A high-ranking Russian army colonel with ties to Vladimir Putin’s mobilization efforts for the war in Ukraine died under mysterious circumstances this week.

Col. Vadim Boyko was found dead in his office at Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School on Wednesday, local news reported.

Early media coverage, including a Telegram post by the Far Eastern Gazette, described the incident as a suicide. “[Boyko] came to work and put a bullet in his temple,” the initial post read.

A similar post from BAZA — an outlet with ties to law enforcement — questioned the suicide scenario, noting that witnesses heard five shots coming from Boyko’s office.

“The duty officer, who heard the shooting, ran to the place and saw Boyko’s body — the colonel was dead,” BAZA recounted. “The man did not leave a suicide note. At the place of his death, criminalists found five cartridge cases and four Makarov pistols.

“Local media report that it was suicide, but then it turns out that the colonel shot himself in the chest five times.”

BAZA also reported that Boyko, 44, worked with soldiers drafted by Putin’s Sept. 21 partial mobilization order. His death comes amid increasingly dire reports of untrained, poorly armed Russian recruits funneled onto the battlefield in Ukraine under duress. Speaking to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, former US Defense Intelligence Agency officer and Russia expert Rebekah Koffler said Boyko’s demise will be “demoralizing” for remaining troops.

“Any serving Russian military officer is now in an untenable position because they know that sooner or later they will be deployed into the theater, which is pretty much a death sentence,” Koffler, author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told the outlet. “It is why scores of Russian military-age men are fleeing the country and some probably even hurt themselves, in order to avoid mobilization.”

Early reports of Boyko’s death also noted its similarity to that of Lt. Col. Roman Malyk, the head of enlistment in the far eastern Primorsky region, whose body was found hanging from a fence on Oct. 14. While local news outlets called his death a suicide, his relatives allegedly did not believe he took his own life. 

Earlier this week, Putin attempted to quell mounting civilian protests related to the ongoing war by announcing that those caught criticizing the military or disseminating “fake news” could have their passports confiscated.

“Everyone has to make up their mind: Either you’re with your country or you’re not,” Dmitry Vyatkin, a member of Russia’s State Duma, told RIA Novosti at the time.