Sergei Ivanov, a former Russian defense minister once seen as a possible successor to President Vladimir Putin, has died. He was 73.
The Kremlin said Ivanov died on Friday without providing the cause of death or giving other details. Putin sent his condolences to Ivanov’s family.
In 2001, Putin appointed Ivanov, a fellow KGB veteran, to serve as his defense minister, the job he held until 2007, overseeing the second war in Chechnya that crushed the region’s separatist bid.
Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.