Merkacheva noted that in recent months Svanidze had been active: he himself answered messages and wrote. She mentioned that the last time she communicated with him was in May, when he reported about his health condition. According to her, Svanidze was full of optimism and intended to fight the disease, especially after the large number of birthday greetings in April.
According to Baza, the preliminary cause of Svanidze's death is pneumonia. Nikolai Svanidze hosted a number of television programs, including Details, Historical Chronicles with Nikolai Svanidze and Historical Process. In November 2022, he was expelled from the Presidential Human Rights Council, which Svanidze attributed to his anti-war stance.
Svanidze also engaged in human rights activities and actively opposed the liquidation of the movement “For Human Rights” and the historical and educational society “Memorial”, recognized as foreign agents. The journalist also criticized the law on “foreign agents”.
In the last years of his life, Svanidze suffered from serious illnesses, including lung problems and sepsis. In February 2023, he was sent to Israel for treatment, RBC reported.
Earlier, Maslyakov's granddaughter complained about the journalists who filmed the funeral.