Russian investigators probing politician's death after body found at St Petersburg fitness centre

Vadim Tyulpanov thought to have 'slipped and hit his head'

Vadim Tyulpanov, a member of the Russian Federation Council, laying flowers in memory of the St Petersburg Metro explosion victims at Tekhnologichesky Institut station on 4 April (TASS)

Russian investigators are probing the death of a politician who was found dead at a fitness centre in St Petersburg.

Vadim Tyulpanov, a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, died just hours after being photographed laying flowers for the victims of a terror attack on the metro.

Russia’s investigative committee has launched pre-investigation checks into what it said appeared to be an accident.

“On the afternoon of 4 April, while in a fitness centre in the Kirov district of St Petersburg, Vadim Tyulpanov slipped and was injured in a fall,” a statement said.

“An ambulance team that arrived at the scene confirmed his death.”

Local reports claimed Mr Tyulpanov “slipped in the bath and hit his head”, fracturing his skull.

Investigators and forensics officers have been dispatched to the scene to “establish all the circumstances of the incident” and the cause of death, the investigative committee said.

Mr Tyulpanov, 52, was the speaker of St Petersburg’s legislative assembly from 2003 to 2011, when he was elected to represent the city on the Federation Council.

He acted as chairman of its regulations committee, and later represented the represented the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the government-owned Tass news agency reported.

Mr Tyulpanov also headed a temporary commission preparing for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, which is to be held in Russia.

His death follows the murder of a former Russian politician who was shot dead in Ukraine last month.

Denis Voronenkov, who testified to Ukrainian investigators and criticised Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea, was shot dead near the entrance to an upmarket hotel in Kiev.

The Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, alleged that Russian special services were involved in the assassination, calling it an “act of state terrorism”.

Mr Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed the claim of Russian involvement in the killing as “absurd”.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, died suddenly in February, while the Kremlin’s representative in India Alexander Kadakin passed away in January.

Another senior Russian diplomat, Andrey Malanin, was found dead in his apartment in Athens earlier that month and foreign ministry adviser Petr Polshikov was shot dead at his home in Moscow in December.