Pop star's ex-husband, Latvian basketball player, found dead in Moscow

Latvian basketball player Janis Timma, ex-husband of Ukrainian pop star Anna Sedokova, was found dead in a hostel in Moscow. It is believed that the man committed suicide after divorcing the singer.

Photo: instagram.com (banned in Russia) by Jania Timma, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Anna Sedokova and Janis Timma

He was 32 years old. The body of Janis Timma was found at Orange hostel where he checked in on December 14. His phone was found nearby. His last message to Sedokova was "Thank you for everything."

The last minutes of his life were caught on camera. Timma was walking for a long time near the building on Zvenigorodskoye Highway in Moscow, making voice messages.

The couple officially divorced on December 9. The basketball player was very emotional about their divorce. He threatened to commit suicide while going live on social media.

"I don't believe a single word you say. Everything we built, mom and dad, you exchanged for money. Love without money does not exist," he wrote.

The singer reacted to the news of her ex-husband's death almost immediately. She posted a video in which she tearfully talked about the last years of her life with Timma.

"Now I'm begging you — please, I have a child, he's small, he shouldn't know anything. You can't imagine what kind of hell I've been going through in the last few years," she said.

The couple started dating in 2019 and got married in September 2020. Sedokova told how Timma proposed to her. He surprised her with a yacht ride, then got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

Sedokova first spoke about problems in the family in December last year. Then she said that they began to fight during the COVID-19 pandemic when they had to live in one apartment for a long time. According to Sedokova, she and her husband decided to live in different countries after the lockdown.

"It was very hard for us. Initially, the pandemic knocked us down, when we were at home looking at each other constantly. We strangled each other with our love. When your whole world goes down to one person… We almost ate each other," Anna Sedokova wrote.

The couple did not have children together, their relationship was marred by financial difficulties, since Timma was not getting any salary for a long time. Reportedly, Sedokova was maintaining their family alone. In moments of nervous breakdowns, he would claim on social media that the singer cared about the money too much.

The athlete was indebted. In Latvia, in order to pay off Timma's debt for alimony to his ex-wife and son, all of his real estate was sold by court order.

The athlete began his career in Latvia. Timma played for Russian clubs for several years. In 2015, he signed a contract with Zenit St. Petersburg, with which he won bronze in the VTB United League and was recognized as the best young player of the season. Then he moved to Khimki near Moscow, but due to the club's financial difficulties and a change of coach, his playing time was reduced, which led to his departure from the team. The player's last Russian club was UNICS Kazan, with which he also terminated his contract due to poor performance. Timma decided to restart his career and return to Europe. The basketball player signed a contract with the Spanish Obradoiro for the 2024/2025 season, but interrupted the contract and returned to Moscow to save his marriage.

Who is Anna Sedokova

Anna Sedokova (born 16 December 1982) is a Ukrainian singer, actress, and television presenter. She rose to prominence in 2002 as a member of Ukrainian pop girl band VIA Gra. The band was very popular in the countries of the former USSR.

Janis Timma was her third husband. The basketball player beame her second husband who died after divorce. The first was ex-captain of Football Club Dynamo (Kyiv) Valentin Belkevich. He lived with the singer for two years. In 2014, he died of thromboembolism. 

Belkevich was the singer's first husband. They had a daughter named Alina.

Sedokova's second husband was Ukrainian businessman Maxim Chernyavsky. The couple lived in two countries: Anna lived in Russia while her husband mostly resided in the United States. Their daughter Monica was born in the States. Sedokova broke up with him after two years of marriage.

When Russia started the special military operation in Ukraine, Sedokova spoke out against it. She posted on social media: "No, no, no!"

Sedokova deleted the post after she faced criticism. She left for the United States, but then returned to Moscow in September 2022. She later admitted that she did not communicate with her mother and brother, who live in Ukraine.

In previous interviews, the singer said that "her body was Russian, but her soul was Ukrainian."

Sedokova was born in Kyiv, graduated from the local University of Culture and Arts. She became famous in Ukraine in 2000 as a morning show TV host.

Details

VIA Gra known outside of Ukraine and other nearby countries as Nu Virgos, is a Russian/Ukrainian girl group. The name VIA Gra is a triple wordplay; it is an allusion to the drug Viagra, the first three letters "ВИА" ("VIA") also stand for "vocal-instrumental ensemble" in Ukrainian, and "Гра" ("hra") means "game" or "play" in Ukrainian, and is also a kind of signature of the surnames of the two first girls of the group, VI-nnytsk-A and GR-anovsk-A, the originally used maiden name of Nadia Meiher. Nu Virgos rose to prominence when they hit the charts in the countries of CIS in September 2000, with their debut single "Popytka No. 5" ("Attempt No. 5"). Their first success outside the Russian language area was in May 2004, with the single "Stop! Stop! Stop!", an English version of their 2002 Russian song. The group is known for their frequent lineup changes, with 13 different individuals having at one time been in the group. The group was co-created by Dmitriy Kostyuk and Konstantin Meladze. Kostyuk is the manager of the group and the co-producer of the group's albums. Meladze is the writer of the group's songs and the co-producer of the group's albums.