A general with a Syrian view of the VKS. Sergey Surovikin received a new appointment

Surovikin, who previously led the grouping of Russian troops in Syria, has been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces since the end of November

TASS-DOSIER. On November 29, 2017, it became known that Colonel-General Sergey Surovikin, who led the Russian grouping of troops in Syria, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of the Russian Federation. The corresponding decree was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 22, 2017. Sergey Surovikin became the first head of the Air Force/VKS of Russia and the USSR since the 1920s who had no experience in flying and working in aviation.

He graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School (1987, with a gold medal), the command faculty of the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze (1995, with honors), Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (2002, with honors).

In the late 1980s served in the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan.

Then he commanded a motorized rifle platoon, a company in the 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Taman Order of the October Revolution of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division named after M. Kalinin. This division stationed in the Moscow region was unofficially considered one of the "elite" units of the Soviet Army. In 1989, during the exercises, Surovikin stole a flaming infantry fighting vehicle with ammunition from a congestion of military personnel, for which he was awarded a medal.

In 1991 - chief of staff, acting commander of the 1st battalion of the 15th motorized rifle regiment. In August, the division was involved in maintaining the state of emergency in the capital, introduced by the State Emergency Committee. On the night of August 21, a military column commanded by Sergei Surovikin was blocked by protesters, as a result of a clash three people died (these were the only victims during the putsch), and an infantry fighting vehicle was burned. After that, Surovikin was arrested, but in December 1991 the Moscow prosecutor's office dropped the criminal case against him and other servicemen "due to the absence of signs of a criminally punishable act." The materials of the administrative investigation stated: "The personnel of the battalion ... in a difficult situation showed restraint, courage, did not allow the seizure of weapons and ammunition, military equipment ... and prevented by their actions possible further unnecessary victims on the part of military personnel and civilians." According to the recollections of participants in the events, the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin personally gave the order to release Captain Surovikin.

Since 1995, he served in the 201st Gatchina motorized rifle division twice Red Banner stationed in Tajikistan (now the 201st military base, headquarters in Dushanbe), providing cover for the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, where the civil war continued. He held the posts of commander of a motorized rifle battalion, chief of staff, commander of the 149th Guards Motorized Rifle Czestokhov Red Banner, Order of the Red Star Regiment (Kulyab), chief of staff of a division.

After graduating from the Academy of the General Staff, he continued to serve in the Volga-Urals Military District, where, since 2002, he commanded the 34th Simferopol Order of Suvorov Red Banner Motorized Rifle Division. Sergo Ordzhonikidze (Yekaterinburg).

Since June 2004 - commander of the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Evpatoria Red Banner Division, stationed on the territory of the Chechen Republic. This formation was the basis of the grouping of the Ministry of Defense in the zone of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus and repeatedly took part in clashes with Chechen fighters.

Commanding both divisions, Surovikin gained a reputation as a tough and demanding military leader. During his service in Chechnya, his public promise to "destroy three militants for every dead soldier" gained wide resonance. Then he served in the 20th Guards Red Banner Combined Arms Army (headquarters - Voronezh): from November 2005 - deputy commander, from May 2006 - chief of staff - first deputy commander, from April 2008 - army commander.

Since November 2008 - Head of the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (responsible for planning and command and control of troops). Traditionally - both in Soviet times and in the recent history of Russia - the GOU was headed by military leaders with mainly staff experience, while Surovikin spent most of his military career in command positions. In addition, he took this post in the context of a large-scale reform of the Russian army, which began after the "operation to force Georgia to peace." Worked under the leadership of Anatoly Serdyukov (Minister of Defense since February 2007) and Nikolai Makarov (Chief of the General Staff since June 2008)

Since January 2010 - Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Volga-Urals Military District (PurVO, headquarters - Yekaterinburg). In September 2010, the PurVO, together with the western part of the Siberian Military District, became part of the newly formed Central Military District, CMD). In December 2010, Sergei Surovikin took over as chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Central Military District.

Since the spring of 2011, he headed the working group on the creation of military police bodies of the RF Armed Forces, then acted as head of the newly created Main Directorate of the Military Police of the Ministry of Defense. On July 7, 2011, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told reporters that the structure "will be headed by Lieutenant General Surovikin." However, the appointment was opposed by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky, who pointed out that the candidate had a criminal record (in 1995, Surovikin was sentenced to one year's suspended sentence for "assisting in the acquisition and sale of firearms" and violating the rules for carrying it, however, later the conviction was expunged, and in 2012 the sentence was canceled "due to the absence of corpus delicti in the acts").

As a result, Surovikin was never appointed head of the military police, and instead, in October 2012, he became chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District (VVO, headquarters - Khabarovsk). In October 2013, he was appointed Commander of the Air Defense Forces. In this position, in particular, he was actively involved in the creation of military infrastructure in the Kuril Islands and in the Arctic.

Since March 2017, he led the Russian group of troops in Syria. During this period, the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian military, was able to conduct a number of strategic operations, taking control of most of the country's territory, the main transport communications, oil fields, etc.

Was wounded three times.

