Ivan Vitalievich Petunin was found dead on Friday after he jumped from a skyscraper in Kranodar. The rapper used to perform under the stage name “Walkie”.
According to media sources, the rapper’s death was later confirmed by his girlfriend and mother. He committed suicide by jumping from the building’s tenth floor.
A daily newspaper then cited a local media report claiming that the rapper recorded a heart-breaking video message on Telegram before killing himself.
“I can’t take the sin of murder on my soul and I don’t want to. I am not ready to kill for any ideals. To murder someone in war or otherwise is something I cannot do,” the rapper said.
The rapper called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin a “maniac” and said, “It seems to me that partial mobilisation will become full in a few days.” Walkie, concluded by saying, “Forgive me, my loved ones, but sometimes you have to die for your principles.”
Petunin (Walkie) had roughly 40,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, whereas one of his songs called “Neirotokcin,” which translates to “Neurotoxin,” had almost 2 million streams on the platform.
According to a media source, the rapper had previously served in the Russian army and was treated in a mental hospital. In a letter to his girlfriend, the rapper wrote, “Everyone will go to the front lines,” in light of Russia annexing four Ukrainian regions. He added, “People with psychological ailments even worse than mine are already being sent there without any hesitation.”
In the immediate wake of Putin’s Sept. 21 address, that called for 300,000 reservists to be deployed to battle, many Russian men fled the warring country in large numbers or broke their own arms to avoid being recruited into military combat.
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