Retired Russian spy general Igor Laptev, who ran a company supplying secure communications to Russia's Defence and Interior ministries, was found dead in Moscow on August 20. The 83-year-old's body was discovered in his study at his apartment on Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street, with a gunshot wound to the head, according to reports in Russia.
Death reported as suicide
Pro-Kremlin newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported that Laptev, a decorated former KGB and FSB officer, had taken his own life. Law enforcement confirmed the incident to state media and added that a pistol was found near his body. A possible motive has not been disclosed, and it is not clear whether a note was left. Details about the weapon and its owner remain scarce.
Laptev was found by relatives. Russia's Investigative Committee has not publicly commented on the death or the circumstances.
Career in intelligence and government
Laptev died eight days before his 84th birthday but was still actively working in a company with high-level security clearance. He had held sensitive positions in Russia's intelligence services, defence industry, tax police, and government before becoming chairman of the Informtekhnika group, which develops protected communications and information systems used for transmitting state secrets.
He joined the Soviet KGB in 1971 and took part in combat operations during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. During his service in the KGB and its successor, the FSB, Laptev specialised in 'information security'. He later worked for the Federal Tax Police and served as Russia's deputy minister for taxes and levies during Boris Yeltsin's presidency in the late 1990s.
Legal dispute and honours
At the time of his death, his company was reportedly involved in a legal dispute with the Defence Ministry over alleged delays to military communications contracts, including a £62,600 claim filed in May 2026. Among his accolades were 12 medals, plus both the Soviet Order of the Badge of Honour and Russia's Order of Honour.
His death joins a succession of senior Russian military and intelligence figures reported to have taken their own lives since Putin launched his full-scale invasion. In June 2022, retired SVR foreign intelligence Major-General Lev Sotskov, 90, was found dead in his apartment beside a pistol he had reportedly received as an award. A month later, retired FSB Major-General Yevgeny Lobachev, 76, was found dead on the landing of his Moscow apartment building, with Russian law-enforcement sources attributing his death to suicide.
Pattern of deaths
Weeks after being dismissed from his post by Putin, former senior Interior Ministry anti-extremism official Major-General Vladimir Makarov, 72, died from a gunshot wound at his home in February 2023. Former transport minister Roman Starovoit, 53, was also found shot dead in July 2025, hours after Putin sacked him. Russian investigators said suicide was the principal explanation being examined, but there were dark claims he had been 'tortured' before being 'murdered'.
As of January 2026, Russia has lost at least 19 generals, reports claim. There is also a long list of businesspeople who have died suspiciously since the build-up to Putin's war.
