WASHINGTON (AP) – Mikhail Lesin, a former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin who helped found the English-language news service Russia Today, was found dead in an upscale Washington hotel room, Russian authorities said. He was 57.
The Russian Embassy in Washington on Friday confirmed the death of Lesin, whose body was discovered Thursday.
Russia Today reported on its website that Lesin died of a heart attack, and the state news agency RIA-Novosti cites a family member giving the same cause of death.
Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Officer Sean Hickman said that officers were called to the Dupont Circle Hotel on Thursday morning and found a man dead. Russian Embassy spokesman Yury Melnik confirmed that the man was Lesin.
Beverly Fields, a spokeswoman for the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said an autopsy was performed and the cause and manner of Lesin’s death had not been determined on Saturday.