Mikhail Lesin versions of death. BuzzFeed: Mikhail Lesin was beaten with a baseball bat

Suddenly, stunning information emerged regarding the death of the Kremlin's all-powerful PR man, Mikhail Lesin:

WASHINGTON, March 10 - RIA Novosti, Alexey Bogdanovsky.

Forensic experts in the United States came to the conclusion that the cause of death of former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin was head injuries, communications director of the Washington Medical Examiner's Office Lashawn Beamon told RIA Novosti. According to her, Lesin also suffered blunt injuries to the neck, torso, upper and lower extremities.

However, interestingly, the Americans did not claim that the death was violent.

A joint statement from the medical examiner's office and Washington police said the manner of Lesin's death has not been determined and police "continue to actively investigate the incident."

If we translate this charade into Russian, then the Americans seem to be reporting that three months after death, they suddenly found out that the character’s head met with some kind of blunt object, but they cannot say whether the head hit a blunt object or a blunt object hit it . Hence, they have such doubts about the nature of death. The deceased could also have hit himself on the head with a blunt object. It's a mystery, though.

I remember the first media reports when Mikhail Lesin died, with reference to the American authorities, were about a heart attack:

The body of 57-year-old Lesin was discovered on Thursday (November 5, 2015) in Washington at The Dupont Circle Hotel. The hotel room was rented in Lesin's name, but there were no documents there. The day before, the US police began a formal investigation, but law enforcement officers emphasized that nothing suspicious was found in the room. According to media reports, the Russian could have had a heart attack. newsru.com

Of course, the death of such a difficult uncle aroused suspicion, so the ARI Analytical Office, among others, expressed the following version

And yet, it cannot be ruled out that Lesin’s death was staged. The character needs to be dumped so that he is not bothered by his Moscow leadership, who would not forgive him for defecting to the Americans. And Moscow, as they say in the movies, has long arms. And his children may not forgive him - his daughter is the head of the Russia Today bureau in the USA. There may be many more reasons.

A couple of days after our article, the Moscow English-language newspaper The Moscow Times embossed the following text in its material:

"It is unclear whether the Justice Department or the FBI have begun to investigate Lesin's actions. Both agencies either refrain from commenting or do not respond. But Wicker's request fueled speculation that Lesin came to Washington to make a deal with US authorities. Some say his enemies killed him." To silence him, others claim that his death was staged as part of the witness protection program to ensure Lesin's safety."

As you can see, a version of staging has also been expressed. It is important to note here that the owner of this The Moscow Times is the well-known Demyan Kudryavtsev, former general director of the Kommersant Publishing House. He was close to Berezovsky, then left in the position by Usmanov, after the latter acquired Kommersant. The Publishing House, a kind of intellectual headquarters, in addition to the newspaper, included a radio station, a television channel and some other waste paper. In general, it is clear that Kudryavtsev is a prominent character in the comprador community - the “liberal opposition”. Maybe not exactly on stage, but at headquarters. However, it was necessary to remove him from the Kommersant Publishing House, according to rumors, due to the active coverage of opposition actions by the Kommersant FM radio station (the white-tape riot of 2012). It looks about the same if someone was kicked out of the gay pride organizing committee for being too homosexual.

Based on the fact that Lesin was in the Kremlin’s plans something like the godfather of the comprador PR department, Kudryavtsev’s statement through his newspaper in English means a serious question asked of someone. That is, the party that authorized Demyan, and this is exactly the case, doubted the version of Don Lesin’s heart attack and expressed the version that he was taken out of the game.

The fact that Lesin was seemingly buried became known on November 13, 2015. Which was also a surprise. Before this, back on November 10, the American police stated that the body would be released no earlier than in 60-90 days.

In general, all these manipulations with the supposedly deceased Lesin looked more than suspicious. And along the way, the comprador crowd in Russia began to worry, either demanding that they also be taken out of the game or something else. After all, it is understandable; being in a hated country, where comrades feel the same mutual feelings, is not very fun. People are not made of iron. Maybe Comrade Lesin promised something to the party, maybe he owed something. The Kremlin, in turn, also asks all sorts of unnecessary questions about the former minister and head of Gazprom Media. He knew a lot of secrets.

