Vladimir Putin pays last respects to emergencies minister Yevgeny Zinichev

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday attended a farewell ceremony for Yevgeny Zinichev, Russia's emergency situations minister who died during drills on Wednesday.

Yevgeny Zinichev, 55, "tragically died in the line of duty during inter-agency exercises to protect the Arctic zone from emergency situations, while saving a person's life," the ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Zinichev became the head of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry in 2018.

His predecessor stepped down not long after a major fire in a shopping mall in Siberia killed more than 60 people, sending shockwaves throughout the country.

In 2016, Zinichev had a two-month stint as an acting governor of Russia's westernmost Kaliningrad region.

For a long time before that, he was part of President Vladimir Putin's personal security detail.

Image: AP