Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Petro Kucherenko died under still unexplained circumstances after he fell ill on the plane that was transporting him from Cuba to Russia with a government delegation, reports La Stampa.

Since the beginning of the war, 13 businessmen committed suicide or died of unknown causes, six of whom were employees of the country’s two leading energy companies.

“Kucherenko fell ill on the plane on which he and the Russian delegation were returning from a business trip to Cuba. The plane landed in Mineralnye Vody, where doctors intervened, but it was not possible to save Kucherenko,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

An autopsy will be conducted tomorrow, the TV channel “Zvezda” reports. The family suspected a heart attack. Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov, answering questions from journalists, said on Sunday that he did not know about the deputy minister’s death.

“We were all hostages”

The well-known journalist Roman Super, who fled abroad shortly after the invasion began, reported on his Telegram channel that he spoke with Kucherenko “a few days before he left the country.” Kucherenko told him that he was afraid for his life and urged him to leave.

“Save yourself and save your family. Leave the country as soon as possible. You have no idea the level of cruelty in our country. In a year you won’t recognize Russia. You are doing the right thing by leaving,” she told him.

“It is no longer possible for me to leave Russia. They took our passports. And the Russian vice-minister is nowhere to be received after this fascist invasion,” he told her, adding that he drinks antidepressants and tranquilizers “with his hands full, although they do not help me much.”

“I barely sleep. And I feel very bad. We were all taken hostage. Nobody can say anything. Otherwise, they will crush us like bugs,” said a Russian official, according to La Stampa.