Pyotr Kucherenko, the Deputy Education Minister of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, died during a return flight from Cuba on May 20, 2023.
According to a statement issued by the press service of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation Kucherenko was on a flight from Cuba to Russia when he “became ill on the plane on which the Russian delegation was returning from a business trip to Cuba”.
The Ilyushin Il-96-300, registered as RA-96018 and belonging to the presidential fleet of Russia, was on its way from Havana Jose Marti International Airport (HAV), Cuba to Moscow Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) in Russia, with a scheduled stop in Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN), Morocco. Following the stop at CMN, and as it was on its way to VKO, the aircraft diverted to Mineralnye Vody Airport (MRV), located in Southern Russia, according to flightadar24.com records.
“The plane landed in the city of Mineralnye Vody, where doctors tried to help, but they failed to save Pyotr Aleksandrovich [Kucherenko],” the press statement continued, clarifying the reason behind the diversion.
State-owned news agency TASS reported that the crew requested that an ambulance board the Ilyushin Il-96-300 immediately after it had landed to conduct a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) procedure. However, medical professionals were unable to save Kucherenko.
The aircraft, which landed at MRV at 10:41 PM local time (UTC +3), later departed to VKO, arriving at the latter airport at 2:56 AM local time (UTC +3) on May 21, 2023.