Murder ruled out in death of Russian nuclear weapons expert in Bugibba

Pikayev, 48, was found dead in his apartment in Bugibba late last Wednesday. He is a former co-director of the Carnegie Moscow Center's Non-Proliferation Program. He had been the director of the Section on Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was also the chief counsellor of the State Duma's Committee on Defense and Subcommittee on Arms Control and International Security.

L-orizzont reported that the case is not being treated with suspicion by the Maltese police. “The body was found in circumstances which denote a natural death. The autopsy next day revealed a head injury that aroused suspicions that Pikayev could have been murdered. But this theory was discarded given that his apartment was on the tenth floor, and no signs of a break-in were found,” the newspaper reported.

The police had to force themselves in and break the door down to gain access to the apartment. No items are believed to have been stolen. The police even managed to establish that the head injury had was caused by a fall the man suffered when he hit his head against a door.