Russian pop star who criticized Vladimir Putin dies at 35 in freak accident

A Russian pop star has died at the age of 35 after a freak accident with friends.

Dima Nova and his group, Cream Soda, had a song called 'Aqua Disco' and it was a big anti-Vladimir Putin anthem .

According to Newsweek, the song ripped into the Russian President's alleged $1.3 billion mansion.

The mansion had a lounge area described as an 'aquatic disco', so the band jumped on that and made a song about it.

The lyrics include: “You are inviting me to the movies and for a couple of glasses.

"Inviting me to breathe in the shisha smoke, to chill on the covers, to watch the sunset from your marble boudoir.

"You just don’t understand that is very old school.”

However, after its release it was used as a rallying cry against the Russian leader at any chance.

Whenever people wanted to protest against Putin, the song would be played.

It was so popular that anti-Kremlin protests were called 'Aqua Disco Parties'.

The song was blasted more recently after Russia invaded Ukraine and launched an all-out war.

Cream Soda was formed in 2012 and they have released four albums.

Nova, whose real name is Dmitry Svirgunov, died after crossing a frozen river.

A statement from Cream Soda confirmed the tragic news in a post on social media.

"We had a tragedy last night. Our Dima Nova, in the company of friends, was walking along the Volga and fell through the ice," the statement said.

"Dima, his brother Roma and friend Gosha Kiselev are still looking for the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Aristarchus, our friend, who also fell through the ice, managed to get, but could not be saved.

"As soon as we have information from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, we will inform you.

"Gosha died in an ambulance. Rescuers are still looking for Aristarchus and Roma."

They added a second message that said: "Today at 9:00 the official identification took place. Dima and Gosha are no more."

Russian news site Meduza says the incident at the Volga River happened in the village of Dievo-Gorodishche, in Russia’s Yaroslavl region.

The freak accident is one of many that have plagued dissenters of President Vladimir Putin, especially since Russia's invasion into Ukraine.

Topics: Russia, Vladimir Putin, News

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie