Russian President's Ally Vladimir Sungorkin Dies "Suddenly" After Suffering Stroke During Business Trip

Vladimir Sungorkin, the editor-in-chief of Russian state newspaper Pravda, has died at the age of 68. Mr Sungorkin, who was a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had a stroke while on a business trip to Khabarovsk, Newsweek reported. 

In a statement on its Telegram account, the state media informed that Mr Sungorkin had "died suddenly" during a trip to "collect material for a book about the great pioneer of the Far East, Vladimir Arseniev". He was in Primorye, in Russia's far east, and accompanied by his colleague Leonid Zakharov, when he died. 

Speaking about the incident, Mr Zakharov stated that the editor-in-chief suggested they take a break and find a beautiful place somewhere for lunch just before going into medical distress. "Three minutes later, Vladimir Nikolaevich began to suffocate. We took him out into the fresh air. He was already unconscious," Zakharov said. 

"The doctor who did the initial examination said that ... apparently, it was a stroke. But this is the initial conclusion," he added. 

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Separately, in a press release, the Kremlin called Mr Sungorkin's passing a "great loss to Russian journalism". "He always set an example of loyalty to his vocation, to professional ethics, and could rally his colleagues to build a real team of like-minded people," the press note read. 

As per Global News, Mr Sungorkin had worked as the paper's editor-in-chief and director-general since 1997. He was one of the Russian public figures sanctioned by the European Commission in April after Mr Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. 

Mr Sungorkin's "sudden" death comes just days after another Russian elite, Ivan Pechorin, an energy executive, died under mysterious circumstances after he fell overboard from a speed board. It also comes a day after it was reported that Mr Putin himself survived an assassination attempt. 

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According to the account on the Telegram channel, the left front wheel of Mr Putin's limousine was hit by a loud bang, Euro Weekly reported, adding that the car was quickly driven to safety even as smoke emerged out of it. The Russian President was unharmed in the incident, but the outlet said that a number of arrests have been made.