Newsroom
Cyprus police are investigating the death of a man inside the Russian Embassy in Nicosia, a case wrapped in diplomatic restrictions and unanswered questions, as a separate search continues for a missing Russian businessman whose disappearance has drawn international attention.
According to information obtained by authorities, the Russian Embassy informed Cyprus officials that an employee was found dead inside the diplomatic compound, describing the death as a suicide. Because foreign embassies fall under a special diplomatic regime, Cyprus police have no legal authority to enter or investigate inside embassy premises.
As a result, no search or investigative action was carried out at the scene where the man was found. Embassy officials themselves handled the initial inquiry into the circumstances of the death.
Cypriot authorities became involved only after the body was handed over by the Russian side at a location it designated. A post-mortem examination was later conducted by the Republic’s forensic services. According to information, the autopsy concluded that the cause of death was hanging, caused by compression of the bronchus.
Embassy officials reportedly told Cypriot authorities that a handwritten note was found next to the body. However, the note was not handed over and, according to the same sources, is expected to be sent directly to Russia.
Search intensifies for missing Russian businessman
At the same time, police are intensifying efforts to locate 56-year-old Russian businessman Vladislav Baumgartner, who has been missing since January 7.
Authorities say searches have been ongoing for days, both on land and from the air, involving a police helicopter, drones, Civil Defense teams and volunteers. Operations are focused on the Pissouri area, where Baumgartner’s mobile phone last registered a signal. Bad weather, however, has significantly hampered the search.
Baumgartner’s disappearance has attracted international attention, with the exiled Belarus-based news outlet NEXTA reporting extensively on the case.
NEXTA noted that Baumgartner rose to international prominence in 2013, when he was arrested in Minsk on the orders of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko during the so-called “potash war,” a corporate dispute between Uralkali and Belaruskali. He was later extradited to Moscow, placed under house arrest, and ultimately saw the case dropped in 2015.
He later returned to business, led Global Ports, and, in recent years, had been living in Cyprus. “Did he know too much?” the outlet asked in its report.
No link...for now
Although the two cases are unfolding almost simultaneously and both involve Russian nationals in Cyprus, authorities say there is currently no evidence linking them.
Still, both investigations are being treated as highly sensitive, not only because of the people involved, but also because of the unusual and delicate circumstances surrounding each case.
The investigations remain ongoing.
