The body of Dmitry Oganyan, former bassist of the Russian rock band Kukryniksy, was found in a pond near Michmanskaya Street on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg, according to Fontanka and the Telegram channel Baza.
On the shore lay clothing, shoes, an axe, and a severed hand. According to sources cited by the outlets, Oganyan is believed to have inflicted the wound on himself, then undressed and entered the water. No evidence indicating murder was found.
Friends and the musician's brother told journalists that Oganyan had not expressed suicidal thoughts. However, his friend Anatoly Sklyarenko told Baza and Fontanka that Oganyan had suffered for years from a skin disease on his hands: due to cracks, it was difficult for him to play bass guitar, and he performed with special attachments on his fingers. According to Sklyarenko, the disease had noticeably interfered with the musician's playing for at least the past year.
Oganyan performed with Kukryniksy from 2001 until the band's breakup in 2018, then played with Brigadny Podryad and XSELEN. Kukryniksy frontman Alexei Gorshenev confirmed the musician's death and called him "a cheerful and joyful person, a talented musician and father of three children." The deceased is survived by his wife and children.