A Russian sausage magnate and politician who briefly criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has died after falling from the third-floor window of a luxurious resort in India. 

Pavel Antov was a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia social gathering and a multi-millionaire, having based considered one of Russia’s largest sausage makers.

He was reportedly on a visit to have fun his upcoming 66th birthday when he was discovered mendacity in a pool of blood exterior the Hotel Sai International in Rayagada, a district within the southern state of Odisha.

An unnamed police official instructed India’s NDTV information outlet they suspected he took his personal life after changing into depressed concerning the loss of life of his buddy who was discovered useless in the identical resort.

Vladimir Bidenov was discovered mendacity unconscious in his room on the primary ground of the resort on Thursday surrounded by empty wine bottles.

Mr Antov was chairman of the agriculture committee on the legislature in Russia’s Vladimir area and ranked the nation’s highest-earning lawmaker by Russian Forbes, with a declared annual revenue of just below £130 million. He was the founding father of Vladimir Standard, a significant meat producer.

In July he posted a narrative on his WhatsApp messaging app, criticising Russia’s missile assaults on Kyiv as “terrorism”.

He was referring to studies of a lady that had been pulled out from rubble after her home had been shelled.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Antov apologised for the put up, claiming that the message had been posted by another person. He stated he was “a supporter of the president and my country’s patriot” and “shared the goals” of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Alexei Idamkin, Russia’s consul-general in Calcutta, instructed the Tass information company that there was no foul play within the lawmaker’s loss of life.

A senior police officer was quoted by NDTV as saying Antov was depressed “as a result of loss of life of his buddy”.