Russian ballet star Vladimir Shklyarov died on Saturday, November 16th, after “inexplicably” falling from the fifth floor of a building.
The preliminary cause of death was labeled as an accident, with Russian authorities launching an investigation, according to RIA Novosti, a Russian state media outlet.
CNN reported that he died two days before he was going to have “complex spinal surgery” and was on “serious painkillers.”
In Feb. 2022, at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the dancer spoke out against the violence. “I am against the war in Ukraine! I am for the people, for a peaceful sky over my head! Politicians should be able to negotiate without shooting and killing civilians, for that they are given their tongue and head,” he was quoted as saying by Russian-Ukrainian former ballet dancer Alexei Ratmansky on Facebook.
“It is impossible to watch everything that is happening today without tears… I wanna dance… I want to love everyone—that’s the purpose of my life… I do not want wars, no borders.”
Multiple Vladimir Putin adversaries have died after falling from windows. The term “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome” was born after many notable Russian figureheads who had spoken out against Putin’s reign died in puzzling ways. One of the most common causes of death is “falling from a window”.
“Some two dozen notable Russians have died in 2022 in mysterious ways,” wrote The Atlantic in 2022. “After all, this is what the Kremlin does. There is precedent for this phenomenon.”
Notable deaths include Pavel Antov, who fell from a window at an Indian hotel two days after his Russian travel companion died (at the same hotel); Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned; and Russian defense official Marina Yankina, who fell 160 feet and died in St. Petersburg in 2023.
Shklyarov, meanwhile, worked at the Mariinsky Theater as a principal dancer, the highest-ranking position.
“It is with profound sadness that the Mariinsky Theatre announces the untimely passing of principal dancer Vladimir Shklyarov. Mr Shklyarov, a beloved artist and audience favorite, died tragically on 16 November,” wrote the theater on their website. “His loss is deeply felt by the entire Mariinsky family and the wider ballet world.”
Shklyarov, 39, was married to Maria Shirinkina, another dancer at the theater. The couple had a son and daughter.
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