Who is Alexander Kurenkov? Vladimir Putin's bodyguard who was appointed as Russia's emergency minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin has nominated Alexander Kurenkov to be the new Emergencies Minister for the Kremlin. Major-General Alexander Kurenkov, 49, is the former personal bodyguard of Vladimir Putin. He was appointed as the new emergency minister after his predecessor died after falling from a waterfall under mysterious conditions. Alexander Kurenkov became the sixth bodyguard to be appointed by Vladimir Putin at his government office.

The former bodyguard Kurenkov will now head the Moscow's Emergency Situations and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters Ministry. He is an old hand of the Russian state security services. The emergency ministry responds to all kinds of natural calamities and disasters.

Who is Alexander Kurenkov?

Alexander Vyacheslavovich Kurenkov belongs to a generation of FSB employees who have been graduating from the Psychological-Social Institute since the late 1990s. After joining the Federal Protective Service, he gradually moved up through its ranks. In 2015, Alexander Kurenkov was decorated with the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" 2nd Class to contribute to counterterrorism operations (he led a process in Moscow's Kakhovskaya Metro station in 2020). Since December 2021, he has held the position of Deputy Director of the FSB Internal Affairs Department.

How did Yevgeny Zinichev die?
Yevgeny Nikolayevich Zinichev held many vital positions in the Russian military. Aged 55, Zinichev lost his life on 8 September 2021 in Norilsk while filming an interdepartmental exercise to protect the Russian Arctic zone. He slipped off the cliff to save Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Melnik, who died in the tragic incident. As of 2020, Zinichev was ranked Russia's General of the Army. A member of Russia's Security Council, Zinichev served as the Minister of Emergency Situations from 2018 till his death in May 2022. The farewell happened on 10 September at the EMERCOM National Crisis Center, Moscow. He was buried in St. Petersburg.

According to the reports, Putin was upset with the untimely death of Zinichev.