By Emmanuel Nduka
The Editor-in-chief of Russian state newspaper- Pravda, has reportedly died of a ‘stroke’ while on a business trip with colleagues.
68-year-old Vladimir Nikolayevich Sungorkin who is the latest Putin ally to expire in mysterious circumstances, reportedly showed signs of ‘suffocation’ when he died on Wednesday.
They were travelling towards Khabarovsk, after which they were due to travel to Moscow, when he fell unconscious.
His colleague Leonid Zakharov explained that three minutes later, Vladimir began to suffocate and the group took him out for fresh air.
Zakharov sadly recalled that no one could save him as he sadly passed away, with the doctor who initially examined him concluding that he died of a stroke.
Mr Sungorkin fell ill minutes after he said that the group should ‘find a beautiful place somewhere… for lunch’ according to the media outlet.
President Putin had praised the staunch pro-Kremlin media outlet Komosomolskaya Pravda in 2020 on the 95th anniversary of its first issue.
“The legendary Komsomolka has traveled a long creative path over these years and has written brilliant unforgettable pages in the history of the Russian media.
“It is crucial that the current staff of the newspaper pass on these traditions from generation to generation and strive to retain the newspaper’s flagship position in the Russia media market,” Putin wrote in a statement.
Colleagues of the late Sungorkin wrote in an obituary that the journalist was a “symbol of new national journalism” and that he had built the newspaper into a “mighty empire.”