Russia’s Sudan Ambassador Found Dead

The death of the ambassador, Mirgayas Shirinsky, who was in his early 60s, was at least the fourth time since December that a senior Kremlin envoy has died prematurely overseas.

Russia’s ambassador to Sudan, a career diplomat with decades of service, was found dead at his Khartoum home on Wednesday, Russian and Sudanese officials reported.

The Sudan Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoted by news agencies that Mr. Shirinsky “died this evening at his Khartoum residence” without providing a cause of death.

Agence France-Presse, in a dispatch from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, quoted the Sudan police as saying he was found in the residence’s swimming pool.

His death came almost exactly six months after Russia’s longtime ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly I. Churkin, died suddenly at work at the age of 64. Russia’s government did not disclose the cause of death for Mr. Churkin, whom it described as an “outstanding diplomat.”

In January, Russia’s ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, one of the longest-serving diplomats in that country, died after a brief illness at age 68.

Mr. Shirinsky was said to have been a fluent Arabic and English speaker whose diplomatic career began in 1977. He had been the ambassador to Sudan since 2013, with previous postings in Rwanda, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

His death came as the Russian and Sudanese governments have been preparing for a visit to Russia by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, a sign of improved relations between the two countries.

The planned visit also signifies Mr. Bashir’s defiance of longstanding International Criminal Court warrants for his arrest on charges of war crimes and genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. (nytimes)