It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Mikhail Vasilyevich Menshikov, on May 1, 2026, in York, UK. A distinguished Russian-British mathematician who served for many years as a professor at Moscow State University and Durham University, Mikhail Menshikov was a prominent figure in probability theory, random walks, and percolation.

Born in Moscow on January 17, 1948, Mikhail grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine. During his school years, he was a multiple-time winner of the All‑Ukrainian Mathematics Olympiads. Finishing school with a medal, he went on to study at the prestigious Moscow State University, where he received both his candidate of sciences (PhD equivalent) degree in 1975 and his doctor of sciences degree in 1988. His early research, supervised by Vadim Alexandrovich Malyshev, focused on the ergodicity and analyticity of random walks.

Mikhail began his professional career at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky in 1971, before returning to Moscow State University as an assistant professor. In 1995, he became a full professor.

The difficult years in Russia in the 1990s led him to the University of São Paulo in Brazil, where he served as a visiting professor. During this period, he made significant contributions to mathematical research in the region and left behind a strong network of students and collaborators. In 2000, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Durham University, UK. There Mikhail became one of the central figures in the probability research group, which today has more than a dozen members.

His work had a profound influence on percolation theory and the study of random walks. He authored around 100 research papers in leading international journals, and co-authored three books: Combinatorial Analysis (1982, in Russian), Topics in the Constructive Theory of Countable Markov Chains (1995), and Non-Homogeneous Random Walks: Lyapunov Function Methods for Near-Critical Stochastic Systems (2016). Independently and around the same time as the work of Aizenman, Barsky and others in the West, he proved a number of fundamental results concerning near-critical percolation models in two dimensions. Michael Aizenman remembers: “When Misha and I finally met in person, at the [2023] Grimmett-fest in Cambridge, we instantaneously formed a friendship that extended beyond professional recognition and courtesy. He came across as not only a deeply insightful mathematician, but also a mensch, and an inspiring person to meet. His passing must be a deep loss for all who knew him.” Mikhail also made a significant contribution to the development of the Lyapunov function method. Many of us remember his saying: “Finding a suitable Lyapunov function is a great art,” and he indeed had a remarkable intuition for it.

It is also worth noting that, until his final years, he remained intellectually fearless, repeatedly returning to some of the most notoriously difficult open problems in percolation, always seeking new and original approaches despite the formidable obstacles they posed. Those who worked with him in this period remember not only the depth of his ideas but also his unwavering belief that even the hardest problems were worth pursuing.

Beyond his publications, Professor Menshikov was a dedicated mentor. He supervised more than ten doctoral students and left an academic lineage of nearly 40 descendants worldwide.

Mikhail’s life was marked not only by mathematical achievement but also by remarkable personal strength and devotion. Three years ago, his wife Vera, with whom he had shared more than fifty years of life, passed away after a prolonged illness. During the demanding years when he cared for her, Mikhail continued to work, collaborate, and publish mathematical papers. He remained mathematically active until his sudden and completely unexpected death.

Outside mathematics, Mikhail enjoyed walking in nature and was an enthusiastic mushroom picker. He knew the best places and took great pleasure in long walks through the forest. He was also a lifelong table tennis player; as a young man, he once even won the Moscow State University table tennis competition, and he continued to enjoy the game throughout his life.

Mikhail is survived by his daughter, who lives in England; his son, who lives in Ukraine; and his granddaughter and three great-grandchildren, who live in Russia.

Known to colleagues for his mathematical intuition and to students for his inspiration, support and kindness, Mikhail Menshikov leaves a lasting legacy in probability theory and in the lives of those who worked with him. He was generous with his ideas, open to collaboration, and a true friend and mentor to many former students and colleagues. He will be deeply missed and warmly remembered.

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Sergei Zuyev, Serguei Popov, Stanislav Volkov and Vadim Shcherbakov