He was awarded the Orders of the Red Star, "For Military Merit", as well as three Orders of Courage, medals of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I and II degrees, medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For Distinction in the Protection of the State Border" and etc.

In October 2012, he was the only military man on the list of the 100 most authoritative people in Russia, compiled by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) and the Russian Reporter magazine.

Married, has two daughters.

Lieutenant General Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich was born in 1966 in the city of Novosibirsk in a family of employees. After studying at a secondary educational institution, he entered and graduated with a gold medal from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1987, with honors from the M.V. Frunze Military Academy in 1995 and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2002.

He began his officer career in the special forces, in which he performed international duty on the territory of the Republic of Afghanistan. He passed all the main military positions from the commander of a motorized rifle platoon to the commander of the combined arms army of the Moscow Military District. During his service he changed several districts and garrisons - the Volga region, the Urals, the North Caucasus, the Republic of Tajikistan.

Sergei Surovikin led the troops during the Chechen military campaigns. Since 2009 - Head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In January 2010, he was appointed Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Volga-Ural Military District, later the Central Military District.

At that moment, the commander of the 149th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin, makes an immediate decision to conduct a rescue operation. Since the depth and size of the mudflow did not allow conventional equipment to pass to the disaster site, they began to make their way on tanks. The dimensions of the disaster were such that even tanks could hardly cope with the onslaught of the elements. Led by the column, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Surovikin, together with the crew of the first vehicle, using equipment for underwater tank driving, crossed the mud barrier along the bottom. The personal example and decisive actions of the commander helped the personnel to fulfill their duty without loss.

During the operation, servicemen of Sergei Surovikin's regiment took 34 children and 55 village residents to a safe place. Only later, at the end of the operation, the doctors stated that the soldiers and officers received severe hypothermia and some even required hospitalization.

On March 11, 2005, the 42nd motorized rifle division received an order to conduct a special operation to destroy a group of militants in the area south of the village of Khatuni, together with an armored group from the 70th motorized rifle regiment, the operational headquarters headed by General Surovikin left to lead the operation. When following the road to the village of Khatuni, a land mine exploded under the armored personnel carriers in front, covering the headquarters car of the division commander. Despite the concussion received, Sergei Surovikin and the officers began to provide assistance to the crew of the burning car, which saved them from inevitable death. Having transferred the wounded to the ambulance armored personnel carrier, the column continued to move to the area of ​​the upcoming events and successfully carried out an operation to destroy the bandits.

For successful operations, personal courage and courage, General Surovikin was repeatedly awarded state awards.

Surovikin had an order to advance to a certain point and ensure the protection of state facilities. Because politics is politics, but during large-scale demonstrations, a huge number of people who want to rob take to the streets. In such cases, it is impossible to do without armed guards. The military must arrive at the specified location. To put it simply, to physically get there. It is impossible to get in their way - they are obliged to fulfill the order under any circumstances, incl. and overcome any obstacle in the way of accomplishing a combat mission. These are not teachings. This is real military action.

As for the reaction of the first president of the country to the actions of Captain Surovikin in August 1991, it is enough to recall one detail. Yeltsin personally ordered the release of Major Surovikin. Yes, I didn’t make a reservation, Boris Nikolaevich said exactly that: “... and Major Surovikin should be released immediately.” Thus, making it clear that he is raising him in rank for the exemplary performance of military duty.

Due to the fact that the case caused a great public outcry, "Vek" received a video recording of Leonid Volkov's interview. The entire recording lasts more than an hour and, of course, it makes no sense to post it in its entirety. We decided to pay attention to separate fragments where a police officer writes down Volkov's answers, in which they talk about the same thing (clarifying questions on the same topics were asked throughout the entire interview with Volkov). These fragments caused us questions, which we will voice in this material.
In addition, copies of some documents were received, which we also publish.

Law enforcement agencies, of course, already at the preliminary stage (a survey of Leonid Volkov) realized that the deputy's statements about threats against him were a "dummy", a fake, in the language of Internet users. Or - a lie, if you call a spade a spade. Nevertheless, law enforcement officers conscientiously “worked out the signal” and asked Yekaterinburg City Duma deputy Leonid Volkov to provide them with details of calls for the period when he allegedly received calls from “well-wishers” with warnings about threats. Volkov promised. And not just promised, but personally wrote about it in the protocol.

And - habitually deceived ...

On April 21, 2004, at about 6 p.m., Deputy Commander of the Air Defense Ministry, Lieutenant General Stolyarov A.N. according to the results of the inspection, he arrived at the headquarters of military unit 61423 in the office of the commander of the said unit, Major General Surovikin S.V.

The recruits of the engineer-sapper battalion who participated in the exercises, called up in April-May, managed to install a pontoon bridge in 4.5 hours during the training, and in 18 minutes during the exercises themselves. That is, even in a short time, you can have time to train specialists who will professionally perform their duties.

As reported in the press service of the Central Military District, the chief of staff of the Central Military District, Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin, took an active part in the preparation and conduct of the Vostok-2010 exercises.

