Russian Emergency Minister dies while trying to save cameraman during Arctic exercise

Russia’s Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died while trying to save a cameraman's life during a civil defence exercise in the Arctic city of Norilsk, the ministry said on Wednesday.

Zinichev, 55, had died in Norilsk while trying to save someone's life. A cameraman had fallen off a cliff during an interview, Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russian broadcaster RT, said.

“He and the cameraman were on the edge of a cliff. The cameraman slipped and fell into the water. Zinichev rushed after the fallen man and died after hitting a protruding rock,” she said.

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The cameraman, who was later identified as 63-year-old film director Alexander Melnik, also died.

The two-day drills he was participating in across several Arctic cities including Norilsk, kicked off on Tuesday and involved over 6,000 people.

Zinichev had been the Emergencies Minister since 2018 and for years was reportedly a key member of President Vladimir Putin's security detail.

Zinichev was a member of the KGB security service in the last years of the USSR and his career took off after he served in Putin's security detail between 2006 and 2015.

He held a number of high-profile jobs, briefly serving as acting governor of Russia's exclave region of Kaliningrad and then as deputy head of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

He was appointed head of the emergencies ministry in May, 2018. He was also a member of Russia's Security Council.

As head of the emergencies ministry, he held one of the highest-profile cabinet jobs, dealing with natural and man-made disasters and other rapid-response situations across the vast country.

(With inputs from agencies)