A Russian military official has joined a long list of figures from the country to die in mysterious circumstances, like falling from windows.
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Another Russian official falls to her death
58-year-old Marina Yankina, who headed the Financial Support Department of the Russian Defense Ministry in St. Petersburg, was found dead on Wednesday morning 15 February, as reported by independent Russian media outlet Meduza. Yankina was heavily involved in funding Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
She allegedly died after falling from a window of a building in St. Petersburg, as reported by local media. Police discovered her body at the bottom of the high-rise apartment building.
According to preliminary information reported by Russian media outlet Fontanka, Yankina lived in the building where she apparently fell. However, other Russian reports were conflicted over whether Yankina actually lived there or not.
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Was her death suicide?
Yankina allegedly called her ex-husband to inform him she was going to jump, and that she was leaving her documents and other personal belongings on a common balcony of the 16th floor of the building where she fell. According to local Telegram news channel Mash and other Russian media outlets like Tsargrad TV, her documents and belongings were indeed discovered there.
According to Fontanka, law enforcement agencies are investigating Yankina's death as a possible suicide. However, Mash added that 'the motives continue to be clarified'.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, posted about Yankina's death on Thursday 16 February on Twitter. He wrote:
Marina Yankina, head of the financial department at Russian ministry of defense, was found dead. She fell out of a window. Her death is not the first among Russian high-ranking officials in the past year.
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Sources used:
- Newsweek: 'Marina Yankina, Russian Defense Official, Falls From Window to Her Death'
- Independent: 'Senior Russian military official ‘plunges 16 storeys to her death falling from window’'
- Business Insider: 'A top Russian military official is dead after falling out of a 16th-floor window, the latest in a string of untimely deaths'
- Newsweek: 'Full List of Russians to Fall Out of Windows Since Putin Invaded Ukraine'