Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev has died while attempting to save a person’s life during training exercises in the Arctic city of Norilsk, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Zinichev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was taking part in military drills and exercises by law enforcement agencies in the city of Norilsk at the time.
Reports said the army general, 55, who had been tipped as a possible successor to Putin, had fallen from a rock while trying to save a cameraman who had plunged into the icy water.
Documentary filmmaker Alexander Melnik, 63, who Zinichev had been trying to save, also died.
The Ministry of Emergencies said: ‘We are sorry to inform you that while on duty saving a person’s life in Norilsk during interagency exercises to protect the Arctic zone from emergencies…Yevgeny Zinichev was tragically killed.’
‘He and the cameraman stood at the edge of a ledge,’ RT boss Margarita Simonyan said, adding: ‘The cameraman slipped and fell into the water.
‘There were many eyewitnesses – no-one even had time to figure out what had happened, as Zinichev rushed into the water after a man who had fallen off and crashed against a protruding rock.’
Some reports say Zinichev died in a helicopter as he was airlifted to hospital from the scene of the accident.
Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev (pictured on Tuesday) has died while attempting to save a person’s life during training exercises in the Arctic city of Norilsk, the ministry said on Wednesday
Zinichev (pictured centre on Tuesday), a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was taking part in military drills and exercises by law enforcement agencies in the city of Norilsk at the time
Putin – also on a trip to Siberia – was informed of Kinichev’s death and paid tribute to his colleague in a condolence message to his wife Natalya and son Denis.
‘I am stunned by the tragic news about the death of Yevgeny Nicholayevich Zinichev,’ Putin wrote
‘I ask you to accept my sincere condolences and words of support at this sorrowful hour.
‘We have lost a true combat officer, a comrade, a man of incredible inner strength, courage and bravery.
‘For me this is an irreplaceable personal loss.’
Describing the ‘long years of work’ he shared with Kinichev, Putin wrote that: ‘I always knew that I could rely on Yevgeny in any, even the most complicated, situation as a reliable, loyal friend, and a professional of the highest rank.
‘He dedicated himself to service to the Motherland, to the people.
‘And while rescuing a life, he took risk without a second of doubt, and died while fulfilling his duty.
‘We will keep a bright memory of Yevgeny Nikolayevich Zinichev in our hearts.’
Zinichev had been tipped as a possible successor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pictured: Zinichev (left) and Putin during an April 2020 meeting
Zinichev was a former KGB and FSB officer, and had been deputy director of the Federal Security Service counterintelligence agency.
He previously served as governor of Kaliningrad region, and like Putin, was born in Leningrad, now St Petersburg.
From 2006 to 2015, Zinichev served as Putin’s personal adjutant and is thought to have once been part of his security detail. Sources said that Putin had ‘total trust’ in Zinichev.
Zinichev’s rapid rise to prominence following the end of his time in that role led some to believe the Kremlin leader was grooming him as a possible presidential successor.
He had held his position as emergencies minister for three years and also sat on Russia’s powerful security council.
In Russia, the emergencies minister is seen as an action man role with a high profile.
Former president Dmitry Medvedev described Zinichev’s death as an ‘irreplaceable loss’.
Reports said he was involved in an emergencies training video when he died.
Alexander Kots, of pro-state tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, said the minister had died a hero.
Documentary filmmaker Alexander Melnik (pictured), 63, who Zinichev had been trying to save, also died on Wednesday
‘He died as a professional who, even on a subconscious level, had no other reflex than to rush to the rescue, without thinking about himself.’
‘He came to the Emergencies Ministry from the Lubyanka [FSB headquarters],’ he said. ‘But …it doesn’t matter what came before or who he was before. I
‘It is important how he died.’
Zinichev was in the Arctic to oversee large-scale drills and visited the construction site of a new fire station in Norilsk, as well as a search and rescue team in the area, the ministry had said in a statement earlier on Wednesday.
The the drills involved Dudinka Arctic Search and Rescue team.
Melnik, the documentary filmmaker, was famed for his work in Russia’s polar regions.
He was married with three children and six grandchildren.