A grieving Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown a rare display of public emotion as he wept over the coffin of his close friend.
The Russian strongman attended the funeral of his friend and emergency minister Yevgeny Zinichev in Moscow on Friday.
Zinichev, 55, died Wednesday while trying to save a person’s life during exercise exercises in the Arctic, Russia’s emergency ministry said.
During the funeral, an emotional Putin could be seen leaning his head repeatedly against his friend’s open coffin.
At one point, he also reached the coffin and seemed to touch Zinichov’s body.
Putin sat next to Zinichev’s widow, Natalya, during the service and was able to comfort himself all the time.
He stretched out at one point to hold her hand as she cried.
Zinichev became the head of Russia’s emergency ministry in 2018. Earlier, he spent several years as part of Putin’s security detail.
The ministry issued a statement on Wednesday confirming Zinichev’s death, but did not provide details on where or how he died.
They only said he had tried to save film director Alexander Melnik, who had arrived at the site of large-scale drills Zinichev had opened on Tuesday in the Russian Arctic.
Russia’s RBC news site reported that Zinichev jumped into the water after a camera slipped and fell.
With publishing cables