Russian national Viktor Averin, a 69-year-old businessman whose name was linked to the Solntsevo crime group in the 1990s, drowned whilst on a boat trip at Klyazma Reservoir in the Moscow region on December 21, Kommersant reported.

Averin died in the waters of a yacht club on the reservoir. According to preliminary information, the businessman went on a boat trip with five other people when the vessel capsized for reasons not yet established.

All passengers except Averin managed to escape from the water. One person required hospitalisation but was not in a life-threatening condition. Divers were called in to search for Averin's body and recovered it underwater. The businessman's widow confirmed his death to media.

Averin, known as "Aver the Elder," and his younger brother Alexander ("Aver the Younger," who died in 2017 from liver disease) were previously linked to the Solntsevo crime group, with media calling the former one of its leaders. The group formed around 1988 and by the 1990s was one of the strongest and most influential in Russia.

Starting with racketeering targeting market traders and cooperatives, the Solntsevo group penetrated banking and industrial sectors over time, established connections in government structures, and saw revenues multiply.

At one point in Moscow alone, several banks, hundreds of small commercial structures, casinos and enterprises in other regions were under their control. At its peak, the group may have included between 1,000 and 2,000 members according to different estimates, with several hundred armed.

Averin never confirmed any involvement with the Solntsevo group.

Law enforcement attempted several times to bring criminal charges against him, including for weapons possession and extortion allegations from an entrepreneur, but failed to gather evidence against the businessman.

Averin lived abroad for a period and later served as president of a sports pigeon breeding club.

Photos online show him with boxer Mike Tyson, who visited the businessman whilst in Russia. Averin co-founded a charitable foundation and participated in financing church construction in Solntsevo.