A former commander of Russian air defences has been found dead alongside his wife under mysterious circumstances.
Highly-decorated Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov, 68, and his wife Tatyana, 72, were dead for around a week before their corpses were found, it is reported.
The retired pilot once criticised Vladimir Putin for running a ‘third-ranking’ air force, warning top officers were leaving the armed forces because of dire pay and conditions.
Russian authorities have been unable to ascertain the cause of death, local media reported.
The general and his wife were found in their home in the village of Adzhievsky in Stavropol region.
‘Gas service workers have already taken measurements and no excess of the permissible concentration of harmful substances has been detected,’ an initial report into their death read.
‘What caused the death of Vladimir and Tatyana Sviridov is still unknown.’
Hellbound and Down 