edited by: Shankhneel Sarkar
Last Update: February 17, 2023, 16:01 IST
Marina Yankina has joined the list of high-ranking officials close to Putin who have died under mysterious circumstances (Picture: Liveuamap)
Marina Yankina headed the Department of Financial Support of the Ministry of Defense for the Western Military District and was closely involved in the ongoing war on Ukraine
Marina Yankina, a high-ranking Russian defense official involved in the so-called Russian military operation in Ukraine, was found dead earlier this week. He died after falling from the window of a multi-storey apartment building.
Her body was found by people standing outside the apartment building on Zamshina Street in Saint Petersburg. She was 58 at the time of her death. Yankina fell 160 feet to her death and some of her personal belongings and documents were found on the balcony of the building.
Officials conducting a preliminary investigation believe that Yankina died by suicide.
A New York Post report citing a Telegram-based Russian news channel loveShe said that she also called her ex-husband and told him what she was going to do next and also asked him to call the police.
The report also stated that the 58-year-old was battling health problems.
Yankina played a key role in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
He headed the Department of Financial Support of the Ministry of Defense for the Western Military District – a department closely involved in the so-called ‘military operation’.
The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed Yankina’s death and ordered an investigation.
Yankina previously worked with the Federal Tax Service and was deputy chairman of the Property Relations Committee of St. Petersburg.
She joins a list of prominent Russian officials and businessmen who have died mysteriously following Russia’s declaration of war on Ukraine.
Several other prominent figures – including some believed to be close to Vladimir Putin – have died under mysterious circumstances. The same week, 72-year-old Major General Vladimir Makarov, attached to the Russian Interior Ministry, died of an apparent suicide in a Moscow suburb.
There are unconfirmed reports that the general went into “deep depression” after being sacked. Earlier in November, Colonel Vadim Boiko allegedly committed suicide after “killing” himself with five bullets in the chest in his commander’s office.
His widow alleges that Boiko was set up to mask some of Russia’s problems in its so-called military campaign in Ukraine.
Boiko was involved in Putin’s partial mobilization efforts.
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