Updated: A list of oligarchs and Putin critics found dead since Ukraine war

Another mysterious death among Russian top executives last week drew further attention to the ever-increasing number of suspicious demises among the oligarchs and critics of President Vladimir Putin, raising questions on whether they have become all too common to be completely coincidental.

Ivan Pechorin, a top manager at the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok after allegedly falling off his luxury yacht and drowning near Cape Ignatyev in the Sea of Japan two days before, according to the local administration.

"On September 12, 2022, it became known about the tragic death of our colleague, Ivan Pechorin, Managing Director for the Aviation Industry of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic," a statement from the company said.

Pechorin is said to have been tasked with modernising Russia's aviation industry and worked directly under Putin.

Earlier this year, the company’s 43-year-old general director Igor Nosov also died from a reported stroke after taking over the reins in May 2021.

Meanwhile, another aviation expert died under strange circumstances: the former head of the Moscow Aviation Institute Anatoly Gerashchenko was pronounced dead after falling down "several sets of stairs" on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the institute.

Geraschenko led the institute -- which closely collaborates with the Russian Ministry of Defence and has aided the development of the likes of MiG fighter jets -- until 2015, but it is believed to have remained in an advisory role since.

The Russian aviation industry has long been suspected of having direct ties with espionage.

In 2018, former deputy director of the Russian national air carrier Aeroflot N