After Outbreak of Ukraine War, Repeated Public Criticism of Putin
Singer-Songwriter Falls from Apartment During Police Search
Russian Local Media Report as "Accident"
Earlier, Ballerino Also Died from Fall, Mysterious Deaths Continue
A famous Russian singer who publicly opposed the Ukraine war and mocked Putin died from a fall at his home while under police investigation.
On the 8th (local time), according to foreign media including Russia's anti-government independent outlets The Moscow Times and Kyiv Independent, Vadim Stroikin (59), a Russian singer-songwriter, fell from the 10th-floor window of his apartment in Saint Petersburg on the 5th and died.
At the time of the accident, Stroikin was undergoing a police search at his home after being suspected of providing funds to the Ukrainian military. He said, "I will have a glass of water for a moment," went toward the kitchen, then fell out the window and was found dead shortly after. Some Russian media reported his death as a suicide.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Stroikin had publicly criticized the Russian government and President Putin on social media (SNS). In March 2022, he posted, "This fool (Putin) has declared war not only on the brotherly nation but also on his own people," adding, "I do not wish for his death, but I want him to be tried and imprisoned." When news broke last February that Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition activist, died under suspicious circumstances while imprisoned in a prison in the far north of Siberia, Stroikin also cursed Putin and the ruling powers on SNS.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several famous Russians have died under suspicious circumstances after falling from windows. Among the deceased was Vladimir Shklyarov (aged 39 at the time of death), a renowned principal dancer of the Russian Mariinsky Ballet who criticized the Ukraine war. He reportedly died after falling from the 5th floor of an apartment last November.
Shortly after the war broke out, he wrote on SNS, "I oppose the Ukraine war. Politicians should not shoot or kill civilians," adding, "My grandfather and great-grandmother lived their entire lives in Kyiv. I cannot watch what is happening today without tears." Local media reported Shklyarov's death as an accident.
Meanwhile, Russia detains and sentences its citizens who publicly criticize the war or donate to Ukrainian charities. Such acts are considered treason under Russian criminal law.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
