Mystery As Russian Official Dies Mid-Flight After Becoming Seriously Ill

A Russian official who reportedly complained about Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has died after falling ill on board a flight from Cuba to Russia.

Russia's Deputy Science Minister Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, fell seriously ill on a flight on Saturday from Havana, where he had been on government business, according to Russia's Science and Higher Education Ministry. Newsweek has reached out to the ministry for comment.

The unexplained death follows claims by Russian journalist Roman Super, who wrote on Telegram that during a conversation in 2022 the minister complained that Russia was being brutalized and he could not leave as "they confiscate our passports."

"There's no world that would be happy to see a deputy Russian minister after this fascist invasion," Kucherenko reportedly said. Super's post on Sunday claimed that the minister told him he was taking large numbers of antidepressants and tranquillizers.

"We're all held hostage," said Kucherenko, according to Super. "You can't imagine the degree of brutalization of our country." He added: "I hardly sleep. I feel terrible."

When contacted for comment, Super told Newsweek: "Everything I knew, I wrote. Petya [Kucherenko] was a normal person, and, like all normal people, he condemned the very idea of war, especially a fraternal one."

Super did not reveal exactly when the conversation took place, but the journalist left Russia for security reasons after the war started in February 2022, The Moscow Times reported.

Russian officials, including lawmakers, governors and senior managers, have reportedly complained of tough restrictions on foreign travel since the start of the war amid Kremlin concerns of defections.

Kucherenko had been traveling with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Andrei Guskov, the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Latin America, the RBC news outlet reported.

Kucherenko was married to Gurtskaya, a blind pop singer who has been honored as a People's Artist of the Russian Federation, the country's highest award in the performing arts. She has publicly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly signing a 2014 open letter from Russian cultural figures backing the illegal annexation of Crimea.

There have been a number of unexplained deaths of high-profile Russians since the start of Putin's war. In February, Marina Yankina a military bureaucrat who criticized the Kremlin for Russian losses in Ukraine, died in St Petersburg after falling 16 floors to her death.

In December, Pavel Antov, a member of Putin's United Russia party and a wealthy sausage tycoon, was found dead in front of his hotel in India. His death came two days after his friend, Vladimir Bidenov, was found dead in a room at the same hotel.