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A former Karabakh official wanted by Armenian and Russian law enforcement agencies has reportedly committed suicide inside the Armenian Consulate in St. Petersburg, RIA Novosti reported, citing local police.
Boris Avagyan, who previously served as a special envoy of the now-dissolved Nagorno Karabakh presidency and later as deputy chief of the St. Petersburg office of Russia’s state cadastre, was wanted in Russia for tax evasion.
According to reports, he had made a deal with prosecutors to avoid criminal liability by enlisting in the military and serving in the war in Ukraine. However, the criminal case was reportedly reopened by Russian authorities after Avagyan canceled his contract with the Defense Ministry. He is said to have fled the courtroom during a bail hearing on September 23.
On the same day, Avagyan released a video on social media claiming to be inside the Armenian Consulate in St. Petersburg. He stated that he had come to the consulate to surrender and request extradition to Armenia, where he was wanted for money laundering and illegal border crossing.