A 27-year-old Russian rapper has died by suicide in order to avoid being drafted into the Ukraine war, the local media reported. Ivan Vitalievich Petunin killed himself after declaring that he was “not ready to kill for any ideals.” The New York Post translated the news published in a Russian news portal that reported that Petunin was found dead after he jumped from a high-rise building in Krasnodar. He used to perform under the stage name ‘Walkie’.
The rapper’s death was later confirmed by his girlfriend and mother, according to The Post. The New York Post quoted a local media report that suggested that the rapper recorded a heart-wrenching video message on Telegram before taking his life.
In a 2-minutes-16 seconds long video shared by TMZ, the rapper is heard speaking in Russian, “If you are watching this video, then I am no longer alive. 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.”
He later called Putin a “maniac” and said, “It seems to me that partial mobilisation will become full in a few days. Forgive me, my loved ones, but sometimes you have to die for your principles,” he concluded.
Walkie had roughly 40,000 monthly Spotify listeners, and his song which “Neirotokcin,” translates to “Neurotoxin,” received nearly 2 million streams. According to his Bandcamp page, the recording artist has been producing songs since 2013.
According to New York Post, Petunin had previously served in the army and had been treated in a mental hospital, according to reports. Petunin said in a letter to his girlfriend that the sham “referendums” held by Russia last week resulted in annexing four regions of Ukraine – “everyone will go to the front lines.” He continued, “People with psychosocial ailments even worse than mine are already being sent there without any hesitation.”
According to the New York Post, Many Russian men fled the warring country in droves or broke their own arms to avoid being recruited into military combat in the aftermath of Putin’s Sept. 21 address, which called for 300,000 reservists to be dispatched to battle.
Since the announcement, around 2 lakh Russians have fled to neighbouring Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Finland, incurring 10-year prison sentences if apprehended.
