Former Kremlin official 'found dead alongside wife and daughter' in Moscow apartment

19 April 2022, 13:03 | Updated: 19 April 2022, 14:15

A former Kremlin official has been found dead alongside his pregnant wife and teenage daughter at their £2 million Moscow apartment, reports say.

Vladislav Avayev, 51, his wife Yelena, 47, and their 13-year-old daughter Maria were found with gunshot wounds in the Russian captial.

They were discovered by Avayev's 26-year-old daughter Anastasia after she was unable to contact them, police spokeswoman Yulia Ivanova told state-owned new agency TASS.

The door of the 14th floor apartment is said to have been locked from the inside, with officials suspecting a murder-suicide.

They believe Avayev's wife and daughter were shot before he was.

Anastasia told officers she found a gun in her father's hand.

As well as working in a major department in Vladimir Putin's presidential administration, Avayev was a vice-president at Russia's third largest bank Gazprombank, reports say.

Last month, Ukranian-born oligarch Mikhail Watford, 66, who made his fortune in oil and gas, was found dead in his mansion in Surrey.