(Adnkronos) – Russian singer-songwriter Vadim Stroykin, who spoke out against the war in Ukraine in a post on VKontakte in 2022, fell from one of the windows of his home in St. Petersburg while a search was underway, Ovd-Info reported. Stroykin died instantly. He had been accused of making donations to Ukrainian forces. “During the investigation, with an excuse he went to another room where he quickly opened a window and carried out the irreversible action,” is the reconstruction reported by the Telegram Mash na Moike relaunched by Meduza.
The Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into Stroykin’s death. The news of the singer’s death comes just hours after the six-year prison sentence handed down in a Samara court to jazz saxophonist Andrei Shabanov for posting anti-war and anti-Putin posts on Facebook. Shabanov, who was arrested last March, suffers from psoriatic arthritis, a serious autoimmune disorder. In a court hearing, he undressed to show the sores that the lack of treatment in prison had caused him and complained that he would no longer be able to play. He had been indicted for promoting donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and the Freedom of Russia Legion, the two pro-Ukrainian Russian groups active in Russia.
He was found guilty of justifying terrorism and actions against national security. The prosecution had asked for an eight-year prison sentence. Shabanov had pleaded guilty, asking for forgiveness for his “unpatriotic” actions. Shortly after the start of the war, in March 2022, he was fined 60,000 rubles ($575) for attempting to post a photo of Hitler on the website of a project commemorating veterans of the Great Patriotic War.
