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Russian Minister Dies During Arctic Training Exercise

Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief of Russia Yevgeny Zinichev listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow, Russia December 27, 2019. Reuters
Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief of Russia Yevgeny Zinichev listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow, Russia December 27, 2019. Reuters
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Russian Minister Dies During Arctic Training Exercise

Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief of Russia Yevgeny Zinichev listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow, Russia December 27, 2019. Reuters
Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief of Russia Yevgeny Zinichev listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow, Russia December 27, 2019. Reuters

Russia's Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died during a training exercise in the Arctic, the RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying on Wednesday.

The 55-year-old official, who had headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018, died while saving someone's life, it said without providing further details.

"... Zinichev died tragically while performing his official duties during inter-departmental drills to prevent crisis situations in the Arctic, saving someone's life," RIA quoted the ministry as saying.

Zinichev was in the Arctic to oversee large-scale drills and visited the construction site of a new fire station in Norilsk, as well as a search and rescue team in the area, the ministry had said in a statement earlier on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Before becoming a minister, Zinichev held a number of jobs including as former deputy director of the Federal Security Service and briefly as acting regional governor of Kaliningrad.

He is thought to have once been part of President Vladimir Putin's security detail.

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Ukraine Dismisses Reports on Bolstering Troops Near Belarus

A serviceman of 24th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces loads a shell inside a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer during fire towards Russian troops on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 30, 2024. Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS
A serviceman of 24th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces loads a shell inside a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer during fire towards Russian troops on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 30, 2024. Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS
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Ukraine Dismisses Reports on Bolstering Troops Near Belarus

A serviceman of 24th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces loads a shell inside a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer during fire towards Russian troops on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 30, 2024. Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS
A serviceman of 24th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces loads a shell inside a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer during fire towards Russian troops on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 30, 2024. Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine's border guards dismissed claims from Belarus that it was reinforcing troops on their mutual border, describing the reports as an information operation from Minsk with Moscow's support.
Belarus, a close Russian ally that has provided support for Moscow's 28-month full-scale war in Ukraine, said last week that Kyiv was bolstering its forces along the frontier. According to Reuters, the Kremlin said on Monday the report was a cause of concern.
"It is not the first time Belarus offers information about Ukraine presenting a threat and strengthening itself," border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko told Ukrainian TV. "This is another part of the information operation conducted by Belarus with support by Russia."
He said the border remained a concern, and Ukraine was strengthening it with engineering while maintaining the necessary number of troops to prevent any provocations.
He also said that Belarus had been conducting military exercises since June 21, and that blaming Ukraine for friction at the border could be aligned with those drills.
On Sunday, the Belarus Defense Ministry claimed it had information showing Ukraine had been moving troops, weapons, and military equipment to the border, in particular in Zhytomyr region.
Minsk also said its own forces had deployed additional air defenses to protect the border area from drones, after claiming to have shot down a Ukrainian quadcopter earlier last week.