- A Russian defense official has died after reportedly falling out of a high-rise window.
- Marina Yankina, who worked for Russia's Western Military District, was found dead on Wednesday.
A top Russian defense official has died after reportedly plunging out of the 16th-floor window of a high-rise in St. Petersburg — the latest in a string of untimely deaths among prominent officials and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Marina Yankina, 58, the head of the financial support department for the Russian Defense Ministry's Western Military District, was found dead on Wednesday outside of the St. Petersburg, Russia, building, according to independent Russian media outlet Meduza.
Yankina's death is being investigated as a possible suicide, the Russian outlet Fontanka reported.
Russian Telegram channel Mash reported that Yankina called her ex-husband before she fell out of the window to her death.
Before Yankina joined the Western Military District, she worked for the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
Yankina's death comes after a number of Russian officials have died in unusual or unexplained circumstances since Putin launched his unprovoked war on Ukraine nearly a full year ago.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, pointed this out in a tweet on Thursday about Yankina's death.
Most recently, fired Russian Interior Ministry Major General Vladimir Makarov was found dead this week in an apparent suicide, The Moscow Times reported.
Putin critic and sausage tycoon Pavel Antov died after falling out of a window at a hotel in India in December. Last September, 67-year-old Russian energy oligarch Ravil Maganov also died after falling from a hospital window, Insider reported at the time.