Russian Chef Who Spoke Out Against Putin's War Found Dead in Europe

Aprominent critic of Putin's war in Ukraine has been found dead in Europe, according to reports.

The Russian journalist and chef Alexei Zimin died at the age of 52, the Russian-language publication Afisha reported. The cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

Initial reports in the Russian press said he died in London, where he was based. However, further updates revealed that he was found dead in Belgrade, Serbia.

Newsweek has reached out to the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Alexei Zimin built a distinguished career across media and culinary spheres, working for Afisha and having served as editor-in-chief for the Russian edition of GQ and Gourmet.

He also contributed as a columnist for Russian publications Kommersant and Vedomosti. Alongside his writing, Zimin hosted the TV show "Cooking with Alexei Zimin" and authored several cookbooks.

Since relocating to London in 2015, Zimin has delved into the restaurant industry and launched the Zima restaurant and magazine in the city. He was a prominent critic of Russia's war in Ukraine, and previously posted a video of himself singing an anti-war song on Instagram, according to The Economist.

After he posted his video singing an anti-war song, Zimin's Russian TV show Cooking with Alexei Zimin was abruptly canceled by the network NTV, with the former Russian MP and prominent opposition politician Ilya Ponomarev stating that the cancellation was due to "the host's anti-war statements on social networks."

At the beginning of the war in 2022, Zimin also wrote several anti-war statements on Instagram saying, "bring our soldiers home" and: "The idea is unoriginal. Stop the war. Withdraw troops and bring our soldiers home."

He also wrote: "Like everyone who grew up in the USSR, I was brought up with the fairly common sense belief that war is the worst thing that can happen. There is no excuse for it and even if there were, now it's too late to make excuses. As Rosenbaum sang. Gotta stop this madness" and "War is not poker."

Having initially moved to the UK to train at Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary arts school in London, Zimin went on to open his restaurant Zima in 2016, serving Russian street-food style dishes.

He was one of many anti-war critics in London who regularly protested near the Russian embassy.

Zimin last posted on his Instagram account one week ago, promoting his latest cooking event, 'Belgrad special dinner: The History of the Anglo-Saxon World in 5 dishes' and presenting his new book, Anglomania, on November 7.

Since moving to the UK, Zimin reportedly had not been back to Russia, and after opening his restaurant, he began donating part of the proceeds to support Red Cross work with Ukrainian refugees.

Through his restaurant, Zimin donated approximately £30,000 to the Red Cross in 2023, according to British news channel Sky News.

Despite being a vocal opponent of the war, Zimin's restaurant was reportedly the target of threats and had bookings canceled at the beginning of the war.

He told Sky News that people called his restaurant and branded him and staff "Russian pigs" and they said: "You need to close your restaurant or we'll do it."

The UK saw a spike in anti-Russian hate crimes last year, which had more than doubled since 2021, according to Sky News.

The Russian Embassy in the UK also accused the British media of "Russophobia" in a statement in September, and wrote that they have "taken note of efforts by certain UK right-wing conservative forces" who allegedly persisted "in fueling anti-Russian hysteria in sponsored media outlets."

They also accused the UK media of reporting "habitual twisted facts and fictional plots" as well as using "grotesque geopolitical constructs, punctuated with the obsession that Russia must be made to suffer a military defeat and collapse."

While the circumstances behind Zimin's death remain unclear, the Kremlin has previously been accused of targeting anti-war Russian citizens and exiled Putin rivals in the West.

At least three Russian journalists and human rights activists who fled the country in the wake of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine say they were poisoned while traveling through Europe in the last year.