In our opinion, the Americans needed to come up with some version explaining why Lesin was buried so suddenly, without even showing it to his upset comrades. Like, he was injured, so as not to upset the party with his appearance, they quickly buried him. And what do you want?

Why did the Americans, however, declare that they could not talk about the violent death of the character? Yes, simply, in this case, according to American laws, you need to look for the culprit of a serious crime. And who to look for and why, if the client is very much alive. Hence such a subterfuge. (The same thing, by the way, is the suicide with Berezovsky. Also, there is no criminal, he strangled himself, there is no need to look for anyone).

In general, the Americans did it extremely clumsily. They wanted to rectify the situation and finally burned themselves out. Now, by the way, it is obvious that Lesin is alive.

What does it all mean? In our opinion, this means that the comprador community is tired, dissatisfied, and demands action or permission to evacuate from Russia. However, she is not allowed to do this. Lesin’s conditional death, in addition to the actual evacuation, also seemed to demonstrate that in the West anything can happen to comrades. Now the game has failed. I wonder how it will affect political events in Russia? And what will be reflected, undoubtedly, is that the official who felled knew many secrets.

Analytical department of ARI

Three years ago, in November 2015, former Minister of Press Affairs and ex-adviser to the President of the Russian Federation Mikhail Lesin was found dead in The Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington. His death immediately raised many questions. What was the far from poor Lesin doing (in the 90s he founded the largest company Video International) in a third-rate hotel? Where did the multiple injuries on his body come from?

It was said about the deceased that he was a master of intrigue. Now his death has become a reason for political intrigue played out in Western circles. At the same time, with a high probability, deliberately diverting attention from the real customer of the murder.

Even the most naive people today have no doubt that Lesin was killed. Judge for yourself - the official FBI report, published in March 2016, lists the injuries found by forensic experts on the body of the ex-minister. These included “head injuries” as well as “blunt injuries of the upper and lower extremities.” Later, the FBI tried to claim that Lesin’s death was due to natural causes - they say that while drunk, he decided to go down to the bar for another bottle, stumbled and rolled down the stairs. However, this version was immediately ridiculed, and the American publication BuzzFeed reported, citing police sources: Mr. Lesin was beaten to death with a baseball bat. Who? This is where the fun begins.

Revelations of the “cistern”

At the end of March, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele presented a report on the circumstances of Lesin's death. According to him, when preparing the report, he relied on information provided to him by sources in the American intelligence services. Steele confirmed: Lesin was indeed killed. The names of the killers, Steele assured, remain unknown for now, but it can be said with confidence that they were “employees of the Russian special services” who were involved in the crime by a certain “Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin” who was offended by the deceased.

Steele's statement was widely picked up by Western media, which is understandable: by that time, Russia was being rinsed with might and main for the poisoning of the Skripals, and another accusation was guaranteed to attract the attention of readers. Moreover, history had all the necessary set: “Russian oligarch”, “Russian special services” and, of course, Putin. However, the story somehow faded away by itself, although it would seem that here is another reason for introducing new sanctions - Russian special services are killing right in the center of the American capital! Why did the accusations die down? Perhaps because the wrong person was chosen to voice them. The same Christopher Steele had recently become known to the general public as the author of a report about Donald Trump’s financial ties with Russian citizens. It has been proven that Steele had direct contacts with the Cambridge Analytics company, which collected incriminating evidence on Trump on behalf of the US Democratic Party. That is, in the eyes of many, it clearly appeared as a “flush tank”, the credibility of which is in great question. And the former affiliation with MI6 plays a minus here, not a plus. After all, it is known that there are no former intelligence officers. Therefore, having left the state, many retirees create their own “analytical centers”, which are used by their current colleagues to leak various necessary information under the guise of “insights”. Essentially, the same “fake news” that Western media love to accuse Russia of.

However, there is another explanation. It is possible that they did not begin to push the story with the “close oligarch” and the “special services” for another reason. After all, if someone starts to dig deeper, a completely unfavorable truth may emerge about the circumstances of Lesin’s death and about who it was very desirable for.

