Two mighty Russians died in this Indian flophouse

Russian MP Pavel Antov has criticized the war in Ukraine. Now the sausage magnate is dead. He was found in a pool of blood in front of a hotel in India – apparently he fell from the third floor. Just two days earlier, one of his fellow passengers, Vladimir Budanov, had been found dead in the same hotel. “Heart attack,” reports the local police.

In the eastern Indian city of Rayagada in the state of Odisha, Antow wanted to celebrate his 66th birthday with friends, writes the “Dailymail”. Namely in Hotel Sai International.

But a look at Tripadvisor arouses suspicion: do tourists voluntarily stay at Hotel Sai International in the eastern Indian city of Rayagada? And Antow wouldn't have just been a tourist. According to Forbes magazine, the oligarch was Russia's highest paid parliamentarian in 2019 - he is said to have earned the equivalent of about 135 million Swiss francs in just one year.

This is how Russian millionaires sleep:

«Simple but good»

Tripadvisor user «Sabeena111», who lives in Germany, visited Hotel Sai International in 2015. He was apparently enthusiastic and awarded 4 out of 5 possible points. He is writing:

He also praises the “excellent Garlic Naan” and the friendly staff. You can reach the city center in about 10 minutes by car.

"There Are No Other Options"

"Kathmandu68" is not as convinced of Sai International as "Sabeena111". «Kathmandu68» lives in Rome and was in Rayagada in 2019. The review begins with:

Although "Kathmandu68" had the option to upgrade to a suite - after a complaint was made about the first room - the more luxurious room was also dirty and minimalistic.

At least there seem to be suites at Sai International. Photos of "Doron_J" from 2015 give a voyeuristic look into the luxury room.

Doron_J, who lives in Israel, writes about the hotel:

"Kathmandu68" keeps complaining about breakfast: a few measly slices of toast, a mug of butter and some jam, bananas and tea. «Doron_J» is more optimistic, he is happy with the kettle in the room.

"Kathmandu68" awards 1 out of 5 points, "Doron_J" at least 4 out of 5.

"fleas in bed"

The German "nicoleh." won't come back. She writes about fleas in the bed and cockroaches in the hotel corridors.

Others like «s_siegen» found the hotel clean and praised the free wifi in the rooms.

Has Antov been hiding?

The small town of Rayagada is anything but a party mile where you can celebrate a birthday with friends. In addition, the place is not developed for tourism. There aren't even a handful of hotels besides Sai International on Google, and it's actually the only one rated by guests on Tripadvisor. Some temples in the region or cattle markets are considered places of interest.

Therefore, there is speculation on various platforms whether Antow was not in Rayagada to party, but to hide from Russian avengers.

In June this year, Antov criticized Moscow's war of aggression against Ukraine. He described the war and airstrikes on Kiev as "Russian terror" in which Ukrainian civilians were injured, writes the "Dailymail". The item on the Internet was later removed from the network. Antow then publicly apologized and spoke of a technical error. He would always support Putin, he insisted.

Russian propaganda therefore sees no revenge action by the regime, but a personal tragedy behind the death of the sausage industry. Russian media company Shot writes that "Indian police do not rule out that Pavel Antov may have become depressed and committed suicide due to the death of his friend Vladimir Budanov".

Antow leaves behind a wife and a daughter.

(yum)