Filenews 16 January 2026
The death of the employee of the Russian Embassy in Nicosia, Anton Panov, continues to fuel scenarios and occupy Russian media a week after his death.
One of the blog posts dealing with security and criminal cases (VChK-OGPU), analyzing the death of the 47-year-old, talks about the financial data of Panov's family.
According to the information published by this website, the alleged cryptographer Panov fell victim to a costly property purchase that turned into a scam.
Large amount
The deceased and his wife gave a large amount as an advance payment for a property under construction, as part of a grandiose project in Crimea, by a well-known Russian construction company (note: named).
However, always based on the allegations made in the publication, the project did not go ahead, since the company could not deliver the housing units until 2018, as provided for in the contracts.
In fact, a year later, the owner of the construction company, i.e. in 2019, was detained in a pre-trial procedure of an investigated case for possible fraud offenses.
The article claims that because Panov had not received the property, until recently he wrote on online platforms that "they have been stolen from us" and that "we have to publish it on TV stations".
Besides, the Prague-based Russian-language television and digital media outlet Current Time TV, citing information from the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and other media, reports that Anton Panov worked at a Scientific and Technical Center, at least in 2002 and 2023. In the early 2000s, this Center was directly subordinate to the FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia), and developed confidential communications and information security equipment.
The Center's mission was, in other words, the confidentiality of government communications and was linked to the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Technical and Export Control Agency, as well as the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Panov had reportedly worked for the Russian Foreign Ministry since at least 2011. After being transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he moved to the village of Sosenskoye, near the Yasenevo district of Moscow, about a ten-minute drive from the headquarters of SVR, as noted by journalists.
Only toxicological
As far as the... Cypriot report on Panov's death, was found dead in his office by an employee of the Russian Embassy, whose name was not released.
As reported by Cypriot media, the conclusion of the autopsy performed on the body of the 47-year-old by the medical examiner of the Republic, Angeliki Papetta, last Monday (12/1) speaks of "hanging by loop". The autopsy was performed without the presence of a representative of the Embassy. The deceased does not appear to have had any injuries or bruises.
Any expectations of the Police for additional evidence are limited to the results of the toxicological tests of the General State Chemical Laboratory on the samples taken from Panov's body. The results of specialized examinations take from one to eight months. It is recalled that the members of the Cyprus Police handling the case did not have the opportunity to perform an autopsy at the scene, since employees of the Russian Embassy handed over the body in the courtyard to the Police and did not allow them to enter the Embassy. They verbally informed that the deceased was a suicide and left a note before proceeding with the fatal act.
