Russia's Sberbank announces suspicious death of vice president Vasev

Nikolai Vasev, the long-standing senior vice president of the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe, passed away suddenly at the age of 42, according to media reports. Vasev had been with Sberbank since 2011.

The press service of Sberbank confirmed Nikolai Vasev's sudden death, which reportedly occurred due to a heart attack. Vasev had served as the bank's vice president for many years.

Having served Sberbank for over 12 years, Vasev played a pivotal role in developing the bank's mortgage product segment, according to a statement from the bank. He was promoted to CEO in 2015.

Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe, with more than 50% of it owned by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The bank has been under EU sanctions since August 1, 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea and the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk. The US Treasury Department also enacted similar legal measures.

Vasev's sudden death marks another instance in a series of similar events that have surfaced since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion by Russia in February 2022.

The list of individuals who have died in mysterious circumstances includes:

• Ravil Maganov, Chair of the Board of Directors at Lukoil
• General Gennady Zydko, Former Deputy Minister of Defense in Russia
• Leonid Schulman, Head of the Transportation Service at Gazprom Invest
• Vladislav Avaev, Former Vice President of Gazprombank
• Sergey Protosenya, Former CEO of gas company Novatek
• Lew Sockow, General of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SWR)
• Yevgeny Lobachev, Retired General of the Federal Security Service (FSB)
• General Vladimir Makarov, Former Deputy Chief of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Combating Extremism
• Pavel Kamnev, Designer of the Kalibr Maneuvering Missiles
• Pavel Nesterov, Designer of New Angara Missile Systems