Personal enemy

After Steele's statement, many wondered who this mysterious oligarch was. Deripaska, with whom the deceased seemed to have a strained relationship? Yuri Kovalchuk, who also clashed with him? However, due to his character, Lesin had disagreements with many. However, people who knew him name a person who could consider Lesin not just an enemy, but a mortal enemy - this is the former owner of NTV and disgraced oligarch Vladimir Gusinsky. In a sense, the father of the Russian free press and the first victim of the “Putin regime.”

In particular, the famous former TV presenter Evgeniy Kiselyov speaks about this: “[Lesin] openly did not like Gusinsky, considered him a personal enemy and wanted to destroy his business.” This is what happened in 2001, when Vladimir Gusinsky, after being accused of embezzlement, lost his favorite brainchild - the NTV television company. “Lesin went down in history as the person who forced Gusinsky to sign “Protocol No. 6.” This secret agreement to the Gazprom-Media agreement with Gusinsky guaranteed his release from prison (the oligarch spent three days in Butyrka) in exchange for shares in the holding. Since then, Gusinsky has never been to Russia: Lesin publicly promised that the oligarch would not return as long as he – Lesin – was alive,” writes journalist Natalia Rostova.

In addition to events that many people know about, there are things known only to a narrow circle of interested parties. It seems that after receiving compensation of $50 million for NTV, Gusinsky swore that he would never get involved in politics again. In return, he was given the opportunity to earn good money by filming popular television series for NTV. Moreover, the filming was carried out at the expense of prepayment. Thus, Gusinsky found himself hanging on a hook: if you move, you will lose a profitable business.

However, the oligarch who went abroad (Gusinsky deftly proved that he was a descendant of Spanish Jews expelled in the 15th century and received Spanish citizenship) still did not get rid of the habit of steering politics. Having somehow achieved a decision in the European Court on the violation of his rights and sued the Russian Federation for 88 thousand euros, he, according to rumors, began to hint more and more transparently that now he would get even with his offenders - read with the Russian authorities. As a result, Lesin, who headed Gazprom-Media, made a decision: NTV would no longer buy new series from Gusinsky’s companies.

They say that Gusinsky was furious - not only was he losing money, but his old enemy had humiliated him again! It was impossible to forgive this. The oligarch was always known for his vindictiveness and, according to his own admission, he re-read the list of his enemies at night. And here’s a coincidence: in the fall of 2014, Senator Roger Wicker unexpectedly sent a request to the US Attorney General’s Office to check on what grounds former Russian Minister Lesin bought $28 million worth of real estate in Los Angeles. It soon became known: apparently, the lobbying company ARSO International, the key beneficiary of which, apparently, is Vladimir Gusinsky, helped prepare the request.

Counter attack

Soon, Lesin lost his post as head of Gazprom Media, and then moved to the United States. The most common version explaining why he got burned: too much stuck to his hands during the sale of Gazprom Media. In America, Lesin wilted and seemed to have lost interest in life. They say he drank heavily.

After his death, however, a surprisingly sluggish version was promoted, according to which Lesin, who knew a lot about the secrets of Russian politics, allegedly tried to make contact with the Americans in exchange for asylum. It’s not clear why he needed shelter? After all, no one was chasing him. It would seem that this is a politically biased version, allowing once again to inflate anti-Russian hysteria... However, oddly enough, it did not generate demand.

The surprising laxity in the investigation of the crime is also striking. American investigators indicated a complete lack of interest in a case that could become resonant - the murder of a very prominent and informed Russian official.

It is unlikely that they did not find out who could have had a hand in this. However, apparently, I didn’t want to stir up the recent past, during which the name of an ardent opponent of the Russian authorities, Vladimir Gusinsky, who knows what is connected with the American senator (according to Express Newspaper, Gusinsky now lives in the USA) would inevitably come up. It’s no secret that American congressmen (though not only American ones) easily sign any requests paid for by lobbyists...

However, if such a figure as Christopher Steele has already joined this topic, one can only count the hours when “an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin” is transformed into specific names of businessmen who the West will decide to hit with the next sanctions. The fact that the only former oligarch who had a motive for organizing the murder of Lesin lives next door will not interest them. Or no longer interested.

