‘HEART’ KILLED U.N. BIG
Info leak on Russian
A city official on Friday revealed that the Russian ambassador to the UN who collapsed in his office last month died from a heart attack — information the Kremlin had tried to keep under wraps.
The official was not authorized to reveal the cause of death of Ambassador Vitaly Churkin after the city’s Medical Examiner’s Office was told to clam up. But the official released the results to media outlets while requesting to remain anonymous.
An autopsy was performed on Churkin (inset) last month, but his death required further study.
More tests were completed, but Julie Bolcer, spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said the city’s Law Department told the office to keep it hushed up “in order to comply with international law and protocol.”
The State Department on Feb. 24 asked the city not to reveal the autopsy results, because Churkin’s diplomatic immunity survives his death.
“The United States insists on the dignified handling of the remains of our diplomatic personnel who pass away abroad (including in Russia) and works to prevent unnecessary disclosures regarding the circumstances of their deaths,” wrote James Donovan, minister counselor for host country affairs for the US mission to the UN.
In a follow-up letter sent on March 1, the State Department noted Russia raised concerns after the autopsy had been conducted, and “voluntary statements reported in the media about Ambassador Churkin’s medical history” prompted complaints from Russian diplomats.
“The information reported was very private in nature and included information about which even they had no knowledge,” Donovan wrote in the follow-up letter to Mayor de Blasio’s international-affairs off ice.
Churkin, who died on Feb. 20 at a hospital at age 64, had been Russia’s envoy at the UN since 2006.
He was the longest-serving ambassador on the Security Council.
He was buried in Moscow, where he was praised by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as an “exceptional professional and people’s diplomat.” The Order of Courage, a medal awarded posthumously to Churkin by President Vladimir Putin, was displayed at his coffin.