34-year-old popular Russian pop star Dima Nova was recently discovered dead via drowning this past Sunday in the wake of openly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Born under the name Dmitry Svirgunov, the pop star was the founder of the highly popular electronic group Cream Soda -- a group whose song "Aqua Disco" cemented itself as the anthem for the large number of anti-war protests which were carried out in Russia, expressed a report from Newsweek.
Within the song, the pop group put Putin on blast for the mansion he allegedly owns costing $1.3 billion. The song was one of the most commonly heard bits of music throughout protests against the country both prior to and in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These protests quickly ended up being labeled "Aqua Disco Parties."
As stated in the song's lyrics, "'[Aqua disco]' is a wild hedonistic pool party for one," stated the outlet Calvertjournal.com. One other lyric stated, "The king of leisure,/ I will feel super here." While another read. "Aqua Disco,/ Here I am by the word super,/ Add duper."
One report made a nod to another article coming from a Russian news website, People Talk, which expressed that Nova simply fell through the ice while making their way across the Volga river located to the north east of Moscow in the Yaroslavl region. Svirgunov was apparently not alone at the time, and was reportedly traveling alongside Rome, his brother, and a few other friends.
A caption found next to Cream Soda's post to social media about Dima's demise and one other person caught in the accident was translated and read, "An official introduction took place today at 9:00. Dima and Goshi are no more."
"We had a tragedy last night," the post from the pop group stated, explained the outlet. "Our Dima Nova, in the company of friends, was walking along the Volga and fell under the ice."
"The Ministry of Emergency Situations are still looking for his brother Roma and friend, Gosha Kiselev," it went on. "Aristarchus, our friend who also fell under the ice, was caught, but could not be saved. As soon as we have information from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, we will inform you."
"Aqua Disco" was not just heard throughout all the protests against Russia near the start of the war, but also utilized in protests over the jailing of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, back in 2021, concluded the outlet.
At that time, multiple thousands of protesters were taken into custody by police officials over the protests, which had not been sanctioned by Russian officials.