The head of a shipyard that makes warships and submarines for the Russian Defense Ministry has died suddenly at the age of 66 – only the latest in a long line of powerful figures who have mysteriously croaked in recent months.
Alexander Buzakov was praised for overseeing some of Admiralty Shipyards’ “most complex orders” in a statement from United Shipbuilding Corporation, which announced his death on Saturday.
“The United Shipbuilding Corporation, Admiralty Shipyards and the entire national shipbuilding industry suffered an irreparable loss when Alexander Sergeevich Buzakov, General Director of Admiralty Shipyards, died at the age of 66,” the company said in a statement.
Russia’s TASS news agency reported that the company said his “early” death was “tragic,” but did not provide the cause of death or details of where he died.
The company noted that since taking the helm at one of Russia’s oldest and largest shipyards in 2011, Buzakov’s “main achievement” has been “maintaining and strengthening positions in the market for modern non-nuclear submarines, surface vessels and deep-sea equipment.”
In 2019, Buzakov told Interfax that Admiralty Shipyards was keen to begin production of diesel-powered submarines capable of firing Kalibr cruise missiles — the same ones Moscow has been using for months to indiscriminately kill civilians in Ukraine.
“We’re ready,” he said, adding that the company “expects” to sign a deal with the Department of Defense in 2020.
For his work, Buzakov was regularly awarded top honors by the Russian government, including two medals for services to the Fatherland and the Order of Naval Merit.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, in comments published by Kommersant, praised Buzakov as a crucial figure for the country’s defense sector.
“His personal responsibility was great in fulfilling the most important government contracts, especially defense ones,” Beglov was quoted as saying. “The fact that our country was prepared for confrontation with the West is an essential part of his work. Russia now has a powerful military and civilian fleet.”