A Russian rocket scientist has died after mysteriously being poisoned – with Russian state media saying that he ate edible mushrooms.

Professor Vitaly Melnikov, 77, had headed the Department of Rocket and Space Systems at RSC Energia before becoming suddenly seriously ill days before he died.

A Moscow newspaper claimed that inedible mushrooms were the reason for his sudden downturn in health.

Russian doctors were unable to save Melkinov from the “severe poisoning” that he suffered – as he battled against his fate for more than two weeks after he fell ill.

Melkinov had worked with the Russian state space agency Roscosmos – including times when he cooperated with foreign counterparts including at NASA.

Melkinov is the latest in a series of unusual deaths in Russia since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

From a sausage tycoon found dead in a hotel, to a toad-venom shaman hangover cure gone wrong, a series of individuals who have met a bizarre demise.

Fears of assassination have increased since the Wagner group’s attempted mutiny last month with the private military company’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin killed in an apparent assassination attempt weeks after the aborted coup.

The Vice-President of a Russian bank, Kristina Baikova, fell to her death from a window in her Moscow apartment earlier this week. Loko Bank is a commercial bank headquartered in Moscow with “reputable foreign investors” in its share capital.

Here is a list of other high-profile Russians who have died in suspicious circumstances since the war began.

Kristina Baikova – 23rd June 2023

The Vice-President of a Russian bank, Kristina Baikova, fell to her death from a window in her 11th-floor-apartment in Moscow. The 28-year-old fell on the same day the Wagner PMC began their mutiny and approach on Moscow. Baikova worked for Loko Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Moscow with “reputable foreign investors” in its share capital.

Grigory Klinishov – 17th June 2023

The scientist who created Russia’s thermonuclear bombs was found dead in his Moscow apartment, with official reports reading he committed suicide. Grigory Klinishov’s body was accompanied by a suicide note. The former Soviet-Russian physicist was one of the creators of the Soviet hydrogen bomb RDS-37. The Russian Investigative Committee said that while “neck injuries characteristic of hanging” were found on the body, a probe is underway to decide whether a criminal case should be initiated into the nonagenarian’s death.

Artyom Bartenev – 8th June 2023

A judge appointed by President Vladimir Putin was found dead after falling twelve stories from his apartment window. The body of 42-year-old Artyom Bartenev was found outside his apartment building in the city of Kazan on the morning of 8th June. He was meant to judge a trial that morning. Bartenev was a federal judge who presided over administrative and civil cases.

Pyotr Kucherenko – 20 May 2023

A senior Russian official died after falling ill on a flight from Cuba to Russia. Pyotr Kucherenko, the State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, was travelling back with his delegation from the Latin American country as part of a Government trip. His plane made an emergency landing in the Russian town of Mineralnye Vody, near the Georgian border, where doctors tried to save him.

The politician had previously publicly criticised the Russian occupation of Ukraine, calling the war a “fascist invasion” and mourned the “degree of brutalisation of our state.

Nikolay Bortsov – 23rd April 2023

77-year-old multi-millionaire Nikolay Bortsov was found dead in his home in the Lipetsk region of Russia, but no cause was given. His fortune was mostly amassed through the sale of his soft drinks company to PepsiCo in 2008.

Bortsov, also a former politician, was included on the UK EU, US, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Ukraine and New Zealand list of sanctions, due to his voiced support for the war in Ukraine.

Igor Shkurko – 4th April 2023

A leading Russian energy boss was found dead in his cell in a Siberian detention centre after bei