You remember what kind of guy he was

In Norilsk, the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, General Yevgeny Zinichev, tragically died. This happened during the filming of interdepartmental exercises to protect the Arctic zone of Russia for the training film EMERCOM.

According to preliminary data, Zinichev fell off the cliff, trying to save the life of the director who slipped and fell into the water, and cameraman Alexander Melnik. He died, too. The incident occurred at the Kitabo-Oron waterfall, which is located on a protected area, in the western part of the Putoran Reserve.

This event stirred up the whole country and left few indifferent. The first persons of the state, starting with President Vladimir Putin, Cabinet ministers, friends and colleagues of the victims expressed their condolences. The Moscow Post joins them and recalls the retired Minister of Emergencies.

His death took everyone by surprise. The official was considered one of the most promising and responsible officials of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation, was in good standing with both the leadership of the country and his fellow rescuers. Experts spoke about his prospects - Zinichev enjoyed the confidence of the President, managed to gain experience in leading the region, and before that he had been fighting terrorism for many years.

Being already the Minister of the Ministry of Emergencies, Yevgeny Zinichev died precisely as a rescuer, as a defender of the Fatherland and his fellow citizens, those who are nearby. Having the opportunity, as they say, "not to get his hands dirty" due to his high official position, Zinichev personally rushed to the rescue of Melnik without delay. It was his human, male duty. And Zinichev, without a doubt, was a man of duty.

Such selflessness itself arouses respect, but Yevgeny Zinichev obliged his entire life path to such a model of behavior. Indeed, by the first profession, Yevgeny Zinichev was not a rescuer, but an employee of state security agencies, that is, he defended the interests of the country and citizens long before he became an official.

After the KGB of the USSR, there were many years of work in the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, where he defended the first persons of the state. And after - perhaps the most saturated period of his career - service in senior positions in the FSB of Russia.

He worked in the Central Apparatus of the FSB of Russia, having gone from an operational officer to the head of the regional department. There he was also noticed by Vladimir Putin, with whom he worked for many years together. According to the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov, Zinichev's death was a big loss for the President - they were tied up for many years of joint work.

The deputy head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, also said words of support to relatives and friends. According to him, Zinichev did a lot for the development of security agencies and the fight against terrorism, his heroic act will always be remembered.

We recall that in 2018, it was Dmitry Medvedev who took Zinichev, who had already proven himself, to the post of head of the Ministry of Emergencies in the cabinet. This happened at a difficult moment after the tragedy in the shopping center "Winter Cherry." And despite everything, tragedies of this scale in three years under Yevgeny Zinichev, thank God, were not allowed.

Proposals have already been made on how to perpetuate the memory of Yevgeny Zinichev. It is proposed to name a street in Moscow by his name. The Moscow City Duma culture commission has already expressed its readiness to support such a proposal.

It seems to be right. But there is a feeling that the majority will still have the brightest and most important memory of Zinichev not his work as a minister and not even the years spent in the service of the Fatherland in state security bodies. Namely, this last selfless act is the act of a real rescuer and a real man who did not regret his own life in order to save another person.