Sergei Prikhodko, Russia's ex-deputy PM, dies at 64

 Sergei Prikhodko, Russia's former deputy prime minister who played a prominent role in shaping Russia's foreign policy, has died. He was 64.

Russian news agencies reported the death on Tuesday, citing spokespeople of the government. Prikhodko served as deputy prime minister between 2013 and 2018. In January 2020, he was appointed aide to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

In an investigation published in 2018, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny alleged that Prikhodko received lavish hospitality from billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is close to President Vladimir Putin and also had a working relationship with Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager.

Navalny’s investigation drew from the social media account of a woman who claimed to have had an affair with Deripaska. The woman, who calls herself Nastya Rybka, posted several videos in 2016 purportedly showing Deripaska on his yacht talking with Prikhodko.

Deripaska’s spokesman rejected Navalny’s report, and Prikhodko called it a “provocation.”

Navalny had also published documents suggesting that Prikhodko, a long-time public servant with no significant private income, owned a luxurious mansion outside Moscow.

The cause of Prikhodko's death wasn’t immediately clear. According to the Kommersant newspaper, Prikhodko had long suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive nervous system disease that causes loss of muscle control.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin sent a telegram of condolences to Prikhodko’s family.

(Image credit: AP)