SPUTNIK
- A decorated Russian general and his wife were found dead at his home.
- The general, Vladimir Sviridov, was critical of soldier training in the Russian military.
- He's the latest in a series of critics of the Russian establishment found inexplicably dead.
Another member of the Russian military was found dead under unknown circumstances this week.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov, 68, and his wife Tatyana, 72, were found dead Wednesday in their bedroom, per the Kyiv Post. They looked to have been dead for about a week prior to their discovery, according to the Post.
Sviridov commanded the 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of Russia from 2005 to 2009, per the Kyiv Post.
The Kyiv Post also reported that a Russian Telegram channel, Baza, said the couple did not appear to have died violently, and toxic substances were not detected in any preliminary bloodwork.
"What caused the death of Vladimir and Tatyana Sviridov is still unknown," according to the Baza channel.
During Sviridov's time as a commander in the 2000s, he complained about the Russian army, saying Russian pilots were not trained well enough.
"A pilot must have about 100 hours of flight time per year for full combat readiness. However, this is not yet the case," he said in one interview, per the Kyiv Post. "The average flight time in the army is currently 25-30 hours."
In another interview, he said that the army appointed poorly trained officers because they lacked skilled ones, per the Kyiv Post.
Putin's critics and adversaries have died in suspicious circumstances for years, but nearly two years into the war between Russia and Ukraine, the deaths seem to be ramping up.
Last September, Ivan Pechorin, a Russian energy executive, fell out of his boat and into the sea, where he died.
In late August, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner group and orchestrator of a coup-like march on Moscow, died in a bizarre plane accident.
The Kremlin and Russian state media have not yet commented on Sviridov's death, per the Kyiv Post.
Russian Major General Vladimir Popov said the death was "absurd."
"When I found out about his death, it hurt my heart," he said to News.ru. "It's a shame that people of such a rank, who are worthy of attention and respect, go out in this way."