‘Sudden Russian Death Syndrome’ strikes again as bank vice-president Kristina Baikova, 28, dies in mystery

In December, IT chief Grigory Kochenov fell from his apartment balcony to his death while Russian authorities searched his apartment. Also in December, a Russian sausage tycoon fell to his death from his hotel in India just two days after his friend, also from Russia, died at the same hotel. The trend of senior executives and people critical of Putin dying in strange circumstances has been dubbed “Sudden Russian death Syndrome” with some two dozen officials and oligarchs reportedly dying in mysterious circumstances in 2022 alone.