Major General Vladimir Makarov died of an apparent suicide in a Moscow suburb on Monday, weeks after being axed by Vladimir Putin. General Makarov’s wife found him in their home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in the village of Golikovo, according to the Russian-language news outlet SOTA. Makarov was responsible for countering extremism in Russia, and allegedly led efforts to remove the President’s rivals and journalists.
He is believed to have actively sought out and suppressed anyone who opposed Putin’s authoritarian government, including young people who protested against the Kremlin.
According to unverified reports, Makarov’s son called an ambulance to their home, but the general could not be saved.
The reports suggest that Makarov fell into a state of severe depression after being dismissed by Putin, and his relatives were quoted as saying that he did not know how to cope with forced retirement.
Makarov targeted opposition activists and independent journalists during his past role as the deputy head of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism.
Makarov, 72, was reportedly sacked by President Vladimir Putin.
In Russia, the term “extremist” is used to refer to various opposition groups, as well as media outlets that have been banned from organising protests against the government or sharing information deemed harmful to the state.
According to Reuters, several prominent Russians and business people have died in unexplained circumstances in recent months.
Before his passing, Makarov was with his wife Valentina in their rural home in the hamlet of Golikovo outside Moscow.
According to sources, Valentina discovered her husband nearby with a hunting rifle or a pistol after hearing a gunshot around 7am.
Makarov’s family is currently being questioned by the Russian Investigative Committee. According to law enforcement officials, it is believed that he committed suicide.
It comes as Ukrainian officials reported significant numbers of Russian troops killed, wounded, and captured during battle, and a marine brigade of 5,000 men was almost completely destroyed for the third time since the start of the full-scale invasion by the Kremlin nearly a year ago.
Russian hardliners have demanded open prosecutions for the inept generals who were in charge of what turned out to be the slaughter of their soldiers on the battlefield as a result of substantial casualties and destruction of at least 130 armoured vehicles.
Elite Russian units made multiple unsuccessful attempts to capture a fortified coal mining town in Vuhledar, Donetsk in broad daylight, resulting in heavy military losses for Russia
Some of these generals, in the words of Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer who participated in the pro-Moscow uprisings in Donetsk and Crimea, are “complete cretins” who continually made the same errors.
