Ukrainian vocalist Denis "Stoff" Shaforostov, who recorded one album with ASKING ALEXANDRIA, "The Black", before exiting the band in October 2016, has shot down Internet chatter that he was killed during Russia's ongoing invasion of his country.
The rumors apparently started when his Wikipedia page was updated to indicate that he passed away on Sunday (March 13).
Earlier today, Shaforostov took to his Instagram Story to write: "I'm still in a safe place and I'm fine today. Whoever faked my Wikipedia deserve what they deserve... Let's pray together that this war ends soon. Love ya guys."
After Denis left ASKING ALEXANDRIA more than five years ago, guitarist Ben Bruce said in a video message that Shaforostov had "just stopped talking to us."
He added: "When Denis first joined the band, people within the music industry and fans alike, they all told us these different things about Denis's past, and we got many warnings, and we said, that's his past — forgive and forget; we don't know any of that side of things. So we gave him the benefit of the doubt, and, you know, there's no smoke without fire, and I guess we found that out the hard way."
Shaforostov has not spoken out about his departure from ASKING ALEXANDRIA, although he did tweet at one point that he "left AA because I can't be in a touring band at this point in my life. There's no drama and I don't want to be a part of it."
Singer Danny Worsnop rejoined ASKING ALEXANDRIA in the fall of 2016.
Shaforostov is currently a member of DRAG ME OUT, which will release its second album, "Demons Away", on May 6 via their own label imprint Lödereih Music.
