The former Russian presidential aide found dead in a hotel room in D.C. in November died of blunt-force injuries to the head, D.C. police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner say.
Mikhail Lesin, a former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found unresponsive on the floor of his room in the Dupont Circle Hotel the morning of Nov. 5, The Associated Press reported. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lesin, 57, died of "blunt-force injuries of the head," a joint statement by the Metropolitan Police Department and OCME said. Also contributing to his death were "blunt-force injuries of the neck, torso, upper extremities and lower extremities," the statement said.
The case remains an active investigation, MPD chief spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said. Lesin's manner of death could change depending on the finding of the investigation, OCME representative LaShon Beamon said.
The state-funded media company RT reported in November that Lesin died of a heart attack.
In addition to being a former aide to Putin, Lesin helped found the English-language news service Russia Today, later renamed RT. He served as Russian press minister from 1999 to 2004 and presidential media adviser from 2004 to 2009, RT said.
He then became a senior executive at Gazprom-Media, Russia's largest media holding company.
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