The minister reportedly fell off a cliff into a mountainous river while trying to save a cameraman. The official had previously served in the security detail for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Close Putin ally Yevgeny Zinichev was in the remote city of Norilsk to oversee large-scale training exercises. He had headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018. His ministry said in a statement that he died during training exercises in the Arctic. He was a close Putin ally.
The 55-year-old Zinichev "fell off a high cliff into a mountainous river" The filmmaker was in Norilsk to shoot a documentary about the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route. He and the cameraman were standing at the edge of a cliff, state-run RT news outlet says.
The Emergency Situations Ministry was staging drills to prepare for potential rescue scenarios in the Arctic region. "The cameraman slipped and fell... before anyone even figured out what happened," says Simonyan. The Emergency Situation Ministry was staged drills to prepared for potential rescues in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sends his "deepest condolences over the tragic death," a Kremlin spokesperson said. He previously served as the deputy director of the Federal Security Service from 2016 to 2018. He was also a member of Putin's security detail between 2006 and 2015.
Zinichev, a St. Petersburg native, was married and had a son, along with several grandchildren. "We have lost a true military officer, a comrade, a person of great inner strength and courage and bravery," Putin said in a note to Zinichev's family.
Quelle: FreiesNachrichtenblatt.com
