Top Russian aviation expert dies after falling down stairs

A top Russian aviation expert, who once worked as the head of Moscow’s Aviation Institute (MAI), has died after falling down the stairs at the institute's headquarters earlier today (21 September). 

Anatoly Gerashchenko is said to have slipped and tumbled down the stairs - he is one of a number of Russian elites who have died in recent months. 

In a statement, the MAI said: “On September 21, 2022, Anatoly Nikolaevich Gerashchenko, Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, adviser to the rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute, passed away as a result of an accident. 

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“The staff of the Moscow Aviation Institute expresses condolences to the family and friends of Anatoly Nikolaevich. This is a colossal loss for the MAI and the scientific and pedagogical community.” 

A report said Gerashchenko 'fell from a height, flying down several flights of stairs'.

The 73-year-old spent most of his career working at the institute, having previously attended its university. 

He had received Russia's Medal of the Order for Services to the Fatherland, First Class, and was a well-known and distinguished professor, the Daily Mail reports. 

Earlier this month, Russian oil tycoon Ravil Maganov, chairman of Lukoil, died after falling out of a hospital window. 

Maganov had previously urged Russia to call a ceasefire in Ukraine. 

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Speaking in March, he called for 'the soonest termination of the armed conflict' triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Lukoil said they supported a 'lasting ceasefire'.

Back in April, it was reported that five prominent Russian businessmen, who were believed to be associated with Putin’s ‘inner circle', had all died by apparent suicide in the last four months. 

A report in CNN claimed the men who died were all associated with Russian state owned energy producer Gazprom or their subsidiary companies.

Among those to have died were Leonid Shulman, the head of transport at Gazprom Invest, whose body was discovered on 30 January, 2022 in his cottage in Leninsky, near St Petersburg.

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Russian state media RIA Novosti reported that a suicide note was found near his body and that police were treating his death as a suicide.

Alexander Tyulakov, another Gazprom executive, was found dead in his garage. 

And in late March, the body of medical supplies company MedStom owner Vasily Melnikov was found dead alongside those of his family in Nizhny Novgorod, with Russian authorities treating the deaths as a case of murder-suicide on Melnikov's part.

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