The Tragic Death Of Outspoken Russian Model Gretta Vedler

Gretta Vedler was a model who was active — and sometimes quite outspoken — on social media (via the Mirror). She died under tragic circumstances that were more complex than they seemed when her death was first announced. Media coverage of her death was quick to highlight Gretta Vedler's social media history — because she had once insulted Vladimir Putin, the Russian President.

The Mirror reports that in a January 2021 post, Gretta Vedler speculated that Vladimir Putin must have endured humiliation during his formative years, being unable to defend himself from bullies because of his small stature. And she said it was unsurprising that Putin joined the KGB. Vedler went on to describe the Russian President as scared and timid due to his childhood difficulties, claiming it caused him lifelong communication issues. Vedler then continued on, writing, "In my opinion, a clear psychopathy or sociopathy is seen in him."

Vedler ended her post with a bold taunt to Vladimir Putin: "Maybe he really wants to enhance the integrity of Russia and sincerely wishes the good for the Russians. But can he really do anything?" she asked her online audience (via A Real News). "I think you know the answer to this question yourself."

The Daily Beast reports that Russian moderators removed the post quickly. But it's well established that Vladimir Putin is not a leader who takes insults lightly; he has a history of silencing his critics (via Britannica). So when Vedler was killed in February 2022, some wondered if her death was connected to her brazen social media post (via The Daily Beast).

Starting in 2020, Gretta Vedler frequently posted online about her fitness routines, modeling gigs, international traveling, psychology, and brand collaborations (via News Unzip). Offline, she was a professional psychologist. While she had a public life on social media, she didn't actually reveal much about her personal life or family to her roughly 2,500 followers on Instagram.

The Daily Beast reports that Vedler tried to sound the alarm about her boyfriend, Dmitry Korovin. She reached out to friends and said that Korovin was being abusive and was angry at her.

So who actually killed Gretta Vedler, and why was she targeted? Despite her past social media posts, the murder wasn't actually connected to any criticism of Vladimir Putin. According to The Daily Beast, politics had nothing to do with it. Instead, she and her boyfriend, Dmitry Korovin, got into an argument over money. He ended up killing her in Moscow, Russia. Korovin strangled Vedler to death. He then slept next to her body in a hotel room for three days (via The Sun). After that, he purchased a new suitcase and devised a plan.

After he killed the 23-year-old model, Korovin stuffed her body into a large gray suitcase and stowed it inside the boot of a car, reports the Mirror. Then, he drove 300 miles with the suitcase, winding up in Lipetsk, in southern Russia. Korovin abandoned the vehicle for a year before his crime was discovered.

But here's the most surprising part of the case: Korovin made people think Vedler was still alive for an entire year after he killed her (via the New York Post). Throughout 2021, Korovin continued to generate posts on Vedler's social media pages so that her family, friends, and followers wouldn't suspect anything, according to The U.S. Sun. 

But the posts didn't fool everybody. Kharkiv-based Ukrainian blogger Evgeniy Foster was friends with Vedler, and he became suspicious after seeing some of Korovin's devised social media posts. Foster contacted people who knew Vedler, and one friend ended up filing a missing person report in Moscow, Russia. Other friends grew worried that Vedler was making social media posts, but she wasn't calling them back (via The Daily Beast). Foster was especially distraught, because he suspected that Vedler might have been taken into custody by Russian police or otherwise harmed for being critical of Putin. He reportedly told his Instagram and blog followers about these suspicions in several different posts.

Per The U.S. Sun, the young model's body was eventually discovered in the dark gray suitcase covered in duct tape in March 2022. And as the New York Post reports, Vedler's death a year after her controversial posts isn't part of a conspiracy or cover-up, but is instead a tragic instance of domestic homicide.