There are people who are always in sight, and there are completely different ones. Few people suspect their existence, and certainly not public figures. But at the same time, their influence on the lives of other people is enormous. It is precisely these “gray cardinals” that include Mikhail Lesin, whose cause of death is still in doubt among many. This man left a significant mark on the history of Russia.

Cardinal's childhood

Mikhail Yuryevich Lesin was born on July 11, 1958 in the capital of the Soviet Union. His father was a builder in the military sphere, and his son grew up as a cocky, active, restless boy. At school I received reprimands for fighting more than once. There is information that for this reason he was even expelled from the pioneers, and then was not accepted into the Komsomol. The courtyard comrades called young Lesin Bosun.

Youth

Mikhail Lesin graduated from high school in 1975, and he did not manage to become a student right away. Therefore, in 1976, the guy was drafted into the army. He had the opportunity to repay his debt to his homeland as a marine.

Returning home in 1978, the young man finally decides to get a higher education. The choice fell on the Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering named after Kuibyshev. The student life was stormy. Mikhail led an active social life and was even a member of the institute’s KVN team. He received his engineering degree in eighty-four.

Finding yourself

Lesin's first positions were associated with the system of the Ministry of Industrial Construction of the Soviet Union. Labor activity took place in Moscow, as well as in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar.

After five years of work in industry, Mikhail Lesin, whose biography began in the family of an engineer, abruptly changed course. He did not become a successor to his father's work.

Perestroika was in full swing in the Union. Gorbachev allowed ordinary citizens of the country to open private cooperatives, firms and engage in commercial activities. Private entrepreneurs appeared like mushrooms after rain in the Soviet Union. And Lesin did not stand aside. In 1987, an active and creative young man began organizing commercial concerts, creating, together with his comrades, the Panopticon studio, where, according to some sources, he served as an administrator. He lasted in this area for one year.

The beginning of the television era

In 1988, thirty-year-old Mikhail Lesin found what became his life's work - television. And he didn’t even have to start from the very bottom. Lesin was immediately appointed deputy director for television program production at the Igra-Tekhnika association. Here Kaveen’s experience came in very handy - he had to organize commercial programs for the Club of the Cheerful and Resourceful.

Later, Lesin headed the television program “Jolly Fellows”, and even later (in 1990) - the youth creative production association “Radio and Television” (“RTV”). Under his leadership, various television competitions were organized and held. A year later, RTV turned into an advertising agency with the loud name Video International.

From 1993 to 1996, Mikhail Lesin worked at the television company TV Novosti, first holding the position of head of the commercial department, then deputy director, and then general director.

B officially broke off relations with Video International, renouncing his founder status. But in fact, his cooperation with the agency continued. It is Lesin who is credited with the authorship of the scripts for the well-known commercials advertising the Imperial Bank.

Policy

And in 1996, the novice PR specialist was faced with a more serious matter - he completely prepared the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin, who was running for a second presidential term. And within the framework of this project, Mikhail Yuryevich Lesin came up with a lot of “tricks” that have become classics. For example, it was he who created the famous call “Vote with your heart.” Lesin also advised Yeltsin to address Russians daily on television. And in the videos “Save and Preserve” and “I Believe, Love, Hope” there is a share of his work.

During this time, Lesin worked closely with Mikhail Chubais and the candidate’s daughter, Tatyana Dyachenko. After the successful end of the race for Yeltsin, the president expressed gratitude to the talented assistant, and later made him head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Public Relations. This is how Mikhail Lesin, whose biography could have turned out to be quite simple and ordinary, ended up in the Kremlin.

VGTRK

From 1997 to 1999, Lesin was the first deputy chairman of VGTRK (All-Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company). In a relatively short period of time, he managed to gather into one “fist” almost all state-owned companies. Under the roof of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company there were Rostelevision, the Culture channel, Radio Russia and Mayak, RIA Novosti and the Unified Production and Technological Complex created by Mikhail Yurievich.

Mikhail Lesin - Minister of Press Affairs

And in 1999, Lesin went even further - he was entrusted with the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Media Affairs. He began his activities in this chair; he managed to work in the governments of Putin and Kasyanov while he was prime minister.

