Fourth Former High-Ranking Russian Military Official Commits Suicide In Less Than A Year

A former Russian general committed suicide in Moscow Tuesday, the fourth high-ranking Russian military official to do so in less than a year. Lt. Gen. Anatoly Kudryavtsev, a 77-year-old former Russian air force servicemen, was discovered hanging in his Moscow apartment along with a suicide note complaining of “excruciating pain” from stomach cancer, according to a report in Newsweek.

Kudryavtsev, who retired from the military in 1993, said in his note that he did not blame anyone for his death. However, police are investigating since the suicide is similar to three others in Russia this past year.

Six months ago, retired Russian secret service agent Viktor Gudkov, 68, shot himself in the throat at his home in Moscow with a gun that had been awarded to him for service in the Chechen War. He had suffered from a “serious illness” that added to undiagnosed depression problems, according to police.

A few months before that, Maj. Gen. Boris Saplin, who retired from military service and served in the Soviet-Afghan war, shot himself in the head. According to police, he also had suffered from stomach cancer. He left a short suicide note complaining of an intense headache.

In February, a retired rear admiral of the Russian navy, Vyacheslav Apanasenko, who also suffered from stomach cancer, shot himself in the head; died died 10 days later. He said in his suicide note that his wife had been unable to get the necessary drugs to treat him. He wrote: “I do not blame anyone for this except the government and our health care.”

Suicides in Russia peaked in 1994, when up to 85 in every 100,000 people took their own lives. The Russian Federal State Statistics Service says the number of suicides has halved since then.