Badalov, aged 62 and serving as the vice-president of Transneft, Russia's state-owned oil pipeline operator and the world's largest of its kind, tragically fell from the 17th floor of a luxury Moscow apartment building where he resided in a penthouse on the 10th floor.

The company is led by Nikolai Tokarev, a 74-year-old former KGB spy who worked alongside Vladimir Putin in Germany during the Cold War.

Graduated from an engineering university, specializing in information technology and management systems. Worked on a number of projects related to the digitalization of the public sector.

In 2013–2019, he headed the Voskhod Research Institute, a key developer of state automated systems (including the Elections and Justice State Automated Systems).

Since 2019, he has held the post of Vice President of Transneft PJSC, responsible for digital transformation, development and implementation of IT solutions, as well as information security.

Badalov was married and had two children.Initial reports suggest suicide as the preliminary cause of death, though investigations are still underway.

A letter purportedly written by Badalov to his wife was reportedly discovered. Kremlin media, citing a source, stated,

“Badalov's body was found under the windows of an apartment building on Rublevskoye Highway.”Since Vladimir Putin began planning the invasion of Ukraine over three years ago, Russia has seen a series of mysterious deaths among executives in the oil and gas sectors.

This incident marks at least the 12th such death among high-ranking industry figures since early 2022, with many involving falls from balconies or windows.In 2022, Ravil Maganov, chairman of Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil company, died after falling from a sixth-floor window at Moscow’s elite Central Clinical Hospital, also known as the Kremlin Clinic. Coincidentally, on the same morning, Putin, who had previously honored Maganov, 67, with a prestigious award, visited the hospital to pay his respects to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, who had passed away that week.In 2023, Marina Yankina, a 58-year-old finance official at Russia's Ministry of Defence and a key figure in the war effort, was found dead after an apparent 160-foot fall from a 16th-floor window in St. Petersburg.More recently, in October 2024, Mikhail Rogachev, a 64-year-old former vice president of an oil company, died after falling from his 10th-floor apartment in Moscow. Rogachev had been a senior executive at Yukos, an oil company dismantled by Putin and his associates.Just a few months ago, in March, former MP Buvaysar Saitiev, 49, was found in critical condition after falling from a window in Moscow and subsequently died.    

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