Shebarshin, 77, who headed the First Chief Directorate, a foreign intelligence service within the KGB during 1989-1991, appeared to have committed suicide, the Investigative Committee said on its website
Ñëåäñòâåííûé êîìèòåò ÐÔ. A gun, which he was awarded upon retirement, was discovered near his body.
Police also found a suicide note on the scene, Interfax news agency quoted a police official as saying.
The ex-spy, fluent in Urdu, worked on assignments in Pakistan, India and Iran in the 1950s-1970s. He was appointed deputy chief of foreign intelligence in 1987, and promoted to head the service in 1989.
