An aide to Russian President millionaire, Vladimir Putin, was found dead at a hotel in Washington, said Friday evening ABC News, citing a senior Russian official and another American.
Former Minister of Communications of Russia, Mikhail Lesin, accused by the opposition of being controlled media in Russia, was found dead Thursday at The Dupont Circle Hotel.
US authorities reported the incident to the Russian embassy in Washington. Leaders of both countries are investigating the circumstances of the death.
Washington DC Police said the AFP only that there had been a death on Thursday at 1500 New Hampshire Avenue NW Avenue, where among others is the hotel The Dupont Circle, and that it was "under investigation ".
Lesin would have helped establish Russia Today (RT), a group of English-language media supported by the Russian government, which claims to want to "give an alternative perspective of the major world events" with "Russian view".
Lesin was Russian Minister of Communications from 1999 to 2004 and then advisor to Putin for creating Russia Today, and general manager of media holding Russian oil giant Gazprom, according to Republican Senator Roger Wicker.
It would have acquired goods in Europe for several million dollars and residences in Los Angeles (US west) for over 28 million.
"That a Russian official has been able to acquire important assets raises serious questions," Wicker wrote in a letter to US Attorney General in July 2014.
AFP