Former senior Russian interior ministry official Maj. Gen. Vladimir Makarov was found dead in an apparent suicide in a Moscow suburb a few weeks after he was relieved by President Vladimir Putin, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Makarov, who previously served as deputy head of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism and was known for cracking down on dissent, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Russian-language news agency SOTA reported.

After reporting a sudden dismissal last month, Makarov fell into a “deep depression” and did not know how to continue his career after a lifelong military service, relatives told the VChK-OGPU telegram channel.

Series of suicides

Makarov is the latest in a series of mysterious suicides linked to Putin and his regime. Russian politician and businessman Pavel Advov was found dead outside a hotel in eastern India in December after falling from a window. He has previously criticized Russian attacks in Kyiv as “terrorism”.

Ivan Pechorin, 39, a Russian energy market executive, died in September after falling overboard while sailing off Russky Island in the Sea of ​​Japan, Russian media reported.

On September 1, 67-year-old vice president of the Russian oil company Lukoil, Ravil Maganov, died after falling out of a Moscow hospital window.

Rapoport case

In August, Dan K. Rapoport, a Latvian-American businessman and anti-Putin critic, reportedly jumped out of his Washington apartment window. At the time of the fall, he had a phone, car keys, nearly $3,000 in cash, and a Florida driver’s license.

The police of the US capital at the moment do not suspect anything suspicious, although they continue to investigate the death of Rappaport. Rapoport’s widow Alena Rapoport disputed reports that her husband’s death was caused by him.

Source: Reuters, The Jerusalem Post.