Police in northeastern Spain said last Friday (04.22.2022) that they are treating the murders of a Russian woman and her daughter last week as a case of domestic violence and that the husband, a former senior Russian gas executive who was also found dead, is the main suspect.
A spokeswoman for the Girona regional police said investigators have ruled that the killings were not related to any act by a criminal gang or to a similar case that occurred this week in Moscow.
The police found last Tuesday (04.19.2022) the bodies of two Russian women – a 53-year-old mother and an 18-year-old daughter – with stab wounds in the bed of their house in the popular tourist town of Lloret de Mar, north of Barcelona. Her husband, whose name is Sergei Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in the yard.
The Spanish state news agency said police also found a blood-stained knife and an ax in the house.
Protosenya, who according to the Spanish media was very wealthy, was a former top executive of Novatek, one of Russia’s leading natural gas producers.
Death of the former vice president of Gazprombank
On April 18, the Russian state news agency Tass reported that Vladislav Avayev, former deputy chairman of Gazprombank, and his wife and daughter were found dead in their Moscow apartment. It quoted an anonymous source as having told Tass that Avayev is believed to have shot his wife and daughter and then killed himself.
“A Wonderful Family Man”
Novatek, for its part, issued a statement on Thursday expressing its condolences to “all those affected by this tragic situation.” The statement referred to Protosenya as a former member of the company’s board of directors and described him as “an exceptional person and wonderful family man” who helped develop the company.
“Unfortunately, speculation has arisen in the media on this matter, but we are convinced that these speculations bear no relation to reality. We hope that the Spanish police authorities will carry out a thorough and impartial investigation to determine what happened,” he said. Novatek.
The Spanish police spokeswoman, who was not authorized to give her name to the media, said police went to the Lloret de Mar home after the family’s son in France became concerned that he could not contact their relatives.
The family owned the house in Lloret de Mar and stayed there frequently, but it was not immediately known if they also resided elsewhere. The city council observed a minute of silence on Wednesday for the victims.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, published a tweet on Wednesday offering his condolences to the family. “A man kills his wife and his daughter in Girona,” he wrote. “Two lives crushed by a structural problem that we must eradicate: machismo.”
The Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, also condemned the murders. Authorities say 12 women have been killed so far this year by domestic violence in Spain and 1,138 since 2003, the year the country began keeping records.
Girona police said the police report on the case is expected to be completed soon and handed over to a court in the nearby city of Blanes.
Other cases
As reported fortuneThe deaths of Avayev and Protosenya and their families come after Russian oligarchs Leonid Shulman and Alexander Tyulyakov were found dead under mysterious circumstances earlier this year.
Shulman, head of Gazprom’s transport service, was reportedly found with stab wounds to his wrists, while Tyulyakov was found hanged in a garage near St. Petersburg.
Police in northeastern Spain said last Friday (04.22.2022) that they are treating the murders of a Russian woman and her daughter last week as a case of domestic violence and that the husband, a former senior Russian gas executive who was also found dead, is the main suspect.
A spokeswoman for the Girona regional police said investigators have ruled that the killings were not related to any act by a criminal gang or to a similar case that occurred this week in Moscow.
The police found last Tuesday (04.19.2022) the bodies of two Russian women – a 53-year-old mother and an 18-year-old daughter – with stab wounds in the bed of their house in the popular tourist town of Lloret de Mar, north of Barcelona. Her husband, whose name is Sergei Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in the yard.
The Spanish state news agency said police also found a blood-stained knife and an ax in the house.
Protosenya, who according to the Spanish media was very wealthy, was a former top executive of Novatek, one of Russia’s leading natural gas producers.
Death of the former vice president of Gazprombank
On April 18, the Russian state news agency Tass reported that Vladislav Avayev, former deputy chairman of Gazprombank, and his wife and daughter were found dead in their Moscow apartment. It cited an anonymous source who reportedly told Tass that Avayev is believed to have shot his wife and daughter and then killed himself.
“A Wonderful Family Man”
Novatek, for its part, issued a statement on Thursday expressing its condolences to “all those affected by this tragic situation.” The statement referred to Protosenya as a former member of the company’s board of directors and described him as “an exceptional person and wonderful family man” who helped develop the company.
“Unfortunately, speculation has arisen in the media on this matter, but we are convinced that these speculations bear no relation to reality. We hope that the Spanish police authorities will carry out a thorough and impartial investigation to determine what happened,” he said. Novatek.
The Spanish police spokeswoman, who was not authorized to give her name to the media, said police went to the Lloret de Mar home after the family’s son in France became concerned that he could not contact their relatives.
The family owned the house in Lloret de Mar and stayed there frequently, but it was not immediately known if they also resided elsewhere. The city council observed a minute of silence on Wednesday for the victims.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, published a tweet on Wednesday offering his condolences to the family. “A man kills his wife and his daughter in Girona,” he wrote. “Two lives crushed by a structural problem that we must eradicate: machismo.”
The Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, also condemned the murders. Authorities say 12 women have been killed so far this year by domestic violence in Spain and 1,138 since 2003, the year the country began keeping records.
Girona police said the police report on the case is expected to be completed soon and handed over to a court in the nearby city of Blanes.
Other cases
As reported fortuneThe deaths of Avayev and Protosenya and their families come after Russian oligarchs Leonid Shulman and Alexander Tyulyakov were found dead under mysterious circumstances earlier this year.
Shulman, head of Gazprom’s transport service, was reportedly found with stab wounds to his wrists, while Tyulyakov was found hanged in a garage near St. Petersburg.
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