Putin Critic Dan Rapoport’s Falling Death Being Investigated By D.C. Police

Dan Rapoport, a Latvian-American businessman who has operated companies in America and Russia, has died after falling from his luxury apartment building in Washington, D.C.

Police initially ruled the death as a suicide, but the investigation is reportedly ongoing.

Rapoport’s wife herself has denied that it was suicide.

Rapoport was outspoken about his disdain for the Vladimir Putin regime, and reportedly returned to America in 2012 due to his support the of anti-Putin campaigner and democratic activist Alexei Navalny.

He was best known in Russia for running the nightclub Soho Rooms, but most recently was living in Kyiv, Ukraine until last year.

He even had to evacuate his second wife Alena and their child to Denmark after the Ukraine invasion began and had plans to move them to the U.S.

The late businessman also had a tangential connection to the Trump family, because he sold his house in D.C. before moving to Ukraine to none other than Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Some friends of Rapoport’s in D.C. admitted that he seemed to be struggling recently with the pressure of trying to get his wife to the country and other alleged financial issues.

His friend Ilya Ponomarev, who had contact with Rapoport several times in the months before his death, told Politico. “It was very clear he was depressed that he was not with his family. I cannot exclude that it was a suicide, but in general nothing pointed in that direction when we met.”

There have been a number of deaths in Russia under mysterious circumstances that were all ruled as suicides by investigators, but a potential attack on American soil would certainly be a major escalation in Russian tactics.

The Metropolitan police are still awaiting a medical examiner’s report which could take up to 90 days. Findings from the report could determine if there was any struggle before Rapoport’s fall and toxicology screenings will reveal if there are drugs and alcohol in his system.