Former FSB Major General and Former Deputy Minister of Taxes and Fees of the Russian Federation Igor Laptev was found dead in his apartment in Moscow. The incident occurred on Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street in the Russian capital, with the initial leading version of the investigating authorities being suicide. The body of the 83-year-old retired officer was found with a gunshot wound to the head in his private office. At this time, there has been no official statement from law enforcement agencies or a suicide note discovered.
Who is Igor Laptev and what is his connection to law enforcement agencies?
Igor Laptev is a key figure in Russia's information security sector. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology and served for many years in the KGB and later in the FSB. He participated in the fighting in Afghanistan, and in the late 1990s he held the post of Deputy Minister of Taxes and Duties of the Russian Federation.
After civil service, Laptev headed the board of directors of the group of companies „Informtekhnika“. This enterprise is a key developer of high-tech and secure systems for communication and connectivity. The main users of his products (including the “Minicom“ platform) are the Russian security structures – Ministry of Defense (Минобороны), МВР, FSB and FSO.
A black streak of strange deaths among Russian generals
Laptev's death joins a long list of high-ranking figures from Russia's military and secret services who have suffered a similar fate in recent years:
May 2026: Colonel General Stanislav Petrov, former head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops, was found dead at his home in Moscow (suicide version). January 2026: The body of former Deputy Minister of Labor Alexei Sklyar was found in Novaya Moskva. February 2023: Police Major General Vladimir Makarov, responsible for combating extremism, commits suicide after being dismissed. July 2022: Retired FSB major-general Yevgeny Lobachev was found dead in a multi-story building in the capital.Russian media continue to investigate the motives behind the fatal incident, while independent analysts note the increasing number of similar incidents among Moscow's elite.