Top Russian rocket scientist who had previously assisted foreign colleagues at NASA dies from poisoning after two-week fight for life

A top Russian rocket scientist who had previously assisted foreign colleagues at NASA has died of poisoning after a two-week illness, it was reported today.

Professor Vitaly Melnikov, aged 77, head of the Department of Missile and Space Systems at RSC Energia, the largest spacecraft manufacturer in Moscow, had suffered a sudden and serious illness before his death.

The source of his poisoning was inedible mushrooms, according to Moskovsky Komsomolets, a Moscow newspaper reported.

Doctors could not save Melnikov after he had been fighting the “severe poisoning” for more than two weeks. The circumstances in which he was allegedly poisoned have not been disclosed.

This is just the latest death of a high-profile Russian from reported poisonings.

Professor Vitaly Melnikov (pictured), 77, headed the Rocket and Space Systems Department at RSC Energia, Moscow’s largest spacecraft manufacturer

Russia has witnessed a spate of mysterious or suspicious deaths over the past two years since Vladimir Putin began preparing for his war in Ukraine.

Melnikov had worked as a principal investigator at TsNIIMASH, a division of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

He was the author of 291 scientific papers and was considered one of the most emerging space scientists.

He worked with foreign colleagues on a number of companies, including NASA. Russian space operations have continued to cooperate with other countries despite the war in Ukraine. Most recently, a Russian astronaut took off last week along with an American and two others during a Space X and NASA launch.

Most recently, Melnikov was a professor at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

The recent poisoning comes days after the mysterious death of a top military general, once close to Putin, who kept secrets about the construction of the Russian leader’s Black Sea Palace.

General Gennady Lopyrev, 69, suddenly fell ill – gasping for breath – and was told by doctors that he had not previously been diagnosed with leukemia.

Suspicions arose that he had been poisoned after it emerged that the general was eligible for parole.

Lopyrev was sentenced to ten years in prison by a military court in 2017, charged with taking bribes and illegal possession of ammunition. He maintained his innocence regarding the allegations.

Melnikov (pictured) had worked as a principal investigator at TsNIIMASH, a division of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

Last month it emerged that a Russian opposition politician who spoke out against the war in Ukraine had been poisoned with a highly toxic substance.

Elvira Vikhareva, 32, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, shared tests with Russian news channel Sota that showed she had traces of potassium dichromate in her blood.

Ms Vikhareva said she started feeling unwell in November last year, with symptoms including hair loss, muscle spasms and severe abdominal pain lasting until February 2023.

It also follows a string of poisonings targeted by Moscow critics in recent years – the most prominent of which was Russia’s de facto opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who nearly died after FSB agents smeared his underwear with novichock in August 2020.