Moscow: The head of the Russian military has quit following a row with the defence minister over planned reforms in armed forces, media reports said here.

A source in the Defence Ministry quoted by Interfax confirmed that Chief of General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky had quit while local reports said "many" other military officials were planning to follow suit, angered by a series of reforms pushed by Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

Baluyevsky, who was appointed chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister in 2004,was given an extension in services till 2011 by President Putin this January.

According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily, Baluyevsky wanted to quit because of disagreements over personnel reshuffles and reforms launched by Serdyukov, a former tax chief.

Serdyukov was appointed civilian Defence Minister last year by Putin in an effort to streamline the finances of the military, which still retains many of the bureaucratic features of the Red Army.

Serdyukov's plans to sell, what he considers, redundant military assets have ruffled the feathers of senior military personnel, the daily said.

Quoting unnamed insiders in the Defence Ministry, Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote that "many" generals and other senior officers including General Vasily Smirnov, head of one of the directorates of the General Staff, were also planning to resign because of their opposition to Serdyukov's plans.

According to another report, Quarter Master General, General Vlasov, committed suicide by shooting in the head in his office in the Defence Ministry building in February, after being chastised by Serdyukov.

Around the same time the minister called for a 40 percent reduction in personnel at Defence Ministry headquarters and the General Staff, military sources told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Source : PTI