Summary:
- A 40-year-old Russian electrical circuit installer, Ivan Kitmazove, was found dead with a rope around his neck in his apartment bathroom at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant’s Green City residential area on January 9, 2025.
- This death follows another incident just five days earlier where Poshtaruk Ksenii, a 40-year-old Russian female employee, died after allegedly jumping from a high-rise building in the same residential complex.
- Both incidents occurred at Bangladesh’s first nuclear power facility, the $12.65 billion Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, which is approaching its operational phase with first unit scheduled for 2025.
- Police investigations are ongoing for both cases, with initial reports suggesting suicide in the latest incident, while the project continues with 11,000-12,000 daily workers including local and foreign staff.
Two Russian nationals working at Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project have been found dead in separate incidents within a week, raising concerns about safety at the residential facilities of the $12.65 billion nuclear project.
The latest incident occurred on January 9, 2025, when the body of Ivan Kitmazove, a 40-year-old electrical circuit installer working for the Scheme Company, was discovered in the bathroom of apartment 95 on the ninth floor of Building 14 in the Green City residential area. Police found the body with a rope around the neck and suspect suicide.
This death comes just five days after another tragic incident where Poshtaruk Ksenii, a 40-year-old Russian female employee of SMU-1 construction company, died after allegedly jumping from a high-rise building in the same residential complex on January 4, 2025, between 11:30 PM and 11:45 PM.
“The body was found in the washroom with a rope around the neck. The on-duty doctor at Green City has pronounced him dead. Initial investigation suggests suicide, but we will know more details after the post-mortem examination,” said Monirul Islam, Inspector (Investigation) of Ishwardi Police Station.
These incidents occur as the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project approaches a crucial phase, with its first unit scheduled to begin operations in 2025. The plant, located 160 kilometers from Dhaka, features two Russian VVER-1200 reactors and represents Bangladesh’s first nuclear power facility. The project recently completed reactor assembly and dummy fuel loading for its first unit.
The police have launched investigations into both deaths. Authorities are conducting thorough inquiries to determine the circumstances surrounding these incidents at the nuclear facility, which employs numerous foreign workers and specialists.
The Rooppur project, financed largely through an $11.38 billion Russian loan, continues its construction activities with approximately 11,000-12,000 workers on site daily, including local and foreign engineers, office staff, and day laborers.
Source: Ittefaq
