The wife of Interior Minister Boris Pugo joined her husband in committing suicide the day after the collapse of the coup Pugo helped lead, government officials said Thursday.
Officials had said only that Mrs. Pugo was "gravely injured" and hospitalized after she was found on Aug. 22. Deputy Russian prosecutor Yevgeny Lisov announced her death and also dismissed speculation the two were murdered, saying they both left a suicide note before shooting themselves, a weekly newspaper reported.An Interior Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Thursday that Mrs. Pugo had died but would not say when or where.
Mrs. Pugo, whose first name is not known, was found when police came to arrest her husband, officials have said. Pugo, 54, was also found dying of a gunshot wound.
Lisov dismissed speculation that one or the other had been murdered, saying they both left suicide notes. "We assume it happened in the following order," Lisov told the weekly Literary Gazette.
"Pugo shot himself in the mouth. His wife came to him, took the pistol and shot herself. She managed to put the gun down on a cabinet, then came to her bed and reclined next to her husband. Afterward, she slipped down to the floor."