The CEO of one of Russia’s largest potash producers, Alexey Sinitsyn, was found dead near Kaliningrad Monday, the latest among an eye-popping number of high-profile Russian executives, officials, and industry leaders who have died under mysterious and often violent circumstances since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti, citing a law enforcement source, said Sinitsyn’s decapitated body was found under a bridge with a tow rope attached to it. His death is being investigated by Russian authorities, along with many of the 19 — and counting — cases of unexpected fatalities that have been officially labeled as suicides, accidents, or unresolved murder-suicides. 

Last month, the chairman of the board, Dmitry Osipov, of a major potash producer, Uralkali, and the founder, Mikhail Kenin, of a real estate developer, Samolet, both died. The causes of the men’s deaths have not been disclosed.

The unusual pattern sweeping through Russia’s business community, particularly among those linked to the country’s oil and gas giants like Lukoil, Gazprom, and Transneft, often involves defenestration. The vice president, Andrei Badalov, of Russia’s largest state-controlled pipeline company, Transneft, died in July after falling from the window of his Moscow apartment. The state news agency TASS reported the preliminary cause of death was suicide.

In February, Russian musician Vadim Stroykin died after falling from a 10th-floor window of his apartment at St. Petersburg during a raid by security forces. The search was reportedly linked to his alleged donation to Ukraine’s armed forces. Russian media labeled his death a suicide.

In September 2022, the chairman, Ravil Maganov, of Russia’s second-largest oil firm, Lukoil, died after falling from a hospital window at Moscow. While his company cited a “serious illness,” state media claimed he had committed suicide.

Sinitsyn, 49, the general director K-Potash Service, which extracts potassium sulphate and magnesium sulphate used in making chlorine-free mineral fertilizer, was reportedly financially linked to a former top manager of Lukoil, Alexander Subbotin. Subbotin was found dead in his home in May 2022. 

While Russian authorities frequently write off these deaths as suicide or accidents, some analysts suggest a more sinister explanation. A Ukrainian military analyst and former security service officer, Ivan Stupak, said he believes Russia’s own security services are likely behind many of the deaths.

“They can pressure a person in one way or another,” Mr. Stupak told the Kyiv Independent. “It’s a well-known tactic—either you kill yourself, and your family is left in peace with what they have, or they start arrests, imprisonments, and leave everyone destitute.”

The trend of suspicious deaths is not confined to the business world. In January, a Russian Federal Security Service counterintelligence officer, Vladimir Feshchenko, was found dead inside a defense ministry building at Moscow, highlighting what some see as mounting internal tensions within Russia’s security apparatus.