Top Russian defence official falls to death from building in St Petersburg

MOSCOW: A high-ranking Russian defence official has died after falling from the window of a building in St Petersburg, DailyMail reported. Marina Yankina, who headed the financial support department of the Russian Ministry of Defence for the Eastern Military District, was found by a passerby at the entrance of a house on Zamshina Street in St Petersburg.

Yankina is believed to have fallen 160 feet to her death. She was a key figure in the funding of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, as per the news report. The Russian Investigative Committee and the press service of the Western Military District, ‘Fontanka’, have confirmed her death and have started an investigation regarding her mysterious fall, The DailyMail reported.

Her personal belongings were found on the 16th floor of the building. Citing media outlet ‘Mash on Moika,’ the news report said that Yankina had called her ex-husband and informed him what she was intending to do. “She told him about what she was going to do and where she would leave things, and also asked to call the police. A few minutes after the call, she was found dead”, the media outlet ‘Mash on Moika’ said.

Marina Yankina was found dead at the entrance of a house.

Prior to joining the Western Military region, Yankina served in the Federal Tax Service and also worked as the Deputy Chairman of the Property Relations Committee of St Petersburg. She is believed to have been at the centre of efforts to strengthen funding for the war started by Russia on February 24.

Marina Yankina is the latest of many Russians to have plunged to their deaths during the war between Russia and Ukraine. Her death comes days after Major General Vladimir Makarov, a Russian general, who was recently fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead in a suspected suicide, as per the news report.

On December 26, Pavel Antonov, the deputy of the Russian Duma, died in India after falling out of a hotel window, as per the news report. According to a DailyMail report, the former chief of Russian Ground Forces, Aleksey Maslov, died in hospital on December 25 while Aleksandr Buzakov, who served as the head of Russia’s ‘admiralty shipyards’ for a decade, died on December 24. (ANI)