A former Russian general who previously criticized how President Vladimir Putin's air force was trained has been found dead at his home in Russia's southern Stavropol Krai.
The body of Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov, 68, the former commander of the 6th Air Force and Air Defense Forces Army, was found on Wednesday, a source in Russia's law enforcement told state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
Экс-командующий 6-й армией ВВС и ПВО РФ Владимир Свиридов и его жена найдены погибшими в своём доме в Ставропольском крае.
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In 2007, he complained in an interview with Russian magazine Take Off that pilots were receiving inadequate training.
"A pilot must have about 100 hours of flight time per year for full combat readiness," he told the publication. "However, this is not yet the case. The average flight time in the army is currently 25-30 hours."
The law enforcement source said Sviridov was found next to the body of a woman, who is yet to be identified.
Russian Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Moscow's security services, and Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the woman was the general's wife.
Kommersant said the general and his wife were discovered lying next to each other in bed at their home in Stavropol Krai's Andzhievsky village.
RIA Novosti reports that no signs of violent death were found, and that the circumstances of the deaths are being looked into.
The Kremlin hasn't commented on news of the general's death. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.
Sviridov graduated from the Stavropol Higher Military Aviation School of Air Defense Pilots and Navigators, and served in the Far Eastern Military District and commanded an air squadron in a group of Soviet forces in Germany.
He graduated in 2002 from the Military Academy of the General Staff, and was later appointed deputy commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Army. In 2005, he was appointed commander of the 6th Air Force and Air Defense Army—which belongs to Russia's Aerospace Forces—and held the position until 2009.
According to independent Russian news outlet Meduza, the 6th Air Force and Air Defense Army was formed in 1998 by the merger of the 76th Air Army and the 6th Separate Red Banner Air Defense Army, and the unit's military personnel participate in Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kommersant reports that an investigation into the death of Sviridov and the unidentified woman is being carried out by the regional FSB Directorate.
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Update: 11/16/23 at 7:07 a.m.: This article was updated with additional information.
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
