Son of prominent Russian oligarch found dead in mystery circumstances, amid rising count of suspicious Russian elite fatalities

The news of his death was discovered through an entry in the inheritance register, which caught the eye of Leon Nezvlin, a former executive of the Russian company Yukos. Further verification revealed that Ivan Sechin was indeed the son of Igor Sechin, a prominent figure in Russia, who serves closely with President Vladimir Putin and chairs the Russian energy conglomerate, Rosneft.

Like his father, Ivan Sechin was employed at Rosneft, where the board included the former Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schröder. At the young age of 25, he was personally awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland by Vladimir Putin. Prior to his death, he resided in the upscale 'Europa 1' district in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow, recognized by Bloomberg as a residence for Putin's allies.

Interestingly, an unofficial cause of death is alleged to be a blood clot. This was also reported by Russian propaganda channels in the case of the death of Alexei Navalny.

The passing of Ivan Sechin is one of many such enigmatic incidents that have occurred Russian oligarchs and their families since the onset of the war in Ukraine. Since 2022, at least nine high-ranking managers and millionaires, who, like Sechin, amassed their fortunes in the Russian energy sector, have died.