The head of the main directorate of the Russian emergencies ministry in Russia's Far Eastern Primorye Territory was found dead on a stairwell of his apartment building, a local police source said on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.
"The body of Major-General Nikolai Timoshenko was found on the seventh floor stairwell. Investigators believe it to be a suicide," the source said.
Another police official later said the general died from an apparently self-inflicted shot from a hunting rifle, which was found at the scene, and confirmed the existence of evidence pointing out at a suicide.
"Police found a suicide note in Nikolai Timoshenko's apartment, where he says farewell to relatives and friends. This supports the existing assumption that he committed suicide," the official said.
Timoshenko, 53, served as the head of the main directorate since 2005.