Russian ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov died on Saturday6. He was 39. “Tonight, the public's favorite, star premier of the Mariinsky Theatre Vladimir Shklyarov tragically died,” a statement on the Mariinsky Theatre’s website reads,

Shklyarov had been on painkillers waiting for a complex spinal surgery when the incident occurred, according to a representative from his dance company

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Friday had given no indication of a shift in the Russian President's thinking on the war in Ukraine but defended his much-criticised decision to phone the Kremlin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday defended a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that came in for sharp criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "It was important to say as well that he (Putin) should not count on the support for Ukraine of Germany,