'Sudden Death Syndrome': Another Russian elite falls to death — former Pravda publisher Vyacheslav Leontyev latest in string of ‘mystery suicides’

Vyacheslav Leontyev, the former publisher of the Russian Communist Party's newspaper Pravda, has died after falling from the fifth-floor window of his Moscow apartment. While police claim that he jumped after suffering a "nervous breakdown", local media reports suggest that he is the latest official to die under mysterious circumstances in recent months. Leontyev led Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, for decades. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, he stayed on as the publication adapted to post-Soviet politics.

Latest victim of 'Russian Sudden Death Syndrome'?

Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets reported that Leontyev had been under severe stress in recent weeks. His wife was hospitalised after a fall, and friends said he had been struggling with heart problems.

Still, his death has raised eyebrows. Exiled journalist Andrey Malgin suggested there might be more to the story, noting Leontyev “knew a lot about the party’s money.” He suggested that the late publisher had inside knowledge of the money funnelling through the Communist Party. Writing on social media, Malgin said simply: “Falls from windows continue” — a reference to a growing list of Russian elites who have died under unusual circumstances.

A pattern of suspicious deaths

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, dozens of businessmen, politicians, and media figures have died in mysterious accidents — many of them reported as suicides. Local outlets and independent observers have dubbed the trend “Russian Sudden Death Syndrome.”

In 2022, Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil company, died after falling from a hospital window in Moscow, months after publicly criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” against Ukraine. That same year, lawmaker and meat magnate Pavel Antov also fell to his death from a hotel window in India after condemning Russian attacks on civilians and Putin's "terror" in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, anti-war singer Vadim Stroykin reportedly fell from his 10th-floor apartment in St. Petersburg shortly after police raided his home over donations to the Ukrainian army. Ballet dancer Vladimir Shkyarov, another Kremlin critic, suffered a similar fall last November.

Just months ago, Transneft vice president Andrei Badalov was found dead after falling from his Moscow home in what state media called a suicide. In July, Transport Minister Roman Starovoit reportedly shot himself in his car.

Official silence, public suspicion

Russian authorities have dismissed talk of foul play in these deaths, often citing health issues or emotional distress. But the pattern — particularly among critics of the Kremlin — has fueled speculation that these are not isolated tragedies.