The "accidental" death of another Russian general - this time no fall was involved

Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov

“Pour encourager les autres” (To encourage the others) — Voltaire commenting on the execution of British Admiral John Byng after he failed to hold Minorca.

A mysterious death

Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov (68), the former commander of Russia’s 6th Air Force and Air Defense Forces Army, once criticized Putin’s Air Force as “third-rate."

On Wednesday, according to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti, he and his wife, 72-year-old Tatyana, were found dead in their bed at home in Stavropol Krai's Andzhievsky village. The news agency’s source, a member of Russian law enforcement, said there were no signs of foul play.

In addition, the Russian Telegram channel Baza said there were no signs of violence, and no toxic substances were found in the blood of either victim according to preliminary tests. (There had been some scuttlebutt that carbon monoxide poisoning was suspected.)

“Gas service workers have already taken measurements and no excess of the permissible concentration of harmful substances has been detected.”

The General’s complaints

While in his command, Sviridov complained about the condition of the Air Force and the poor training of Russian pilots. In one interview, he said:

“A pilot must have about 100 hours of flight time per year for full combat readiness. However, this is not yet the case. The average flight time in the army is currently 25-30 hours.”

In another, he said: “We are forced to appoint not fully trained officers because there are no better ones.”

A few thoughts

The General’s remarks about the deplorable training of Russia’s aviators were made in 2007. But like his American sycophant, Putin does not forget slights. And unlike Trump, he is capable of outward emotional control and long-range planning. And who knows what Sviridov might have said more recently after the Russian Air Force’s lamentable performance in the Ukraine War

I suspect that the Russian authorities are running a full-scale investigation into what story they will agree on to explain the General and his wife’s untimely demise. That will not be a Herculean task as they have so much experience with this sort of thing.

As an armchair sleuth, I will go with asphyxiation as the cause. Mainly because the authorities were in such a rush to rule it out. Although, I suppose poisoning is still a contender. If it were a gassing, it seems the Russians have bought into the American ethos of convenience. They now bring the gas chamber to your home.

We can rule out natural causes. What are the odds a married couple will die at the same time — so close together that neither had an opportunity to call 911 — or 112 as the Russians do?

The other odd detail is that, according to the authorities, the General and his wife were dead for a week. Had they no friends or family?

We will never know what happened. Russia, like the GOP, is a place where the truth has its throat slit. And evidence is dismissed as superfluous.