Nikolai Svanidze died

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Journalist, historian and former member of the Human Rights Council Nikolai Svanidze died in Moscow at the age of 69. The cause of death, which occurred the night before, was identified as pneumonia, which was first diagnosed two years ago. According to Mash, Svanidze suffered from coronavirus in March of this year.

Svanidze is one of the most recognizable TV presenters of the 90s era, head of VGTRK in 1997–1998. During the Putin era, he was engaged in social and political activities, and was a member of the Presidential Human Rights Council, from which he was expelled in November 2022.

Svanidze was one of the few substantive questions asked by Vladimir Putin about the poisoning of Alexei Navalny ( “the man almost died” ), about other political prisoners, and warned the president against being overly fascinated by pop history. Shortly after it began, he called the war in Ukraine a “monstrous mistake” of Putin personally and a deliberate loss for Russia.