Marina Yankina, 58, was discovered by a passerby at the entrance of a high-rise on Zamshina Street in St. Petersburg, Russian news Telegram channel Mash reported.
She is believed to have fallen 160 feet to her death. Her personal belongings and documents were found on a balcony in the building. According to a preliminary investigation, it is believed Yankina committed suicide.
Mash reported that a few minutes before allegedly taking her own life, Yankina called her ex-husband and told him what she was about to do.
She also asked the man to summon police to the high-rise on Zamshina Street where he lived.
“Considering the context of the failure of the Russian military in Ukraine, the increasing of domestic pressure on the Kremlin, because the standard of living of the average Russian has declined. It is very unlikely that all of these things happen randomly,” said Dani Belo, international relations professor at Webster University.
The death of Yankina is the latest in a series of high-ranking Russian officials to turn up dead in recent months.
Another alleged suicide by a Russian official took place just days ago when Major General Vladimir Makarov was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The mysterious deaths, most of them linked to the oil industry, have raised eyebrows and speculation about whether the Kremlin might have been involved.
A critic of Putin and the chairman of Russia’s largest private oil company allegedly fell out a hospital window to his death in Sept. 2022, according to Russian news outlets.
At least seven other Russian businessman, particularly from the energy industry, have turned up dead last year alone under unexplained circumstances, according to Reuters.
Unconfirmed reports alleged that the general had fallen into a “deep depression” after being sacked by Putin in January.
In November, Col. Vadim Boiko, 44, deputy head of the Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School in Vladivostok, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in what has been described as a suicide.
Yankina was a key figure in the funding of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
She was head of the financial support department of the Ministry of Defense for the Western Military District, which is closely involved in the invasion.
The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed Yankina’s death and is leading the probe into her fatal fall. “Considering the context of the failure of the Russian military in Ukraine, the increasing of domestic pressure on the Kremlin, because the standard of living of the average Russian has declined. It is very unlikely that all of these things happen randomly,” said Dani Belo, international relations professor at Webster University.
The death of Yankina is the latest in a series of high-ranking Russian officials to turn up dead in recent months.
Another alleged suicide by a Russian official took place just days ago when Major General Vladimir Makarov was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
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