But Mikhail Lesin was not only involved in direct management of the media sphere. The minister actively participated in the 1999 presidential race and the 2000 parliamentary elections. Analysts call him a key figure in these two campaigns, who did a lot to bring Putin and the pro-Kremlin force Unity to power.

Loud scandals

Having reached the very top of Russian politics, Lesin does not forget his brainchild Video International. At least, this was stated by some individuals in the media. Mikhail Yuryevich is accused of abuse of power, which he allegedly uses to help the agency. According to informants, it was under Lesin’s wing that the brainchild of Video International captured about seventy percent of the advertising market on Russian television, successfully evades taxes, hides income, interacts with the criminal world and conducts other illegal activities. And the minister himself controls the agency, owning it although he has no official connection with the company.

One of the communist deputies allegedly submitted a corresponding request to the president with a request to understand the situation and take action. But the head of state did not fire his minister. The complaint did not affect Lesin’s career in any way. It is quite possible that these are just rumors spread by ill-wishers.

In the spring of 2004, the ministry headed by Lesin was liquidated. Instead, a new structure was created - the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications. It was subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications.

Analysts predicted that Mikhail Yuryevich would receive the main post in the new agency, but he did not receive it. Mikhail Lesin jumped even higher, becoming the Russian Federation for Media Affairs.

In the summer of the same year, Mikhail Yuryevich joined the board of directors of Channel One for the first time. Later he was elected to this post more than once.

Last decade

The last decade of Lesin’s life was quite rich and contrasting. In 2007, Mikhail Yuryevich was included in the Council under the President of the Russian Federation, which was supposed to prepare for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. In two thousand and eight, he, using administrative resources, helped Dmitry Medvedev win the presidential race.

A year later, Lesin was fired from the post of presidential adviser. And in 2010, Lesin also resigned from the board of directors of Channel One.

In the same year, information was leaked to the media that Video International was now controlled by Rossiya Bank. And Lesin became a member of the board of directors of National Communications, a controlling stake in which belonged to this bank.

In 2013-2015, Mikhail Yuryevich chaired the board of Gazprom-Media Holding and managed to take many high-profile steps in this position, including, for example, the revival. Also, the holding during this period bought out several successful TV channels (Friday, TV-3 and some others), four radio stations, a film company and a production company that released “The Voronins”, “Real Boys” and other popular youth and other series.

Personal life of Mikhail Lesin: family and children

For the first time, the hero of this article got married very early - already in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine his daughter Ekaterina was born. Mikhail Lesin, whose wife was also probably very young, was unable to save his family. The couple divorced. In general, little is known about this marriage of a statesman. But it is no secret that he did not remain a bachelor. In 1983, the boy Anton was born. His father was Mikhail Lesin. Valentina's wife, the mother of his second child, remained his faithful companion almost until the death of the politician and businessman, devoting herself entirely to family and home.

And only in 2014, the media received information that Lesin’s marriage had broken up. The aging man replaced his second wife with a twenty-eight-year-old model, who bore him another daughter. But this information is not reflected in the official biographies of the figure.

Journalists savored the marriage of Mikhail Yuryevich to a young beauty with pleasure and ridicule. And in the summer of 2014, the former presidential adviser “delighted” the press with another scandal. This time financial. The case concerned real estate acquired in America. One of the US senators had questions regarding it to Lesin. The politician asked where the propaganda chief got twenty-eight million dollars for a mansion in Los Angeles. And this is what Mikhail Lesin answered him: “The children bought this house on credit.”

In fact, at that time she already lived in the United States of America and was in charge of the American bureau of Russia Today, so the answer was quite similar to the truth.

Death

On November 6, 2015, Mikhail Lesin was found dead in his hotel room in Washington. The cause of his death remained hidden from the general public for a very long time. And even after the official version was made public - a heart attack, people had questions. And contradictory information appears in the press every now and then. Either Lesin was beaten on the eve of his death, or he did not die at all, but was simply hiding from everyone in order to someday “resurrect.”

Many then, in November 2015, were interested in the question of where Mikhail Lesin was buried. The answer seemed strange to most. The politician was cremated, and his ashes rest in the United States of America. He was never brought home.

