31 August 2023 , 08:30
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A top Russian space scientist has died after allegedly being poisoned by mushrooms.
Professor Vitaly Melnikov headed up the Department of Rocket and Space Systems at RSC Energia, Moscow’s leading spacecraft manufacturer. The 77-year-old was reportedly poisoned by inedible mushrooms, according to Moskovsky Komsomolets.
Medics battled to save him but were unable to after he was left fighting “severe poisoning” for over two weeks. The circumstances leading up the poisoning have not yet been disclosed.
Russia has witnessed a spate of mysterious or suspicious deaths in the past two years since Vladimir Putin started preparing for his war in Ukraine. Most recently, mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed when the plane he and other Wagner bosses were on fell from the sky near Moscow.
His death is just the latest in a string of suspicious deaths in Russia (Ugolny metan/east2west news)Melnikov had worked as chief researcher at TsNIIMASH, a division of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. He was the author of 291 scientific articles, and was regarded among the most imminent space scientists.
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He cooperated with foreign colleagues, including at NASA as Russia continued to work with other countries despite the war in Ukraine. Latterly, he was a professor at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
Mr Melnikov's death comes just days after a top general, once close to Putin, mysteriously died as well. General Gennady Lopyrev, 69, had been due to be released from prison after being jailed in 2017. However, after suddenly falling ill, The Mail reported he was told her had previously undiagnosed leukaemia.
He had been imprisoned by a military court accused taking bribes and illegally possessing ammunition - charges he always denied. Similarly, last month, a Russian opposition politician who challenged the invasion of Ukraine was poisoned.
Elvira Vikhareva, 32, had long been a vocal critic of the Kremlin and shared tests with Russia's Sota news channel that she warned showed she had been poisoned. She began feeling unwell in November last year, before dying in February 2023.