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Russia’s NTV founder Malashenko reportedly committed suicide, says Spanish Civil Guard

Igor Malashenko passed away in Spain on Monday

Igor Malashenko Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

Igor Malashenko

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MADRID, February 26. /TASS/. Spain’s Civil Guard believes "everything shows" that Igor Malashenko, one of the founders of Russia’s NTV television channel, committed suicide, a source in the country’s law enforcement agencies told TASS on Tuesday.

At the moment no theories about Malashenko’s death have been ruled out, the source said. Forensic tests will be carried out during the day.

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Russia’s NTV television channel founder Malashenko dies in Spain

On Monday, the Russian Embassy in Madrid said that Spain’s Civil Guard confirmed that Malashenko suddenly passed away at the age of 64 and an investigation was launched.

Malashenko was behind Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s 1996 re-election campaign and also led the election headquarters of Russian presidential contender Kseniya Sobchak last year.

He graduated from the philosophy department of Moscow State University and then worked at the Institute of US and Canadian Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

From 1992, he was director general of the Ostankino TV and Radio Broadcasting Company and held the post of the NTV head from 1993 to 1997.

From 2000, Malashenko moved to live in the United States, and also frequently visited Spain.

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