The significance of Lesin's activities

Mikhail Lesin, whose family was very simple, achieved a lot in his life. Not everyone can make it from a production engineer to a presidential adviser. Mikhail Yuryevich loved to discuss this point.

His high position was not a formality. This man was actually an influential person. He is credited with shaping the Russian media market, as well as determining state policy regarding the media. The figure of Lesin is associated with the closure of several independent media outlets and the general infringement of freedom of speech. But about the dead, it’s either good or not at all... The premature death of Mikhail Yuryevich was a real shock for those who loved and respected him. And there were many such people.

On Friday, March 11, American forensic experts revealed new details about the death of Mikhail Lesin, whose body was found in early November last year at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington. The cause of death of the former press minister was a head injury. Previously, the media claimed that he died of a heart attack, and had been seriously ill for the past few years. What have experts still not established? Could Lesin have been killed? Or maybe he's actually alive? Lenta.ru answers these and other questions.

How did Lesin die?

On November 6, 2015, the body of the former head of Gazprom Media and Russian Press Minister was found in a suite at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington. He was 57 years old. The preliminary cause of death was almost immediately named as a heart attack. Experts and sources noted that Lesin had been seriously ill for the past few years, which could have caused cardiac arrest. On November 13 he was buried in Los Angeles.

Washington police began an investigation into Lesin's death, but no comments were made about its results. All information about the case is known either from the words of sources or from representatives of the Russian embassy in the United States. The joint statement by the police and forensic experts is, in fact, the first official comment from the party conducting the investigation.

Why are people talking about the true causes of Lesin’s death only now?

Four months have passed since Lesin’s death, and, according to the professional organization of forensic experts, three months are usually enough to establish the cause of death. But on March 9, a representative of the federal District of Columbia forensic experts told local ABC7 television that experts had encountered some difficulties. The DC Central Police Department declined to comment on this information.

What did forensic experts find?

Experts concluded that Lesin's death was the result of blunt force head injuries. Similar injuries were found on his neck, torso, upper and lower extremities. According to The New York Times, Lesin could have sustained injuries to his limbs before returning to his hotel room.

What did the experts fail to establish?

The nature of death. This is stated in a joint statement by forensic experts and police. In addition, the results of the autopsy performed on the day of death were not announced.

What does it mean?

Lesin was either killed or died in an accident. The injuries sustained could have been the result of seizures and convulsions during a heart attack. However, in an interview with Kommersant FM, forensic expert Alexander Aulov practically ruled out such a possibility. According to him, Lesin most likely received head injuries from a blow with a blunt hard object. “A table, fists, legs, a bat, for example, a brick - anything,” Aulov emphasized. He also noted that the blows were most likely inflicted by a third party.

What else remains unanswered?

It is still unclear what such a wealthy man as Lesin was doing on the day of his death in a not very fashionable hotel in Washington, and even next door to the headquarters of the FBI and the US Department of Justice. Police are also not disclosing what interviews with staff and CCTV footage from the hotel revealed.

Could Lesin be killed?

Theoretically they could. Lesin was distinguished by his willful disposition and possessed important information. For many years he was close to the Russian government and managed one of the country's largest media holdings.

What was Lesin himself worried about?

A year before his death, in an interview with Forbes magazine, Lesin, at that time the chairman of the board of Gazprom Media, said that he was worried about his family in connection with the investigation that was carried out against him in the United States. It was alleged that, as a government official, Lesin, through an offshore company, acquired certain assets in Europe worth millions of dollars, including real estate.

American Senator Roger Wicker wrote that Lesin then moved his entire family to the United States, buying several houses in Los Angeles worth more than $28 million.

After Lesin’s death, a version appeared that the FBI promised him cooperation in exchange for the fact that the case would not be allowed to proceed further.

Is Lesin actually alive?

The British newspaper The Daily Mail wrote in December 2015 that Lesin’s death was staged by American intelligence services, but in fact the media manager is alive. The FBI put him under witness protection and he's now giving some testimony.

What does the Russian Foreign Ministry say?

The Russian diplomatic department from the United States provides official clarifications regarding the investigation into the causes of Lesin’s death. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Russian Embassy in the United States has repeatedly sent inquiries about the progress of the investigation, but has not received any “substantive information.” According to Zakharova, if information about the violent nature of Lesin’s death is confirmed, Moscow will send a request for international legal assistance to Washington.

