Ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov fell from a fifth-floor balcony after taking painkillers ahead of back surgery, Russian media reported.

Principal Russian ballerina Vladimir Shklyarov died at the age of 39 after suffering a fall from the fifth-floor balcony of a building.

Vladimir Shklyarov, a world-renowned Russian ballet star, has died at the age of 39 after falling from the fifth floor of a building. The Mariinsky Theatre confirmed the artist's death, and an investigation is underway.