According to the Kremlin website, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order on September 9 to posthumously award the title of "Hero of Russia" to General Yevgeni Zinitev, Minister of Emergency Situations, who was killed on the 8th. Zinichev was inspecting exercises in Norilsk, Russia's Arctic region, on September 8, while rescuing documentary filmmaker Alexander Melnik, both of them fell off a cliff and died.
Screenshot of Presidential Decree No. 517, published by Putin on September 9
Presidential Decree No. 517, signed by Putin this time, mentioned that in recognition of the heroism shown in the implementation of the mission, He posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation" to Senior General Yevgeny Nikolaevich Zinichev. It is reported that the 55-year-old Zinichev has been awarded the "Suvorov Medal", "Alexander Nevsky Medal" and other honors, and is the first federal ministerial official and general to die in the Russian era.
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The last video footage of Zinichev's life released by Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations has been crowded everywhere he went, but the minister who was a secret agent was later killed while rescuing people
Born in Leningrad in August 1966, Zinichev served in the Soviet Union's Northern Fleet in the mid-1980s, deployed with his unit on Shindi Island, and began working in the Soviet State Security Apparatus in 1987, according to tass's resume. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zinichev served in several Russian state security services, but the details were not made public. According to Russian presidential spokesman Peskov, Zinichev served as Putin's personal bodyguard. Putin issued a presidential decree in 2016, and Zinichev briefly took over the Kaliningrad state government.
Photos of Zinichev and Putin appearing at the same time on social networking sites, which TASS previously reported only as "security personnel"
After completing his administrative work in Kaliningrad Oblast, Zinichev was appointed Deputy Director of the Security Service of the Russian Federation until May 2018, when he was appointed Minister of Emergency Situations by then Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. From the rank of major general in 2015, Zinichev was promoted to major general in December 2020 in just five years. After Zinichev's death on 8 September, Medvedev praised him for his significant contribution to the development of the security apparatus and the fight against terrorism, while The 63-year-old General Chubriyan was appointed interim minister of emergency situations.
There are also old photographs of Zinichev, and Zolotov, another personal bodyguard closer to Putin and wearing a spotted tie, has also been awarded the rank of general
Russia's current defense minister, Shoigu, who also served as minister of emergencies for a long time, praised Zinichev as "a true saver when he died, just as he was before he died." TASS reported that Zinichev's body has been transported back to Moscow on the 8th, and a farewell ceremony will be held at the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Moscow on the morning of the 10th. Zinichev was then buried in his hometown, now St. Petersburg.
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