Moscow Expects to Receive Data on Lesin's Death From US Investigators

Moscow would prefer learning new information on the circumstances of the death of former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin directly from the US investigators rather then media reports, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Friday, a medical statement was released to media stating that Lesin, who was also ex-head of Gazprom-Media, died as a result of blunt force injuries of the head, in contradiction to earlier announcements.

The former Russian press minister died in Washington, DC on November 5, 2015. Following his death, Lesin's family told media that he died from heart attack.

"We believe that as the American investigators have new information, we would like to receive it directly from those people who are obliged to [provide] it, not from the journalists, not from the reports," Zakharova said.

Lesin was born on July 11, 1958. He served as minister for the affairs of the press, broadcasting and mass communications from 1999 to 2004 and as presidential adviser from 2004 to 2009. He was appointed to head Gazprom-Media holding in October 2013 and resigned in January 2015, citing family reasons. Lesin is also widely credited as the creator of international broadcaster RT.