Armenian man Vardan Kochyan, 61, has died in the pretrial detention center of Sochi, Russia, his lawyer informed.

On June 9, 2021, Kochyan had killed two of the three compulsory enforcement officers in Adler city, who had come to carry out a court ruling on the demolition of some illegal constructions. But Kochyan, the owner of these illegal constructions, had opened fire on them. The two dead compulsory enforcement officers—also Armenians Andranik Matevosyan and Albert Aghozyan—were barely 30 years old.

Vardan Kochyan was in a futile lawsuit with the Sochi authorities for several years because of these illegal constructions.

A criminal case was opened against him, he was facing a 20-year sentence or life imprisonment, Kochyan was charged, and he was awaiting trial.

"It is known that he had a heart disease. And according to the relatives, he was not provided with quality [medical] help in time. They are going to check all the circumstances of what happened," Vardan Kochyan's lawyer added.