Defenestrations: From Prague’s Hussites to Russia

The previous day (February 15, 2023) Marina Yankina, the head of finance and procurement of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Western Military District, was found under the windows of the tower block in the Kalininsky district of Saint Petersburg. Like some other recent events this death raised suspicions. Because in recent years, there have been many incidents of falling out of the windows. 

On August 14, 2022, Jewish-Latvian businessman Dan Rapoport died after falling from his Washington DC high-rise apartment. Rapoport, who previously held senior positions in some financial institutions in Russia, openly criticized Putin before his death. 

On September 1, 2022, Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russian oil and gas giant Lukoil, died after falling from the window of the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital, also known as the Kremlin Hospital. According to the Russian news agency TASS, Maganov committed suicide, and some reports suggested that he was taking antidepressants. Some of his close friends mentioned low probability of suicide. It was claimed that the security cameras that could illuminate the incident were not working that day due to the repairs. Moreover, it was reported in the press that Putin visited the hospital to pay his respects to Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on the day of Maganov’s death. 

On December 26, 2022, Pavel Antov, one of the famous oligarchs, fell from the window of a hotel when he was visiting India. Pavel Antov, who made a fortune from the meat and sausage business by founding the Vladmirsky Standard, was known as the richest deputy in his country. Antov went on vacation with three of his friends, including Vladimir Budanov, and Budanov passed away two days before him. Budanov’s cause of death was announced as a heart attack. 

On December 7, 2022, Grigory Kochenov, creative director of IT company Agima, died after falling from the balcony of his apartment in Nizhny Novgorod. Also on May 1, 2022, Andrei Krukovsky, general manager of Gazprom’s ski resort, died after reportedly falling down a cliff near Sochi. On September 21, 2022, Anatoly Gerashchenko, former director of the Moscow Aviation Institute, died after falling down the stairs. 

On September 10, 2022, Russia’s Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) Aviation Director Ivan Pechorin fell from his boat near Cape Ignatyev, near Vladivostok. His body was found two days later on a beach in Beregovoi. Death as a result of falling into the water is a well-known phenomenon after the famous Hollywood star Natalie Wood died in 1981 after falling off a yacht in the open sea. We can also remember the Double Jeopardy, a 1999 crime thriller film. These are all events that have taken place in the very recent past, within the last year.

Going back a little further, Kommersant columnist Ivan Safronov, who was investigating the Kremlin’s secret arms deals, died on March 2, 2007, falling from the staircase window on the 5th floor of his apartment on Nizhny Novgorod street. In fact, Safronov, who lived on the 3rd floor of this apartment, was investigating the possible sale of Su-30 warplanes to Syria and S-300V missiles to Iran. He argued that these deals would be made through a third party to avoid accusations of selling weapons to states to which the West had embargoed. The head of the Federal Military and Technical Cooperation Service, Mikhail Dmitriev, told his colleagues at a press conference (February 27, 2007) at ITAR-TASS that a contract was signed between Russia and Syria for the sale of MiG-29 jets and Pantsir-S1 and Iskander-E missiles. 

Defenestration is an ancient concept that has its roots in the Tanakh, remembering that Jezebel was thrown out of the window by Jehu’s eunuch servants. Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and king of Israel after Jeroham, had killed Jehoram and Jezebel at Jezreel. Two famous events, both of which took place in Prague, led to the recognition of this concept. 

In the “First Defenestration” of 1419, the Hussites started the famous Hussite Wars by throwing city council members out of the windows of the Nove Mesto administration building. In the “Second Defenestration” of 1618, the Hussites-Protestants again started the Thirty Years’ War, this time by throwing two imperial regents and a secretary from the windows of Prague Castle. The 1483 defenestration is not considered a “second event”. Because the throwing events of 1618 and 1419 are considered the beginning of the two great wars in European history. 

There is also a fourth-window event in the Czech history. On March 10, 1948, Czechoslovakian Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk was found dead under the bathroom window in the courtyard of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A 2004 police investigation concluded that he did not commit suicide contrary to what had been announced in the past, he was throwned out, most likely because he opposed the Soviet-backed February 1948 coup.