A Russian commander has been found dead in his office under mysterious circumstances.

Colonel Vadim Bokyo, 44, was involved with the Russian mobilization order against Ukraine. Bokyo was a father of two.

Bokyo showed up to work Wednesday at a Russian Naval School in Vladivostok. Multiple gunshots were heard outside Bokyo’s office before the sergeant entered.

Conflicting reports have labeled the death either a suicide or a murder. Some Russian media initially ruled his death a suicide, reporting that Bokyo fired a bullet in his temple. Russian news service BAZA, however, reported that the colonel was found with five gunshot wounds to the chest.

BAZA reported that investigators found five shell casings and four pistols at the scene, and there has been no mention of a suicide note.

Bokyo’s death follows the similarly mysterious deaths of several other senior Russian figures.

Weeks earlier, a Russian military commissar was found dead with conflicting reports of suicide and murder. In September, a former Putin ally died after reportedly falling down a flight of stairs at 73 years old. Another associate of the Russian president inexplicably fell off the side of a boat to his death, and a Russian oil leader fell to his death from the sixth story of a hospital. 

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The death occurred amidst heightened tensions in the region after a missile hit Poland, killing two. Ongoing investigations have only caused further confusion as both Ukraine and Russia refuse to take the blame for the missile strike.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had “no doubt” that it was a Russian missile, “based on our military reports.” 

However, Poland and NATO reports show that the missile was likely launched from Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack.

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