Really?

from
https://news.yahoo.com/russian-deputy-minister-dies-suddenly-131412559.html

Russian Deputy Minister Dies Suddenly After Slamming ‘Fascist Invasion’
of Ukraine
2.5k
Dan Ladden-Hall
Mon, May 22, 2023 at 6:14 AM PDT·3 min read

A senior Russian lawmaker who was reportedly critical of the invasion of
Ukraine died over the weekend, the Russian government confirmed, in the
latest unexpected fatality of a prominent figure since the war began.

In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education
confirmed that Deputy Science Minister Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, died on
Saturday. The ministry said he “became ill” while on board a plane
carrying Russian delegates home after a business trip to Cuba. The
flight made an emergency landing in southern Russia but doctors couldn’t
save him, the ministry added.

Another Russian Oligarch, Dmitry Zelenov, Dies Under Mysterious
Circumstances

The statement said the ministry offered its “deepest condolences” to
Kucherenko’s friends and family. No cause of death was released. State
broadcaster Zvezda claimed that his family initially linked his passing
with a heart condition, but that a forensic examination is not due to
take place until Wednesday, the outlet added.

Roman Super, an independent Russian journalist, wrote on his Telegram
channel on Sunday that he had spoken with Kucherenko a few days before
Super left Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine last year.

Super described Kucherenko as an “old friend” and said the pair spoke
candidly in Kucherenko’s office. Super said Kucherenko encouraged him to
leave in order to save himself and his family, adding: “You can’t
imagine the degree of brutalization of our country. You won’t even
recognize Russia in a year.”

Kucherenko allegedly told Super that it was impossible for him to leave
because authorities had taken away his passport. “And there’s no world
that would be happy to see a deputy Russian minister after this fascist
invasion,” Kucherenko said, according to Super.

The journalist claimed Kucherenko said he was taking “handfuls” of
“antidepressants and tranquilizers at the same time” but that the
self-medicating wasn’t “really helping.”

“I feel terrible,” Super recounted Kucherenko as saying. “We’re all held
hostage.”

Kucherenko was married to Diana Gurtskaya, a blind pop singer who has
received numerous awards in Russia including People’s Artist of the
Russian Federation, the highest title given to Russians in the
performing arts. Gurtskaya also represented Georgia at the 2008
Eurovision Song Contest with a song called “Peace Will Come,” ultimately
losing out to the Russian entry.

She has also publicly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir
Putin, reportedly signing a 2014 open letter from Russia’s cultural
figures supporting the illegal annexation of Crimea. Gurtskaya married
Kucherenko in 2005 and together they had a son two years later.

Kucherenko’s untimely demise is one of many unexpected, high-profile
deaths across Russia since the invasion started last year. Russian
military officials, energy executives, and outspoken war critics have
all died in mysterious circumstances over the course of the first year
of the war. In February, a military bureaucrat who criticized the
Kremlin for losses in Ukraine fell 16 floors to her death in St. Petersburg.

Other well-known people including lawmakers have also suffered fatal
falls from windows. In December Pavel Antov, a rich politician and
businessman in Putin’s party, was found dead in front of his hotel in
India—two days after the death of one of his friends on the same trip.

Similar accidents have befallen prominent individuals in Russia’s energy
sector too. Ravil Maganov, the chairman of the board of Russia’s
second-biggest oil company Lukoil, died after falling from a hospital
window in Moscow in September. Another Lukoil executive died in strange
circumstances just a few months earlier, while other energy figures have
recently been involved in suspicious hangings and murder-suicides.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Comments include

I-Did-That
1 day ago
"A senior Russian lawmaker who was reportedly critical of the invasion
of Ukraine died over the weekend, the Russian government confirmed, in
the latest unexpected fatality of a prominent figure since the war began."

Ummmm, no. We were all expecting it.

Nathan
1 day ago
The government confirmed that this is only the 3rd unexpected fatality
of an expected 9 or 10.

MICHAEL
1 day ago
Nathan, so the rest were expected?

The Greed Wall Of China
18 hours ago
Is Madman Vlad one of the expected?