficult to call this anything other than terror.”
Following his remarks, he was under intense pressure, after which he withdrew his comments and apologised for the same. In a social media post, he had called his statement ‘an unfortunate misunderstanding’ and a ‘technical error’. He backed President Putin and said he always had supported him and sincerely backed the military operations.