Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’ just weeks after Putin’s failed moon landing

By Juliana Cruz

A TOP Russian rocket scientist has died from “mushroom poisoning” weeks after Putin’s failed moon landing, reports claim.

Professor Vitaly Melnikov, 77, had headed up the Department of Rocket and Space Systems at RSC Energia, Moscow’s leading spacecraft manufacturer.

The source of his poisoning was inedible mushrooms, according to a “preliminary version”, reported Moskovsky Komsomolets.

Doctors were unable to save him after battling the “severe poisoning” for more than two weeks.

The circumstances surrounding his death have not been confirmed.

Russia has witnessed a spate of mysterious or suspicious deaths in the past two years since Vladimir Putin started preparing for his war in Ukraine.