Russia's deputy minister for science and higher education died on May 20 during a return flight from Cuba, where he was participating in meetings as part of a government delegation, RBK reported. Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, became seriously ill on the nearly 12-hour flight back home. The pilot made an emergency landing in southern Russia for medical attention; however, doctors could not save Kucherenko's life. The cause of his death was not immediately known. Kucherenko was traveling with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Andrei Guskov, the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department for Latin America.
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