Marina Yankina: Russian defence official dies after falling from St Petersburg tower block window

Marina Yankina was found dead in St Petersburg
Twitter

A top Russian official has been found dead after an apparent fall from her high-rise apartment in St Petersburg.

The body of Marina Yankina, 58, the head of finance and procurement of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Western Military District, was found by police under the windows of the tower block in the Kalininsky district, according to reports.

Russian Telegram channel Mash and other Russian media outlets reported that documents and other items belonging to Yankina were discovered on the 16th-floor balcony of the building.

Her death came a year after she demanded on-air apologies from anyone who suggested that Russia would invade Ukraine accusing strategists in London and Washington of playing a “scary, strange, wild” political game.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, commented on Yankina’s death on Twitter.

“Marina Yankina, head of the financial department at Russian ministry of defense, was found dead. She fell out of a window,” he tweeted. “Her death is not the first among Russian high-ranking officials in the past year.”

Yankina worked at the Federal Tax Service, and also served as Deputy Chairman of the Property Relations Committee of St. Petersburg.

Her death comes just days after Major General Vladimir Makarov, recently fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead in a suspected suicide outside of Moscow.

Makarov, was found in a country house in the village of Golikovo, Next to his body was a Berkut-2M carbine.

Another senior Russian officer who helped organise Russian mobilisation efforts against Ukraine said he “executed” himself over fears he was being blamed for its failure.

Colonel Vadim Boiko, 44, deputy head of the Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School in Vladivostok, Russia, was found dead on November 16 from multiple gunshot wounds.

In an open letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Yulia Boiko said her husband struggled with the logistics of the operation and realised he was being “set up as a ‘fall guy’ for all the failures and shortcomings.”

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