Putin critic and decorated Russian air force commander Vladimir Sviridov found dead

A former Russian air force commander and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin has been found dead. Vladimir Sviridov’s body was reportedly found next to the remains of an unidentified woman.

The senior Russian commander, who himself was also a pilot, once accused Putin of maintaining a “third-rate” air force, which was forced to hire inexperienced and under-trained aircrew.

Media reports say there were no signs of a struggle inside his home in Russia's southern Stavropol Krai area. It is unclear how Sviridov and the unidentified woman died, as per Newsweek.

“Gas service workers have already taken measurements and no excess of the permissible concentration of harmful substances has been detected,” unidentified Russian officials told Metro News.

Sviridov publicly complained about the under-trained Russian airforce in a 2007 interview. He explained that pilots were being inducted before completing their 100 hours of flight time. “The average flight time in the army is currently 25-30 hours,” he said in the interview.

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