CNN
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A Russian politician has died – for now – of unknown causes after falling ill on a plane on Saturday, the latest in a string of mysterious deaths among Russia’s elites.
Russian Deputy Science and Higher Education Minister Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, died on Saturday while returning from a trip to Cuba, according to the ministry.
“Kucherenko felt ill while 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 help,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website, adding that the minister could not be saved.
Kucherenko’s family said his death may have been due to heart disease, but a forensic examination will take place on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster Zvezda.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unaware of the cause of Kucherenko’s death.
Journalist Roman Super, who fled Russia shortly after Ukraine was invaded last February, said on his Telegram channel that he spoke with Kucherenko “just a few days” before fleeing. He said Kucherenko feared for his safety and encouraged him to leave Russia.
“Run away and your family. Leave as soon as possible. You cannot imagine the degree of brutality in our state. In a year, you won’t recognize Russia at all. When you leave, you do the right thing,” Kucherenko said, as quoted by Super.
Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education
Russian Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Piotr Kucherenko died on his return from Cuba.
Super said he had asked Kucherenko if he too wanted to leave Russia, to which, he said, the minister replied, “It is no longer possible to do so. They take our passports from us. And there is no such world where they will now be happy with the Russian deputy minister after this fascist invasion.
The reporter added that Kucherenko told him he was taking antidepressants and tranquilizers, quoting him as saying, “I drink them in handfuls. And that doesn’t help much. I barely sleep. I feel bad. We are all taken hostage. No one can say anything. Otherwise, we are immediately crushed like insects.
It has been reported that senior Russian officials in the Kremlin and in the regions have been banned from leaving their posts. IStories, an online investigative journal based outside of Russia and run by well-known journalist Roman Anin, reported last week that several governors, security force officials and members of the presidential administration had tried to resign but were not allowed to. Peskov called the report a hoax.
Kucherenko’s disappearance is not the first unexplained Russian death to spark interest.
At least 13 top Russian businessmen are believed to have died by suicide or in unexplained accidents in the past year, including six associated with Russia’s two biggest energy companies.
Russian sausage tycoon turned lawmaker Pavel Antov died in India in December after falling from the third floor of his hotel, Indian police say.
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, police said. Budanov was 61 and suffered from a pre-existing heart condition, police said, adding that they believe Antov’s death was a suicide.
Alexander Buzakov, the head of a major Russian shipyard specializing in building non-nuclear submarines, died suddenly in December, with no cause of death given by authorities, the agency reported. Reuters press release.
Anatoly Gerashchenko, the former rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute, died in an unspecified accident in September, according to a statement from the institute.
Lukoil chairman Ravil Maganov died in early September after falling out of a Moscow hospital window, according to TASS.
In mid-September, Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin, who was the general director of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok, according to local media. Russian state. Pechorin drowned on September 10 near Cape Ignatiev in Vladivostok, regional media reported.
Another senior Lukoil official, Alexander Subbotin, was found dead near Moscow in May after apparently visiting a shaman, TASS reported.
How to get help: In the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide can also provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.