Vitali Robertus, Vice Preident of Russia’s oil and gas giant Lukoil, has become the fourth company executive to die suddenly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Robertus was 53 years old.

Multiple Russian media outlets reported that Robertus had been found "hanged" in his office.

In a brief statement Wednesday, the company expressed “deep regret” over his death but provided no further details on the manner in which he died.

Robertus's death is the fourth among Lukoil's top managers in the last two years.

In October 2023, the chairman of Lukoil's board of directors, Vladimir Nekrasov, died, supposedly of acute heart failure.

On August 1, 2022, Ravil Maganov - Lukoil VP and former chairman - fell out of a window in Moscow. Nekrasov was appointed to replace Maganov on Sept. 1, 2022.

In May 2022, Lukoil’s sales director Alexander Subotin died. According to Russian media, his death occurred during an unsuccessful session with shamans where Subotin sought treatment for alcohol problems through the use of frog poison.

KeyFacts Energy: LUKOIL Russia country profile