A Russian ballet dancer who was an outspoken critic of Russia’s war in Ukraine has mysteriously plunged to his death from the fifth floor of a building.
Vladimir Shklyarov, a married father of two, plummeted around 60 feet to the ground from a building on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, where the 39-year-old was the highest-ranking dancer, told Fontanka.
Russian authorities initially labeled the fall an accident, blaming the painkillers he was taking before a complex spinal surgery.
However, he joins numerous other critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin who have met untimely ends — including others who have fallen from buildings.
The dancer had lashed out on Facebook in 2022 despite the Kremlin’s crackdown on such criticism.
“Friends! I am against the war in Ukraine! I am for the people, for a peaceful sky above our heads,” wrote the dad, who was married to fellow ballet dancer Maria Shirinkina.