The Russian official in charge of Vladimir Putin's "rigged" elections for nine years has died suddenly aged 70.
Vladimir Churov had been chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission and notoriously operated under a motto that “Putin is always right”.
Opposition factions strongly criticised him over “election fraud” in Putin’s favour during his term from 2007 to 2016.
He later became a Russian ambassador at large personally appointed by Putin.
Lawmaker Leonid Ivlev told TASS: “It is sad news indeed.
“[He died] after surgery in a hospital at 8:00 am today.
“[He] passed away after suffering a serious heart attack.”
The former election chief had appeared in good health on Monday and Tuesday this week, said Ivlev, his friend, and he had been talking about future plans.
A former Western diplomat in Moscow said: “Churov knew where the bodies were buried over election falsification which gave Putin a clear run, preventing opposition parties gaining a foothold.”
He was seen as doing the Kremlin’s bidding to give presidential and parliamentary polls the veneer of respectability when in fact they were rigged.
When he died he was writing a book on alleged US meddling in elections abroad.
News of Churov's death comes after Russian missile swooped past a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia this morning before pummelling a residential apartment block.
A seven-storey flat complex was left a smoking wreck after the attack this morning in the southeastern city, which is where the Russia-controlled largest nuclear plant in Europe is also situated.
Captioning one of the videos, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Zaporizhzhia. Right now, residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at.
This must not become "just another day" in [Ukraine] or anywhere else in the world. The world needs greater unity and determination to defeat Russian terror faster and protect lives.
Andriy Yermak, who is the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, confirmed earlier that Zaporizhzhia is under attack this morning.
