Former Chuvash leader Mikhail Ignatyev, who sued Putin, has died

The former head of Chuvashia, Mikhail Ignatyev, has died. This information was confirmed to RIA Novosti by the current head of the republic, Oleg Nikolaev.

Ignatiev was 58 years old. According to an Interfax source, he had coronavirus.

It was previously reported that Ignatyev was hospitalized in St. Petersburg in early May. He was hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia and was on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine .

• Mikhail Ignatyev had been in charge of Chuvashia since July 2010. In January 2020, Vladimir Putin fired him "due to loss of confidence." Ignatyev filed a lawsuit against the president, trying to challenge the dismissal.
• Ignatyev's dismissal from office followed two scandals involving him. First, he called for journalists and bloggers who criticize the government to be "washed out," and later, at a public event, he forced an Emergencies Ministry employee to jump for the keys to a new fire truck.