Vladimir Nikolayevich Sungorkin, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies and the editor-in-chief of the pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, passed away on Wednesday. According to a state-run Interfax report, the 68-year-old journalist suffered a stroke while on a business trip to Russia’s far eastern Khabarovsk area.
“Nicholas perished. A probable stroke was present. He was in the Khabarovsk Territory on business. We are arranging for his relocation to Moscow, “Alexander Gamov, a columnist, said.
In a message posted on Telegram, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that its editor-in-chief died instantly following a severe attack. “Sungorkin had died abruptly during a trip to collect information for a book about Vladimir Arseniev, the renowned pioneer of the Far East,” it stated.
Notably, the tabloid was established in 1925 and is one of President Putin’s favorite publications. The journal also served as the official mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, widely known as the communist youth league.
In a statement made on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described his death as a tremendous loss for Moscow and noted that the Kremlin had offered its condolences. “Today’s awful news is that Sungorkin has passed away. We knew him quite well. “The President will send a personal message to Sungorkin’s friends and family, he said, adding that he would do so personally.
Vladimir Sungorkin was the closest ally of Vladimir Putin.
Sungorkin, born in Khabarovsk on June 16, 1954, began his career as a correspondent at Komsomolskaya Pravda. Later, he worked for the Soviet Russia newspaper. Since 1997, he has been affiliated with Komsomolskaya Pravda. According to Interfax, in 2014, Sungorkin received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, Fourth Class. He was awarded the title “Honored Journalist of the Russian Federation” in 2018.
In April, when the European Commission sanctioned some prominent Russian personalities for their actions against Ukraine, he was also on the list. According to a statement from the Commission, Vladimir Sungorkin is propagating and legitimizing strong anti-Ukraine and anti-Western propaganda of the Putin regime under direct Kremlin control.
Russia has accused Ukrainian special forces of carrying out a weekend vehicle bombing that killed the daughter of one of President Vladimir Putin’s cronies.
Saturday, 29-year-old Darya Dugina was killed when the vehicle she was driving detonated near Moscow, the capital of Russia.
Alexander Dugin, her prominent ultranationalist father, is rumored to be close to Vladimir Putin and may have been the attack’s intended target.
Officials from Ukraine have denied involvement in the blast.
However, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Monday that the issue had been resolved and that Ukraine was directly responsible.
The FSB told Russian media that a Ukrainian woman and her young daughter moved to Russia in July, but she was a Ukrainian special services contractor.
According to the report, the woman rented a one-month flat in the same building as Ms. Dugina in preparation for the attack. She allegedly followed Ms. Dugina through Moscow while driving a Mini Cooper with three different license plates.
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The suspect then fled to Estonia after the explosion, according to the FSB.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an assistant to Ukrainian President Zelensky, described the FSB’s account of events as “Russian propaganda” from “a fantasy world.”
Later, the FSB released a video showing the suspect’s automobile entering Russia and surveillance footage of her entering and departing what is believed to be Ms. Dugina’s building.
