Dangerous Service

In Russia these days old soldiers seldom fade away. They just die, and the U.S.S.R. never thinks it worthwhile to name the ailments that took them off. For most, death seems to come in what the U.S. armed forces regard as hearty middle age. Since the beginning of the year, the Russian press has reported these deaths among the high brass:

Jan. 3. Major General Nikolai Kechedzhi, age not given, "military specialist" attached to the Soviet navy.

Jan. 31. Major General Ilya Gaponenko, 50, onetime political commissar.

Feb. 28. Rear Admiral Maxim Skriganov, 58.

March 4. Major General E. Yakovlev, 66, top army expert on fortifications.

March 16. Colonel General V.A. Yushkevich, age not given.

April 4. Rear Admiral M.F. Romanov, age not given, "outstanding" fleet commander.

April 8. Vice Admiral Mikhail Akulin, 53, head of navy's bureau of shipbuilding.

April 11. Major General A. Sakharov, 57, of the air force engineers.

April 12. Major General Ivan Kurekhin, 54, Soviet navy supply branch.

May 10. Colonel General V.V. Ulrich, 62, military judge who presided at the Moscow trials in the late '30s.

June 22. Colonel General Ivan Grishin, 50, World War II commander of Belorussian fronts.

July 10. Lieut. General Vasily Ryazanov, 52, Soviet air force hero.

July 14. Lieut. General Ivan Konnov, 51, onetime leading army political commissar.

July 19. Lieut. General Fedor Kamkov, 53, former corps and army commander.

July 26. Lieut. General O. P. Korchagin, 53, tank commander.

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