06 October 2025 , 11:37
776
0
Russian police are looking into another case where a prominent figure fell to his death from a window in western Moscow.
Vyacheslav Leontyev, 87, the secretive head of Pravda publishing house, fell 70 feet from his home on Saturday evening.
He was the former head of the Soviet newspaper Pravda, which means Truth, and served as the primary publication for the ruling Communist Party. He maintained this position long after the USSR collapsed in 1991.
Leontyev was regarded as knowledgeable about the Kremlin’s secret wealth.
Police are examining whether it was an accident, suicide, or foul play, but it’s the latest in a sequence of deaths by falling from a window in Russia.
Exiled journalist Andrey Malgin wrote about the ‘strange death,’ commenting: ‘The window falls continue. Leontyev fell from a window. He was found near his home on Molodogvardeyskaya Street, where he lived.’
Malgin, who was well-acquainted with Leontyev, added: ‘He gave the impression of a sort of underground millionaire. He also knew a lot about the ‘Party’s money’ — the Pravda publishing house was the most profitable enterprise in the business empire of the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union] Central Committee.’
Russia has experienced a series of deaths of leading managers of major companies during and immediately before the war in Ukraine.
The method of attack has varied from the exotic—drinking tea laced with polonium or using a door handle coated with a deadly nerve agent—to the more brutal bullets at close range.
Several have infamously ventured too close to an open window. But over the years, it has become increasingly common for critics of Putin and the Kremlin, as well as defectors and journalists, to end up dead.
Assassination attempts against Putin’s enemies have been prevalent during his 25 years in power.
Those close to the victims and the few survivors have accused Russian authorities, but the Kremlin has consistently denied involvement.
There have also been reports of notable Russian executives dying under mysterious circumstances, including falling from windows, although determining whether they were deliberate killings or suicides is challenging.
Editor-in-Chief