BERLIN (AP) — The German government says the death of a Russian journalist who fell from his balcony should be investigated.

A foreign ministry official says the German government has no independent information about what happened to Maxim Borodin, who wrote about the deaths of Russian mercenaries in Syria.

Russian news website Novy Den said Borodin, one of its reporters, died in a hospital Sunday, three days after falling from his fifth-floor balcony in Yekaterinburg.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that "we are in favor of investigating and solving this case now," but declined to speculate on his death.

Adebahr added that "it's not a good development if the space for critical and independent press in Russia gets smaller" and the issue is regularly raised with Moscow.