Russia’s emergencies minister Yevgeny Zinichev dies trying to save filmmaker during Arctic drills

President Vladimir Putin expressed ‘deep condolences’ after the minister died while jumping after the filmmaker who had fallen off a cliff

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

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Russian Minister for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, Colonel General Yevgeny Zinichev, meets with President Vladimir Putin in 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:01pm, 8 Sep 2021Updated: 9:06pm, 8 Sep 2021

Russia’s emergencies minister has died trying to save a filmmaker who slipped from a cliff during training exercises in the Arctic region, officials said on Wednesday.

Yevgeny Zinichev, who previously served in President Vladimir Putin’s security detail, “tragically died trying to save a person’s life” near the city of Norilsk, the ministry said in a statement that was carried by Russian news agencies.

The ministry identified the filmmaker as 63-year-old Alexander Melnik who produced several films set in the Arctic region and who also died in the incident.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the state-funded news outlet RT, said the 55-year-old minister had fallen to his death trying to save the man later identified as Melnik.

“He and the cameraman were standing at the edge of a cliff. The cameraman slipped and fell … Before anyone even figured out what happened, Zinichev jumped into the water after the fallen person and crashed against a protruding rock.”

Yevgeny Zinichev attends a graduation ceremony in 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE