Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Pyotr Kucherenko 46, died on his return from a trip to Cuba on Saturday (20), according to the ministry.
“Kucherenko was feeling ill on a plane with a Russian delegation returning from a business trip to Cuba. The plane landed in the town of Mineralnye Vody, where doctors tried to attend,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website, adding that the minister could not be saved.
Kucherenko’s family said his death could have been caused by a heart condition, but a forensic examination will be carried out on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster Zvezda.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was not aware of Kucherenko’s cause of death.
the journalist Roman Super who fled Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine last February, said on his Telegram channel that he had spoken with Kucherenko “just a few days” before fleeing.
He said Kucherenko feared for his safety and encouraged him to leave Russia.
“Save you and your family. Get out as quickly as possible. You cannot imagine the degree of brutalization in our state. In a year you will not recognize Russia. By leaving, you are doing the right thing,” said Kucherenko, according to Super.
Super said he asked Kucherenko if he also wanted to leave Russia, to which he said the minister replied: “It is no longer possible to do so. They take away our passports. And there is no world where they will now be happy with the Russian Deputy Minister after this fascist invasion.”
The journalist added that Kucherenko had told him that he was taking antidepressants and tranquilizers, quoting him as saying: “I drink it in handfuls. And it doesn’t help much. I hardly sleep. I feel bad. We are all hostages. Nobody can say anything. Otherwise, we are immediately squashed like insects.”
Mysterious deaths pile up
Kucherenko’s death is not the first unexplained Russian death to spark interest.
At least 13 high-profile Russian businessmen died by suicide or in unexplained accidents last year, with six of them associated with Russia’s two biggest energy companies.
The Russian sausage magnate turned lawmaker, Pavel Antov died in India in December after falling from the third floor of his hotel, according to Indian police.
Antov’s death came after his friend and traveling companion, Vladimir Budanov died of a heart attack on Antov’s 65th birthday two days earlier, according to police.
Budanov was 61 years old and had a pre-existing heart condition, police said, adding that they believed Antov’s death was a suicide.
Alexander Buzakov head of a large Russian shipyard specializing in building non-nuclear submarines, died suddenly in December, with no cause of death given by authorities, the Reuters news agency reported.
Anatoly Gerashchenko former dean of the Moscow Aviation Institute, died in an unspecified accident in September, according to a statement from the institute.
The president of Lukoil, Ravil Maganov died in early September after falling from a window in a hospital in Moscow, according to TASS.
In mid-September, the Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin who was the top manager of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok, according to Russian state media.
Pechorin drowned on September 10 near Cape Ignatyev in Vladivostok, regional media reported.
Another key Lukoil manager, Alexander Subbotin was found dead near Moscow in May after allegedly visiting a shaman, TASS reported.
Source: CNN Brasil
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