Forensic expert ruled out poisoning and foul play in Sergei Sosedov's death after analyzing video of the fall

Forensic expert assessed video of Sosedov's fall

Forensic expert Mikhail Ignatov, in a comment to Gazeta.Ru, assessed the video of the final minutes of TV presenter Sergei Sosedov's life, which Andrei Malakhov aired. According to him, the footage shows no criminal trace: there are no signs of a struggle, and Sosedov himself, judging by his manner of walking on the first flight of stairs, was climbing with difficulty — he was dizzy or feeling unwell. This was followed by a stop and a sudden fall. Ignatov also sees no involvement of the man who appeared in the camera's frame.

Arguments against the poisoning theory

Ignatov also ruled out the theory of poisoning on the staircase. 'If he had been poisoned, the autopsy would have shown it. All bodily fluids are taken for examination,' the forensic expert explained. He added that Sosedov had already complained of dizziness and headaches several years ago: during filming, the critic would sit down separately when he felt unwell and then come to — Ignatov himself heard about this from him twice. In the specialist's opinion, the TV presenter's death was an accident, and if there had been any suspicion of a push or a substance being sprayed in his face, a criminal case would have been opened immediately, since identifying a suspect would not be difficult.

Circumstances of the death

Sergei Sosedov died in September 2026 in Neryungri, where he had arrived on a business trip: he fell down a staircase at a hotel and suffered a head injury that led to his death. Earlier, as Gazeta.Ru notes, Sosedov's friend named a new cause of the critic's fall at the Neryungri hotel; details of this version are not given in the November 10 publication, so it is impossible to compare it with the forensic expert's conclusions based on the available data.