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Kremlin gives no comment to Lebanese media version of death of Russian intelligence chief

The Kremlin commented on media reports saying the former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate allegedly in a special operation outside the country

Igor Sergun Stanislav Krasilnikov/ITAR-TASS

Igor Sergun

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The Kremlin has withheld comment on the Lebanese media version of the sudden death of Igor Sergun, the former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff. Sergun died in January 2016.

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"We have already voiced everything we could," Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, answering a question about the Kremlin’s attitude to the insinuations and rumors around the GRU chief’s death allegedly in a special operation outside the country. "You have yourselves characterized these reports" (calling them rumors), he said.

Colonel General Sergun became head of the GRU in 2011 and was placed on an EU sanctions list following Crimea’s accession to Russia in 2014 for being "responsible for the activity of GRU officers in eastern Ukraine."

An obituary published on the Kremlin’s website noted his many decorations and awards, calling him "a man of great courage and a true patriot". The Russian Defense Ministry gave no information on how or where he died, saying he passed away on 3 January aged 58.

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Belarus responds to threats with preventive deterrence measures — defense minister

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Russian Foreign Ministry denies report of consular services ban abroad

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US nukes in Poland to become target for Russia should confrontation with NATO occur — MFA

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Russia dissatisfied with UN’s activity under grain deal — senior diplomat

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