Russian Colonel Who Helped Putin’s Mobilization Mysteriously Shot Dead

A colonel serving as the deputy head of one of the Russian navy’s top colleges has been found dead in mysterious circumstances, according to local reports.

Vadim Boyko is said to have been responsible for working with troops recently called up under Vladimir Putin’s “partial mobilization order” for the war against Ukraine.

He reportedly showed up to work early Wednesday at the Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School in Vladivostok—and then was found with at least one gunshot wound.

Several local media reports were quick to deem his death a suicide, with the Far Eastern Gazette reporting that he “fired a bullet in his temple.” The news outlet said Boyko’s suicide had been confirmed with sources within the Pacific Fleet via a local TV station.

“Yes, Colonel Boyko committed suicide within the walls of the [naval college],” the unnamed sources were quoted saying.

Reporting by the Russian Telegram channel Baza described a very different series of events, however.

The channel, citing unspecified sources, said multiple gunshots were heard outside Boyko’s office just before the desk sergeant went in and found his body with five gunshot wounds to the chest.

No suicide note was found at the scene, according to Baza, and investigators found five shell casings and four Makarov pistols.

His death comes just one month after a military commissar for the Primorysky region was found dead, with local authorities claiming only that his “heart stopped.”