"The early departure of Ambassador Surikov, a dedicated diplomat with exceptional qualities who, with unparalleled professionalism, knew how to defend the interests of his country, while promoting a fruitful cooperation between our two countries, leaves an immense void", refers the message of condolences from the Mozambican President.

In the same message, Filipe Nyusi reiterates the "solidarity" and "full support of the Government of Mozambique for the subsequent procedures".

The Mozambican Public Ministry said today that it is unaware of the alleged decision by the Russian authorities not to authorize the autopsy of the Russian ambassador found dead on Saturday in Maputo.

Alexander Surikov, 68, was found dead on Saturday night at the official residence in Maputo and, according to the Mozambican police, the Russian authorities did not authorize any examination of the body.

"On this matter [the non-authorization of autopsy] I will not be able to speak (...). I have no knowledge. But naturally any criminal occurrence, if that is the case, the Public Ministry takes notice", said to the media the spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, Nazimo Mussá, on the sidelines of the entity's meeting in Maputo.

According to information from the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) to which Lusa had access on Sunday, the "presumption" of the investigation is "sudden death due to undetermined causes", however, when the police picket arrived at the morgue of the Maputo Central Hospital "it found that the body had already been packed".

"And, by instructions from Russia, which reached the picket's technical team through the consul of that Federation, Mr. Yuri Doroshenkov, who was present at the morgue accompanied by the embassy's security officer, he was instructed not to do any (...) examination of the body, much less an autopsy", the information states.

"However, the technical team took photographs of the deceased's body in the drawer, photographs of his residence were taken and the consul's statement was collected", he added.

In one of the few statements to the media, Ambassador Surikov had conveyed, in an interview with Lusa, on February 2, Moscow's willingness to support Maputo in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, if requested, noting, however, that the support that the country is receiving is sufficient.

"If Mozambique requests something, we are on their side, but the situation is not so dramatic now", said Alexandre Surikov, reacting to a question posed by Lusa, on the sidelines of an event at the Ponta Vermelha Palace, the official residence of the President of Mozambique, in Maputo.

The Russian ambassador even said that Maputo "can always count on Russia": "We have many years of experience in military cooperation with Mozambique, we helped this country to build its armed forces and they know perfectly well about our capabilities. If they need any specific help, we are always on their side".

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