One of Russia’s leading space scientists has died after he was allegedly poisoned with mushrooms. 

Professor Vitaly Melnikov was head of the department of rocket and space systems at RSC Energia, Moscow’s leading spacecraft manufacturer. 

The 77-year-old was battling illness caused by the ‘severe poisoning’ for more than two weeks, but doctors were unable to save him.

Inedible mushrooms have been cited as the source of his poisoning, according to a ‘preliminary version’, as reported by the Moskovskij Komsomolets news outlet based in the Russian capital.

However, the circumstances surrounding how he came to be allegedly poisoned have not been revealed.

RSC Energia is the largest company of its kind in Russia and the nation’s leading business in the space industry. 

It is responsible for all operations involving human spaceflight and leads Russian developments for the International Space Station.

Mr Melnikov had also worked as chief researcher at TsNIIMASH, a division of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

He was the author of 291 scientific articles and was regarded among the most highly regarded space scientists, having also worked with colleagues at NASA and as a professor at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

His death comes after many senior Russian figures have died in mysterious or suspicious circumstances since president Vladimir Putin first waged his war against Ukraine. 

In recent weeks, a Russian general who knew the ‘secrets’ of the dictator’s £1billion palace died suddenly in jail just as he became eligible for parole, while a military chief who briefly led the Ukraine invasion was also found dead at the age of 58.

Earlier this year, multi-millionaire Russian MP Nikolay Bortsov, 77, who had links to the UK, was mysteriously found dead on the same day as fellow politician Dzhasharbek Uzdenov, 56.

Many of the deaths of those connected to Putin have come in strange circumstances, including falls from windows, random shootings, helicopter crashes and mysterious ‘suicides’.

One Russian oligarch even died last year after ‘shamans’ reportedly gave him toad venom to cure his hangover – but his cause of death was recorded as a heart attack.

Perhaps most prominently, the mercenary leader of the Wagner Group paramilitary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, was one of 10 people killed in a plane crash, alongside his right-hand man and co-founder Dmitry Utkin, 53.

However, conspiracy theories are rife over whether Prigozhin was really even on the plane.

Those rumours have only been fuelled further after the wife of his body double was spotted visiting the warlord’s tomb one day after his funeral.

On Thursday, an eerie video from Prigozhin emerged, seemingly sending his troops a message from beyond the grave. 

The Kremlin had initially dismissed claims that Prigozhin was assassinated as ‘absolute lies’ but has since admitted the plane crash could have been ‘deliberate’ – although the Russian government has not suggested Putin had any role in Prigozhin’s death.

Elsewhere, the ‘poisoned’ mushroom lunch case continues to grip the world after a woman cooked up a deadly meal for her in-laws, killing three and leaving one critically ill.

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