The wife of a President Putin ally has died mysteriously after reporting her husband to the police for beating her because he was not satisfied with how she did the housework.
Anastasia Demina, the 42-year-old wife of politician Valery Demin, told police her husband had attacked her after returning to Moscow from military duty in Ukraine in February.
She was already suffering from a broken shoulder when Demin, who had taken a mistress, repeatedly punched her, according to local media.
And when Anastasia went to hospital for treatment, she reported her People’s Party deputy husband to the police, claiming that he had beaten her and pulled her hair.
She told police she believed he had attacked her because he “was tired of her”, according to Russian media.
Anastasia later withdrew the complaint on the advice of People’s Party leaders in the Russian capital, local media reported.
Now it has emerged that she died mysteriously on 6th May with an apparently tearful Demin taking to social media to announce her death.
He said on the Russian platform VK: “I am writing this post with tears in my eyes and a lump of grief.
“On 6th May, my wife, my Nastena, passed away. I really can’t express in words everything that I feel.
“Sorrow, pain, anger and a feeling of emptiness… Life is divided into ‘before’ and ‘after’.”
He said Anastasia was the best mother and “our sunshine.”
Demin then bafflingly said: “Forgive us all for everything.”
He does not, however, say how she died, and Ukrainian media is already reporting without evidence that he killed her.
Some Russian reports say Anastasia was depressed and taking painkillers.
Her relatives reportedly told police that her condition had recently worsened, that the pain had intensified and that she had been complaining of panic attacks.
Anastasia’s body was found by her children, who had initially thought she was sleeping and went for a walk.
The exact cause of death is currently unknown, and Russian media says that an autopsy is scheduled.
A police investigation into her death is understood to be ongoing.