logo
Russian singer who spoke out against war in Ukraine dies after allegedly falling from window during police raid

Russian singer who spoke out against war in Ukraine dies after allegedly falling from window during police raid

Yahoo06-02-2025
Russian singer-songwriter Vadim Stroykin died on Feb. 6 while security officials were raiding his apartment, the Russian human rights NGO OVD-Info reported.
Stroykin reportedly fell out of a window while officers were visiting his home as part of a criminal investigation into the singer's alleged donation to Ukraine's Armed Forces.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify this report.
Russian media claimed that Stroykin withdrew to another room while officers were raiding his St. Petersburg apartment. He then fell out of a 10th-floor window and reportedly died at the scene. At least one Russian outlet has referred to his death as a "suicide."
Russia's Investigative Committee has reportedly launched an investigation into Stroykin's death.
Stroykin previously spoke out against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the social media website VKontakte in 2022. His posts condemned the war and criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since the 2022 invasion, a number of prominent Russian figures have mysteriously died after falling from windows. Acclaimed Russian ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov, who also denounced the war in Ukraine, died in November 2024 after allegedly falling from his fifth-floor apartment.
Shklyarov's death was reported as an "accident."
Russia has also detained and imposed harsh prison sentences against citizens for publicly criticizing the war or donating small sums of money to Ukrainian charities — acts that are now considered treason under the Russian criminal code.
Read also: 'Donbas is fiction' — Kateryna Zarembo's book dismantles Russian myths about Ukraine's east
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump's Joke Of No Elections In 2028 — People React
Trump's Joke Of No Elections In 2028 — People React

Buzz Feed

time22 minutes ago

  • Buzz Feed

Trump's Joke Of No Elections In 2028 — People React

On Monday, Donald Trump met with several European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and made some remarks that left the internet saying, "WTF." When asked if he was open to holding an election once peace is achieved, Zelenskyy replied, "Yes, of course." He explained there aren't elections during wartime as they're focused on security, but the goal is "truth everywhere, in the battlefield, in the sky, in the sea," so people can resume democratic, legal elections. Trump interrupted the Ukrainian leader to confirm the bit about no elections during wartime. "Three and a half years from now, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections," he said. "Oh, that's good," he concluded. Good for who??? I really don't like this little smile at the end. Notably, this happened on the same day Trump made headlines for showing off his "Trump 2028" and "4 more years" merch. Obviously, people had a lot to say about this: "A sitting US President 'jokes' about manufacturing a war to stop democracy and stay in power. Crazy how this shit is not a MUCH bigger deal and will instead be forgotten or dismissed," one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote. Another person said, "You can practically see the dim little lightbulb flicker on above his head. 'Wait a second... if my country is in a war... I don't have to leave the White House... EVER?! THAT'S GOOD!' It's the giddy, amoral excitement of a child who has just discovered a brand new and fantastic way to cheat at the game. Except the game is the Constitution of the United States." "It's not funny.... Cause you know DAMN well it has already crossed his mind, that to me is scary!!! YOU'RE NOT FUNNY TRUMP!!!!" "Democrats need to step up and meet this loser and loser gop party where they are at! Ethics are no longer a part of the Republican party and everyone needs to realize that." And finally, "Don't get your hopes up, fuck-face. We've had elections during every war we've ever fought. And we've fought a lot of wars." What do you think about all this? LMK in the comments below!

NATO scrambles jets after Russian strikes near Romania
NATO scrambles jets after Russian strikes near Romania

The Hill

time22 minutes ago

  • The Hill

NATO scrambles jets after Russian strikes near Romania

Two German fighter jets were dispatched to Romania's border with Ukraine on Tuesday in response to Russian attacks in the region. Moscow targeted Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, according to Romania's Ministry of National Defense. However, no intrusions from Russian forces were detected during the German mission. 'The close cooperation with Allies throughout the enhanced Air Policing Missions strengthens Romania's defense capability and contributes to NATO's deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank,' Romania's Ministry of National Defense said in a Wednesday statement. Despite these escalations, Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Monday warned NATO leaders against deploying troops in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Russia hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's Ismail region near Romania. Defense officials deployed two Romanian F-16 fighter jets in response to the assault's close proximity. In recent weeks, NATO leaders have increased pressure on the Kremlin as its war with Ukraine continues past its three-year mark. European leaders met with President Trump at the White House this week alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an attempt to solidify peace in the region. Last week, Trump also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss an end to the conflict. But Moscow has continued its attacks on its neighbor. On Monday, Putin ordered a major overnight attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure followed by a Wednesday drone strike on Okhtyrka, which injured 14 people including a family with young children. Both offensives also caused widespread fires. 'In total, more than 60 drones and a ballistic missile were used,' Zelensky wrote in a Wednesday post on social media, with accompanying footage of the damage. 'All of these are demonstrative strikes that only confirm the need to put pressure on Moscow, the need to impose new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy is fully effective,' he added. Trump has refrained from sanctioning Russian trading partners but has remained adamant about ending the war.

Gabbard slashing intelligence office workforce, cutting budget by more than $700 million
Gabbard slashing intelligence office workforce, cutting budget by more than $700 million

The Hill

time22 minutes ago

  • The Hill

Gabbard slashing intelligence office workforce, cutting budget by more than $700 million

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will dramatically reduce its workforce and cut its budget by more than $700 million annually, the Trump administration announced Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement, 'Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence.' She said the intelligence community 'must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the U.S. Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the President and policymakers.' The reorganization is part of a broader administration effort to rethink its evaluation of foreign threats to American elections, a topic that has become politically loaded given President Donald Trump's long-running resistance to the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election. In February, for instance, Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded an FBI task force focused on investigating foreign influence operations, including those that target U.S. elections. The Trump administration also has made sweeping cuts at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which oversees the nation's critical infrastructure, including election systems. Gabbard's efforts to downsize the agency she leads is in keeping with the cost-cutting mandate the administration has employed since its earliest days, when Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency oversaw mass layoffs of the federal workforce. It's the latest headline-making move by a key official who just a few months ago had seemed out of favor with Trump over her analysis of Iran's nuclear capabilities but who in recent weeks has emerged as a key loyalist. She's released a series of documents meant to call into question the legitimacy of the intelligence community's findings on Russian election interference in 2016, and this week, at Trump's direction, revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former government officials. The ODNI in the past has joined forces with other federal agencies to debunk and alert the public to foreign disinformation intended to influence U.S. voters. For example, it was involved in an effort to raise awareness about a Russian video that falsely depicted mail-in ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania that circulated widely on social media in the weeks before the 2024 presidential election. Notably, Gabbard said she would be refocusing the priorities of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which her office says on its website is 'focused on mitigating threats to democracy and U.S. national interests from foreign malign influence.' It wasn't clear from Gabbard's release or fact sheet exactly what the changes would entail, but Gabbard noted its 'hyper-focus' on work tied to elections and said the center was 'used by the previous administration to justify the suppression of free speech and to censor political opposition.' The Biden administration created the Foreign Malign Influence Center in 2022, responding to what the U.S. intelligence community had assessed as attempts by Russia and other adversaries to interfere with American elections. Its role, ODNI said when it announced the center's creation, was to coordinate and integrate intelligence pertaining to malign influence. In a briefing given to reporters in 2024, ODNI officials said they only notified candidates, political organizations and local election offices of disinformation operations when they could be attributed to foreign sources. They said they worked to avoid any appearance of policing Americans' speech. Sen. Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, hailed the decision to broadly revamp ODNI, saying it would make it a 'stronger and more effective national security tool for President Trump.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store