Scientist, 92, who created Russia’s thermonuclear bombs is found hanged in his Moscow apartment

A 92-year-old scientist who created the first Soviet two-stage RDS-37 thermonuclear bomb has been found hanged in his apartment.

Grigory Klinishov was found dead at his home in central Moscow as Russian investigators said they were investigating the death of the non-year-old nuclear expert.

Klinishov is said to have died on June 17. Officials said a suicide note was found next to his body.

A top secret bomb designer, Klinishov won the Lenin Prize in 1962. He was most famous as one of the creators of the Soviet RDS-37 – a thermonuclear bomb first tested in 1955.

Klinishov’s death follows a slew of suspicious deaths of oligarchs and high-profile Russians, particularly those associated with businessmen at Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Grigory Klinishov was found dead at his home in central Moscow as Russian investigators said they were investigating the death

Klinishov’s death follows a slew of suspicious deaths of oligarchs and high-profile Russians. In the photo: Vladimir Putin gives a speech to graduates of the Kremlin military school on Wednesday

Klinishov – whose photo was never released by Soviet authorities – was found by his daughter, 67.

The scientist was a creator of the first Soviet two-stage thermonuclear bomb RDS-37, tested on November 22, 1955 at the Semipalatinsk training ground by dropping it from a Tu-16 bomber.

Born in 1930, the bomb designer developed several types of thermonuclear bomb loads for generations to come.

The Russian Commission of Inquiry said: “A note was found next to the scientist, on whose neck injuries characteristic of hanging were found.

“The reasons for the suicide could be the serious illness of the scientist and the death of his wife.”

However, an investigation was underway pending a decision on whether or not to launch a criminal case against his death, the commission said.

But Klinishov’s suicide follows a string of mysterious deaths in recent years linked to high-profile Russians.

It comes just months after Andrey Botikov — one of 18 scientists working on the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in 2020 — was found strangled with a belt in his home in Moscow. The Russian Commission of Inquiry has launched a murder investigation following the death.

Klinishov was a creator of the first Soviet two-stage thermonuclear bomb RDS-37

The Soviet two-stage thermonuclear bomb RDS-37 tested on November 22, 1955 at the Semipalatinsk training ground by dropping it from a Tu-16 bomber

Most notable are the successive suspicious deaths linked to corporate executives at Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Novaya Gazeta Europe, a leading investigative journal, and Transparency International Russia, claimed that the high-profile Russian businessmen who died in suspicious circumstances were linked to a multi-million dollar money laundering scheme.

The day after the war in Ukraine began, Alexander Tyulyakov, deputy head of corporate security at Gazprom’s United Settlement Center, the energy giant’s “treasury,” allegedly committed suicide.

Just two months later, Vladislav Avayev, 51, a vice president of Gazprombank and former Kremlin official, was found dead in Moscow, next to the bodies of his wife Elena, 47, and daughter Maria, 13. They were discovered by his adult daughter , Anastasia.

Investigators quickly concluded that Avayev killed them before committing suicide.

However, this was strongly disputed at the time, including by a former top Gazprombank official who claimed that Avayev had access to the private accounts of elite clients, including Vladimir Putin’s circle and possibly the president himself.