Russian ambassador to UN died by heart attack

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Barbara
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Russian ambassador to UN died by heart attack

Post by Barbara »

"United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin....has died in New York. He was 64.

....News of his death was met with shock at UN headquarters where Churkin, who would have turned 65 on Tuesday, had been a towering presence for a decade....
Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Petr Iliichev said...."His whole life was dedicated to defending the interests of Russia," ....

A career diplomat born in Moscow who studied English from a young age, Churkin had been UN ambassador since April 2006, after serving as Russian ambassador to Canada and to Belgium.

Churkin had served as foreign ministry spokesman in the early 1990s and also as special envoy to the former Yugoslavia.

Growing up in Moscow, he dabbled in acting in his early teens, notably in two films about Soviet founding father Vladimir Lenin.

He graduated from the prestigious Moscow Institute of International Relations and began his career at the foreign ministry as a translator before working at the Soviet embassy in Washington in the 1980s."

abridged from https://www.yahoo.com/news/russias-un-e ... 57441.html


Nearly every member of the Soviet Union's UN mission was a KGB officer. This fact has been established by many experts.
Surely Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was no exception : note his work in the Soviet embassy in Washington DC in the key period of the 1980s. Likewise, all staff of such an important mission were KGB or GRU officers or at least informers.

The highest ranking official ever to defect to the West was Arkady Nikolayevich Shevchenko, Under Secretary-General of the UN. After 3 years of passing Soviet secrets to Western intelligence agencies, he sought asylum in March 1978 in response to the infamous summons to return to Moscow for consultations. Knowing better than most what dire fate that meant, Shevchenko fled in the middle of the night, leaving a note for his wife. It was a shrewd move, as the wife notified the KGB instead of joining Arkady Nikolayevich !

I remember reading his autobiography, "Breaking with Moscow" when it came out in 1985. The book was a major sensation due to the defector's revelations of how the Soviet mission used their relative freedom as international diplomats to conduct espionage against the United Nations host country, the U.S.

I remember thinking that Shevchenko did not sound as sincere as most other Soviet defectors. Could he have been seeking a comfortable life in America as his deeper reason for defecting ? To me, Shevchenko did not come off the same way as the others whose books or biographies I avidly read. He was softer line than the rest in his denouncement of Communism and the Soviet system. Something left me a little uncomfortable about him. Nonetheless, his book made clear that ALL Soviet UN staff were KGB or answerable to the Soviet intelligence agency : no one would be given such a plum position in 'the decadent West' without being under strict KGB control.

One can be sure this system has changed little since then.

Back to Ambassador Churkin, it's not reassuring to read that his public career began by acting in 2 films about - lenin !
What the reports do not include is whether he attended an Orthodox Church, and if so, which one ? The MP's St Nicholas Cathedral, presumably. It would be interesting to find out.


Update : it is now reported that the Russian diplomat's repose was due to a heart attack.

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Maria
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Re: Russian ambassador to UN died by heart attack

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Heart attacks can be triggered by certain drugs administered directly into the eyes or face using a pen-like instrument.

Lord have mercy.

I hope toxicology lab reports were ordered.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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Maria
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Re: Russian ambassador to UN died by heart attack

Post by Maria »

This thread may have to be moved into politics as there is a political thread running throughout the OP.

In addition, when quoting Yahoo or any other MSM news site, only one small paragraph should be copied, and then a link to the article should be given where people can read the rest of the story.

Barbara, Thanks for abridging the article above. I inserted it for you.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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Barbara
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Re: Russian ambassador to UN died by heart attack

Post by Barbara »

Thanks, Maria ! Apologies for my mistake.

I looked into this a little more. I could not find any trace of information as to whether Amb. Churkin was Orthodox, and if so, whether he practiced his religion. I saw one person asking this same question on a forum but he or she was brushed off with "That doesn't matter ! ". All attention by curious observers has been directed to the political sphere.

Footage showed up on major American channels the other day of a memorial for the former UN ambassador. Though one man was seen to cross himself as he went up to pay his respects, Amb. Vitaly Churkin is not a Saint ! Other than that, there was no religious reference visible in the particular clip released.

Thinking there may have an Orthodox pannikhida or funeral done at some point, I searched for that but no results showed up. Perhaps there is more information on the Russian internet.

For the time being, therefore, there is still uncertainty on this point of Ambassador Churkin's religious affiliation. Or lack thereof.

Indeed, this case highlights that it seems a wise time to avoid dealings with Russian officials abroad as there is too much strangeness around this and other recent sudden reposes. One website pointed out that the current American administration was stumbling badly by claiming that Churkin's diplomatic immunity extended after death. The US State Dept used this amateurish excuse to refuse to reveal the results of the autopsy performed, the blog writer opined. But this is not the way things are done. The results should have been disclosed. Why weren't they ?

With all the mystery swirling around this and other similar events, the best course of action for anyone from any political angle should be to not meet with Russian diplomats or officials in the US or Europe.

A page floated down in front of my path after having researched the Vitaly Churkin affair. It was from Subdeacon [ as he called himself then ] Nathanael Kapner's "Church News" blog, dedicated to raising awareness against the 2007 Rocor- MP union.

This paragraph jumped off that page, in which former Lieutenant-Colonel Konstantin Preobrazhensky was being interviewed on the subject of how he coped with the possible threat on his life in trying to thwart that union.

The then-member of Rocor replied :

" I do not meet with any from the Russian Federation, nor do I meet with Russian Embassy officals. And I am careful where I eat, who I eat with, what I eat and I do not smoke."
( January 26, 2006 )

Good advice for EVERYONE in ALL situations across the board !

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Maria
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Re: Russian ambassador to UN died by heart attack

Post by Maria »

Indeed, we need to be careful in this sick age and heed the advice given in I Peter to be watchful for the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking him whom he may devour.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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