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Igor Korobov, chief of staff of the General Staff, died after what the Russian army described as "serious and prolonged illness", reported the official RIA news agency. -Novosti.
Korobov was appointed to head the GRU in February 2016. His predecessor, Igor Sergun, had died the previous month at 58, after leading the agency since 2011, according to the official Russian news agency TASS .
The main leadership – traditionally called the GRU – is accused by the West of being behind a series of indiscriminate attacks against international targets.
Britain believes that the GRU orchestrated the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, earlier this year against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.
Investigation site Bellingcat, who claimed to have revealed the true identity of the two Russian men suspected of being involved in Salisbury poisoning, said they were GRU officers, contradicting claims officials of Russia that they were ordinary citizens.
The Dutch and British authorities gave unprecedented details of what some international media have described as a failed Russian mission.
Russia rejected allegations of involvement of the GRU.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin held a "permanent dialogue" with Mr. Korobov.
During a teleconference with reporters, Mr. Peskov said that Mr. Korobov had participated in a recent meeting with Putin in the seaside town of Sochi, in southern Russia, but that it was not necessary. He had not had a face-to-face meeting with the chief of the intelligence services.
"Of course, they have had a constant dialogue as commander-in-chief and head of one of the main special services," Peskov said. He added that Putin had already expressed his condolences to Korobov's family, relatives and colleagues.
Peskov asked about the circumstances of Korobov's death in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Korobov had been added to the list of sanctions imposed by the United States in December 2016, in the last days of the Obama administration.
According to a brief profile published by the TASS, Korobov joined the army in 1973 and started working in military intelligence in 1985. He held various positions in the agency and spoke several foreign languages, reported TASS .
According to a 2016 TASS report, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not provided any information on the location or death of its predecessor, Sergun. It had been inscribed on a EU sanctions list in 2014 following the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia for its alleged role in leading the GRU's activities in that city.
The life expectancy of Russian men was 67 in 2016, according to the World Bank.
Update: The age of Korobov has been corrected on the basis of new information from the Russian media. He was 62 years old.
Nathan Hodge from CNN reported from Moscow and Laura Smith-Spark from London. CNN's Sebastian Shukla and Darya Tarasova contributed to this report.
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