Russian musician who called Putin 'idiot' falls to death during police raid

A Russian singer and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin died after falling from the 10th floor of his apartment in St. Petersburg, shortly after authorities raided his home. The incident occurred on Wednesday, as police were interrogating him over allegations of supporting the Ukrainian military, RIA reported.

Vadim Stroykin, 58, a musician and radio host, was being investigated for allegedly making donations to Ukraine’s armed forces and for social media posts in which he had denounced Putin. Authorities said he was last seen alive when he left the interrogation to get water from the kitchen, before his fatal fall. Officials have stated that an inquiry into his death is ongoing.

If convicted, Stroykin could have faced up to 20 years in prison for his alleged actions. He had been vocal in his opposition to the Kremlin and the war in Ukraine, frequently criticizing Putin on social media. In a 2022 post on VKontakte, he condemned the Russian leader, writing, "This idiot [Putin] declared war on his own people as well as a brother nation. I don’t wish for his death; I want to see him tried and put in prison."

Stroykin, originally from the Ural region, studied at the British School of Journalism in the 1990s and later became a well-known radio host in Yekaterinburg. For the past decade, he had been teaching guitar in St. Petersburg.

His death adds to a growing list of Russian dissidents and critics of the Kremlin who have met untimely and suspicious ends. In November, prominent ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov, another vocal critic of the Ukraine war, died after falling from a fifth-floor window. Authorities initially labeled his death an accident, attributing it to the effects of painkillers he was taking ahead of spinal surgery.

Shklyarov had previously expressed his anti-war stance publicly, stating, "I am against the war in Ukraine."

(Disclaimer: This article has been written by a generative AI tool and has been edited and reviewed by the DH Web Desk)