A Russian journalist who wrote of the deaths of Russian mercenaries in Syria died today in a hospital after he had fallen from the balcony of his apartment in Ekaterinburg on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

The news site Novi den said that their reported , Maksim Borodin, died in a hospital today, AP said. There is no reason why or how he has fallen from the balcony of his apartment on the fifth floor. Russian media cite the police that the apartment door was locked from the inside.

In March, Borodin wrote about found bodies of supposedly Russian mercenaries. Thousands of mercenaries have been reported to have been sent to Syria by a shady company owned by Eugene Prigojin accused in the United States of having established a "troll factory" that attempted to influence the presidential election in 2016, AP said.