Senior Russian Minister Dies During Drill

According to the ministry, 55-year-old Zinichev died in the Norilsk area while attempting to save a life.

Margarita Simonyan, the president of the Russian broadcasting company RT, said that a cameraman had fallen off a cliff while filming an interview.

Senior Russian Minister Dies During Drill

“The cameraman and guy were perched precariously on the edge of a precipice. The videographer took a spill and drowned, “the woman stated.

“Zinichev tried to help the downed man, but he was killed when he ran into a jutting rock.” Sadly, the cameraman, later revealed to be 63-year-old film director Alexander Melnik, also perished.

According to Russian media, the incident took place near the Kitabo Oron waterfall in the Putorana natural reserve in northern Siberia, some 165 kilometres (100 miles) west of Norilsk.

Zinichev Career

Reportedly a crucial member of President Vladimir Putin’s security detail for years, Zinichev has served as emergencies minister since 2018.

Before retiring in 2016, he had spent his entire career working in state security, first for the Soviet KGB and then as the number two official in Russia’s federal security organisation.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov lamented the loss, saying that he and Mr. Putin had worked together for many years.

Melnik’s 2015 Arctic adventure film Territory established his reputation as a filmmaker and screenwriter.

The Putorana plateau, where he was shot and killed, served as the backdrop for the film. He intended to make a film about how the Arctic and Russia’s Northern Sea Route have progressed.

The Russian media reports that they were in the Krasnoyarsk region filming a training video for the ministry when the incident occurred.

According to Deputy Emergency Minister Andrei Gurovich’s comments on Rossiya 24 TV, his boss’s actions were completely impromptu “the opposite of a minister, more like a saviour.

Every day of his life was like this “. The tragedy was reported to have occurred early on Wednesday morning, and Zinichev’s body was being flown back to Moscow hours later.

Department of Zinichev coordinated the extraordinary two-day drill that spanned seven regions in the Russian Arctic. The “format, topography, and involved units are unique,” he remarked on Tuesday.

Presumably ordered by President Putin, they engaged 6,000 specialists covering a dozen emergency scenarios in the Arctic.

Conclusion

The minister had been touring emergency services in Norilsk all day, stopping by a search and rescue unit and the future location of a fire station.

He was in charge of the country’s reaction to natural and man-made disasters, including as the forest fires raging in Siberia, as minister of emergencies.