Ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov fell from a fifth-floor balcony after taking painkillers ahead of back surgery, Russian media reported.

Investigators in Russia are looking into the death of Vladimir Shklyarov, a principal dancer at the world-famous Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, after he fell from an apartment block balcony and died at the age of 39.

On the one hand, the deployment of the North Korean troops seems a logical follow-up to the mutual defense treaty signed by Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June. On the other hand, it raises a series of important questions.

North Korea may deploy as many as 100,000 troops to aid Russia’s war on Ukraine if the alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow continues to deepen, according to people familiar with assessments made by some Group of 20 nations.