The key facts

  • Malakhov published a fragment of surveillance footage from the Darkhan hotel in Neryungri; the full video was shown in his program on the Rossiya TV channel
  • The footage shows Sosedov climbing the stairs holding the handrail; according to Life.ru, the full recording shows the fall from the third step
  • The criminal case of causing death by negligence was reported closed at the end of October; relatives had earlier been unable to obtain the footage from the hotel

What the footage shows

TV host Andrei Malakhov published on his Telegram channel a fragment of surveillance camera footage from the Darkhan hotel in Neryungri, Yakutia, where music critic Sergei Sosedov suffered a fatal injury on September 23. The footage shows the 58-year-old critic unsteadily climbing the stairs, swaying and holding onto the handrail; then the fragment cuts off. According to Gazeta.Ru, Malakhov promised to show the full video on air in his program on the Rossiya TV channel.

What the full version adds

Life.ru describes the full recording shown on air: it shows that Sosedov had difficulty walking — at one point he stops and falls from a step onto his back, after which people rush to him. The outlet clarifies the circumstances: on the morning of September 23 the critic was found unconscious on the hotel's stairwell landing; he had come to Neryungri to chair the jury of the Pearl of the Far East fashion and beauty contest, and died in hospital from a severe head injury. The publication of the footage marked a notable change from the previous situation: according to the deceased's nephew Oleg Kazantsev, the family had come to the hotel, but staff refused to show the footage, citing a non-disclosure obligation.

Versions and status of the case

Contest organizer Viktor Bezzubov, according to Gazeta.Ru, reviewed the footage of the fall and stressed that Sosedov was sober that day. The critic's friend Larisa suggested that he may have fallen due to poor health: before the incident he had endured a long flight from Moscow to a region where the first snow had fallen, spent ten hours in a car, and complained of low blood pressure caused by weather changes. Life.ru describes the legal side: in October the Investigative Committee reported an investigation into a criminal case of causing death by negligence, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin requested a report on the progress of the investigation, and on October 29 the case was reported closed. Sosedov was buried at the Perepechinskoye cemetery in the Moscow region next to his father; the farewell ceremony took place on September 30 at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow.