Russia: Fugitive Boris Avagyan Found Dead in Armenian Consulate

Former Russian Federal Property Agency official Boris Avagyan, who fled from the Kronstadt Court in St. Petersburg a day earlier, has been found dead in the Armenian Consulate, Orda.kz reports, citing NewsArmena.AM.

Reportedly, Avagyan locked himself in the consulate’s restroom and committed suicide.

The court had been considering the arrest of the 43-year-old on charges of evading customs payments. During a break, Avagyan, who holds Armenian citizenship, asked to step out to smoke — and then disappeared.

He was declared wanted.

Later, Avagyan claimed to be at the Armenian Consulate, saying he was seeking extradition. Yerevan had also been seeking him for illegal border crossing and money laundering.

Avagyan previously headed one of the largest customs brokerage firms at the Port of St. Petersburg. In 2010, he was appointed deputy head of the regional Rosimushchestvo office. 

According to The Insider, the case against him, opened in 2016, led to his first escape from house arrest and flight to Armenia, where in 2018 he renounced Russian citizenship. He was detained again in Russia in 2021. 

In August, Avakyan signed a contract to fight in the war against Ukraine, but the case against him was revived “due to evasion of deployment to the special military operation.”

Avagyan had also served in Nagorno-Karabakh as deputy head of the State Service for Emergency Situations of Artsakh (Armenian name for breakaway republic in Nagorno-Karabakh - Ed.), according to NewsArmenia.

In that role, he became known for accusing the HALO Trust demining organization of transferring minefield maps to Turkish intelligence during the 2020 war, which he alleged aided Azerbaijan’s military operations.