MOSCOW, March 11 – RIA Novosti. New circumstances surrounding the death of the former Minister of Press of the Russian Federation, ex-adviser to the Russian President on media development Mikhail Lesin became known on Friday night. The cause of death, according to American forensic experts, was head injuries.

The former Russian official died on November 5, 2015 at a hotel in downtown Washington. Representatives of Lesin's family reported that he died presumably of a heart attack. Later, the police in the American capital published a brief report on the incident. According to him, a law enforcement officer entered Lesin’s room and saw his body on the floor. Paramedics were called and pronounced dead and the body was sent for autopsy. The report states only that there were no gunshot wounds on the body. The police did not involve the prosecutor's office because there was no evidence of malicious intent.

Cause of death: head injuries

In November, American experts stated that the investigation into the circumstances of the death of the former minister would take about three months. This is the standard deadline within which 90% of cases are reviewed, but in February, forensic experts extended the study of Lesin’s case.

Before becoming Minister of Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Mass Communications in 1999, Lesin managed to work as head of the Kremlin's public relations department and deputy chairman of the largest state television and radio corporation, VGTRK.

There were rumors that Lesin was involved in the creation of a video in the Vesti program compromising the then Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yuri Skuratov.

In 1999-2004, Lesin served as Minister of Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Mass Communications. Lesin later served as Putin's adviser on media and information technology development for five years. As the newspapers wrote, as an adviser to the president, he advised banker Yuri Kovalchuk, who was collecting media assets into the National Media Group (NMG), including on a deal for Kovalchuk’s structures to purchase a controlling stake in National Telecommunications from billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. Lesin himself did not deny that he advised NMG executives and explained that many tried to use his knowledge and experience in the industry.

Lesin’s resignation from the post of presidential adviser in 2009 “at his request” was unexpected. At the same time, information appeared in the media that Lesin allegedly did not comply with the rules of the civil service and the ethics of behavior of civil servants. According to analysts, the reason was his excessive activity in business, provoking a conflict of interest.

Return to the media

After his resignation, Lesin disappeared from the media market for four years. His return was equally unexpected - in October 2013, he took a leadership position at Gazprom Media Holding.

In a short time, Lesin managed to unite the efforts of the media community to organize the “Industrial Committee for Telemetering” (ICT). The industry has been discussing the need to create this organization for several years. IKT was created by Channel One, VGTRK and Gazprom Media Holding to hold a competition to select a new television meter. Later, it also included STS Media, the National Media Group and the Association of Communication Companies of Russia.

In addition, Lesin initiated the revival of the TEFI television award. In 2014, the organizer of the award was the Committee of Industrial Television Awards. The founders of the competition were Channel One, VGTRK, TV Center, Gazprom Media Holding, STS Media, National Media Group, National Association of Television and Radio Broadcasters.

Media experts note that Lesin stood at the origins of the industry and developed with it; many admit that he had vast experience and knew how this industry functions. However, this was not without conflicts. Thus, in 2014, a conflict arose between the shareholders of the radio station “Echo of Moscow” (that is, Gazprom-Media, headed by Lesin) and its editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov over the dismissal of the radio station’s journalist Alexander Plyushchev, who disseminated a scandalous entry on Twitter.

Gazprom-Media (owns 66% of Echo shares) fired Plyushchev for violating “all acceptable moral and ethical standards,” but did not receive the signature of the editor-in-chief required in this case. The media reported, citing Lesin, that if Venediktov does not agree with the journalist’s resignation, this could result in his own resignation. A vote of the board of directors was scheduled on three issues: about the editor-in-chief, about the editorial office and about the broadcast format.

Later, Lesin admitted that the dismissal order was illegal and declared his readiness to cancel it, for example, if Plyushchev went on vacation for two months and the editors tried to “improve his moral character.” Plyushchev went on vacation for a while, and Lesin then canceled the order of his dismissal.

After some time, Lesin resigned from the post of chairman of the board of the Gazprom-Media holding for family reasons and again disappeared from the media field.