c/world · by Stamau123@lemmy.world · 352d

CEO of Russian Fertilizer Firm Found Decapitated Near Kaliningrad - The Moscow Times

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/09/09/ceo-of-russian-fertilizer-firm-found-decapitated-near-kaliningrad-a90467

Police investigators in Russia’s Kaliningrad region on Monday discovered the decapitated body of the CEO of a local fertilizer company.

The chief executive, Alexei Sinitsyn, is believed to have died by suicide, according to a law enforcement source cited by the Vedomosti business newspaper.

Investigators told state news agencies that Sinitsyn’s body was found with an attached towing cable under a bridge outside the city of Kaliningrad. They said they were establishing the circumstances of his death.

Sinitsyn, 43, was the CEO of K-Potash Service, which has been developing the Nivensky-1 potassium-magnesium deposit in Kaliningrad since 2014. The ambitious project was originally planned to be launched in 2021, but has since been pushed back to 2032.

298 points · 37 comments · view on lemmy.world

37 Comments

betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 79 pts · 352d (8 replies)

He must've been so determined to kill himself judging by the extensive antemortem bruising, broken bones, ruptured vertebrae, missing fingernails, fluid in his lungs, blowtorch marks, acid burns, [...]. At least we know why because he filled in this copy of the standard Russian oligarch suicide form letter.

Longpork3@lemmy.nz · 26 pts · 352d (6 replies)

Eh, this one this actually fairly plausible as a suicide. Noose + drop = decapitation for any significant value of 'drop'.

SolacefromSilence@fedia.io · 0 pts · 352d (5 replies)

I don't think that's how it normally works...

CannonFodder@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 352d (3 replies)

Kinda is. Back in the good ol' days (/s) when hanging was a typical punishment, the hangman had to know his stuff. Too short a rope and the hangee would dangle, choking / suffocating for minutes. Too much rope and the whole body would yoink off. Gotta get it just right to just instantly break the neck.

Machinist@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 350d

The English Offical Table of Drops for hanging. Helps prevent the head from popping off or doing the air run.

missfrizzle@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 350d (1 reply)

I don't think breaking the neck is necessarily instant death, though. the breathing muscles are paralyzed but the heart should continue to beat independently. the hypothalamus (iirc) senses CO2 buildup so you could feel choking. in contrast, decapitation exsanguinates the brain pretty rapidly. a bit more gruesome, admittedly.

Capricorn_Geriatric@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 350d

You're right. It's most likely only more "humane" for the witnesses and easier on the perpetrators.

Not only do they not witness a decapitation in a truly botched case, but they also don't witness shaking of the legs and similar movements in case of a "short drop".

RepleteLocum@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 352d

It is. If you ever want to hang yourself, don’t jump into it unless you want to spray blood everywhere. It is a genuine consideration when ctbing, since many people don’t want to scar their family or other people.

drolex@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 352d

Heh not sure about the suicide. Could be an accident.

psx_crab@lemmy.zip · 60 pts · 352d (14 replies)

decapitated

die by suicide

Wat

Kirp123@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 351d (1 reply)

These Russian oligarchs sure get inventive with their suicides.

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 351d

The Japanese used a second to help preform a self-decapitation. These Russians are so fiercely independent that they do it all by themselves.

J92@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 351d (8 replies)

Decapitation is one of the potential outcomes of an improperly orchestrated hanging, though that's more for a capital punishment. Usually people hang themselves with a short rope and choke themselves out.

Mirshe@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 351d (1 reply)

Sounds like it was a metal towing cable, like from a winch? I could definitely see that taking a head off easier than a sturdy rope.

J92@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 350d

Wasn't one of Sadam's sons decapitated at his hanging?

Vandals_handle@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 350d (5 replies)

So you're saying he wasn't well hung?

J92@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 350d (4 replies)

Hahaaaaa....

Very good, but it's 'hanged'.

But hung also works, my apologies.

tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 350d (2 replies)

Hung also works; a lot of people stopped making the distinction, going back decades

J92@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 349d (1 reply)

This feels like one of them literally and figuratively things.

As an englishperson i feel inclined to despair. About a lot of things, not so much this though. Thanks for setting me straight

tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 349d

It might be less common in the UK (eg I know you guys still keep the lay/lie distinction commonly but it's pretty muddled in the US these days), but you can find usage notes in US-based dictionaries:

the past and past participle hung, as well as hanged, is standard. Hanged is most appropriate for official executions

he was to be hanged, cut down whilst still alive … and his bowels torn out
—Louis Allen

but hung is also used.

gave orders that she should be hung
—Peter Quennell

Hung is more appropriate for less formal hangings.

by morning I'll be hung in effigy
—Ronald Reagan

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hang

Vandals_handle@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 349d

No worries, it's nothing to get hung about.

BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 350d (1 reply)

I literally LOL'd.

Railcar8095@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 350d

Murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying 'Got rocks in your head?' to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful.

Russia is basically hardcore Anhk-Morpork, but with an even less subtle dictator.

IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 350d

[ removed ]

jordanlund@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 352d

"believed to have died by suicide"

🤔

hector@lemmy.today · 19 pts · 351d

Another russicide.

monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 352d

Did he superglue his hands to his head so it looked like he ripped his own head off?

MrSilkworm@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 352d

His head must have been cut of while he fell from a window of a nearby building. So definitely a suicide.