‘He came to Armenia on duty, but he left his heart here’: Armenian National Hero Nikolai Ryzhkov dies at 95

Soviet and Russian state figure and former Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Nikolai Ryzhkov passed away in Moscow. 

“A man of the epoch. A man of a unique destiny and a statesman of a unique scale. And a great soul. It was manifested in everything that Nikolai Ivanovich undertook, in everything he was doing,” said Valentina Matviyenko, Chair of Russia’s Federation Council, emphasizing that Ryzhkov sincerely and deeply cared about his work.

Matviyenko did not inform about the reasons for Ryzhkov’s death.

Nikolai Ryzhkov was a great friend of the Armenian people. He headed the commission to oversee relief and rehabilitation operations in the regions of Armenia affected by the 1988 Spitak earthquake. In 1998, Ryzhkov visited the country again, this time as a member of Russia’s State Duma.

On December 7, 1998, a monument to Ryzhkov was unveiled in Spitak. This is a rare case when such a thing happens during the lifetime of an honored figure. 

Nikolai Ryzhkov used to say that he came to Armenia on duty, but he left his heart here.