Putin critic and celebrated chef: Alexei Zimin is dead

In Belgrade hotel

Russian Putin critic and TV chef found dead

The Russian TV chef and Kremlin critic Alexei Zimin is dead. He died in a hotel in Belgrade under unclear circumstances.

He hosted one of the most successful Russian cooking shows and had to flee his homeland after critical statements about the war of aggression against Ukraine. Now Russian and British media are reporting: TV chef Alexei Zimin is dead. He was found lifeless in a hotel in Belgrade on Wednesday.

The BBC reports that Serbian authorities currently have no signs of suspicious circumstances, but an autopsy will be carried out on the 52-year-old. The blood is also examined for toxins. The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Zimin had traveled to Belgrade to promote his new book. The co-owner of the restaurant where he was launching his book said he was “laughing and in a good mood,” according to the BBC.

The chef’s TV show on Russian network NTV was canceled in 2022 after he made critical comments on social media about the attack on Ukraine. In May 2022, he told the BBC that his restaurant had been insulted and threatened with arson following the Russian invasion: “My partners were thinking about changing the name,” he said.

He had lived in London since 2015, where he also ran his restaurant. The chef’s death was confirmed on his Instagram page. “For us, Alexei was not only a colleague, but also a friend, a close confidant with whom we experienced a lot – good and sad,” it said.

The independent Russian news site Meduza praised Zimin as an outstanding journalist and chef who significantly changed Moscow’s restaurant scene in the early 2000s. In addition to restaurants, he also founded the magazine “Afisha Eda”, a guide to Moscow’s culinary offerings. He was also head of the Russian editions of GQ and Gourmet and a freelance writer for several Russian daily newspapers.