Possessing an excellent theoretical background, he went through almost all the “hot spots” in which the army has been involved for the past twenty years: from Tajikistan to Chechnya, he has military awards. It is no coincidence that he was appointed at one time to lead the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) of the General Staff of the country's Ministry of Defense. By the way, the general is sometimes reproached for the tough style of leadership, excessive demands on his subordinates. Another thing is that the army simply cannot do without it, since the price of the decisions made is too high - the lives of tens and hundreds of people. Both the commander of the Central Military District Vladimir Chirkin and Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin at one time headed the 42nd division in Chechnya. So the command of the Central Military District is in experienced and professional hands.

The LATEST modification of the mobile computer center allows, when commanding troops, to win twice in accuracy, mobility, and efficiency compared to the previously used CBU-3. This was reported to us by the Chief of Staff of the 20th Guards Army, Major General Sergey Surovikin.

Previously, we worked on maps, typed teams manually. And now workstations allow you to see everything on a computer screen and transmit information in a matter of seconds, the general added.

Four or five operators can work in fixed-volume machines, but the variable-volume technique, in other words, sliding kungs, allows you to provide places for up to 12 people. And this despite the fact that it can be deployed and prepared for work in just two hours by the forces of the crew working on it.

Who needed to discredit the military general? Apparently, for those who are not interested in restoring order in the Armed Forces, because in conditions of disorder it is much easier to fish in troubled waters. And any order to them is like a bone in the throat. It's funny, but such a reaction of the relevant persons indicates that these people know for sure that General Surovikin is just the person who is able to restore order.

Three-year-old Vika Petrova disappeared in the village of Oktyabrina, Bogdanovichsky District, Sverdlovsk Region, around 3:00 pm on Saturday, August 6. The girl was playing in the yard, and her mother looked after her from the window. At that time, the mother of the child, her husband, grandmother and older 7-year-old sister of the missing were in the house. After the parents discovered that the child was missing, they went through the entire district on their own, but not finding their daughter, they turned to the police. Law enforcement agencies in the Sverdlovsk region initiated a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under paragraph "d" part 2 of article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (kidnapping of a person committed against a minor).

The incident was reported to the head of the Sverdlovsk Main Department of Internal Affairs, Mikhail Borodin. He raised all the free policemen to their feet and contacted the chief of staff of the Central Military District, Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin, with a request to provide soldiers for combing the forest. He promptly provided 400 servicemen from the nearby military unit No. 31612.

Note that the successful search for a missing child is not the first case of successful coordination of the efforts of the police and military of the Sverdlovsk region. So, at the end of June of this year, a conscript soldier escaped from one of the military units located in the Central Federal District, "taking" 8 machine guns with him. The military immediately contacted the police, who promptly identified the deserter's accomplices. The assault rifles were intended for sale in the North Caucasus at a price of $2,000 per barrel. As a result of the special operation, all the stolen assault rifles were seized and returned to the military within a few days. According to experts, this became possible due to the increased attention of the Sverdlovsk police to issues of ethnic crime, and especially to Islamist criminal groups.

This February battle in the suburbs of Grozny, in which 9 intelligence officers were killed, showed not only the heroism of Russian soldiers and officers, and not only the readiness of the Russian military to live on the principle of "one for all and all for one." This battle also demonstrated to the general public the vileness of corrupt journalists, who, in fact, repeatedly killed heroes and tried to trample on the bright memory of these courageous fighters.

It should be noted that the militants had no way to bypass our soldiers: on both sides of the poultry farm there was a flat, large field, on which the bandits would undoubtedly be discovered and destroyed. The only way to leave secretly was the complex of the ruins of the poultry farm, and the only obstacle in the way of the militants at the beginning of the battle were the scouts of the patrol from 70 SMEs. Before their death, the scouts destroyed several militants.

But the death of our guys was not in vain: while the battle was going on, the second squad of the reconnaissance platoon of the 70th motorized rifle regiment approached, and the bandits could not break through. Some of the militants were killed on the spot, and some went back to the city.

In the morning, at the site of the death of nine reconnaissance heroes, the Commander of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division, Major General Sergei Surovikin, publicly promised to destroy three militants for each soldier.

The operation lasted a total of two weeks. Under the leadership of the intelligence chief of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division, 36 militants were destroyed. Those. - four militants for each dead scout.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that such a structure, designed to maintain law and order in the army, protect military facilities and cargo, patrol garrisons and cities, and, of course, fight hazing and corruption, will be formed in the very near future. As a first step, President Dmitry Medvedev in early August signed a decree on the creation of a commandant's service - from a garrison service it is turning into an independent structure, which will become the basis of the military police.

For the post of head of the military police, the Minister of Defense proposed the candidacy of Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin, who currently heads the headquarters of the Central Military District. It was widely discussed in army circles and found general approval - after all, General Surovikin is well known in them as a military officer, holder of three Orders of Courage, who went through many "hot spots" and with honor and dignity more than once got out of difficult combat and life situations. However, Sergei Surovikin is much less familiar to the general public.

Sergei Surovikin has always paid close attention to issues of investigating facts and ensuring justice. This, in particular, is evidenced by the next episode. In February 2005, gangs in Chechnya under the command of Doku Umarov decided to carry out a series of demonstrative terrorist attacks timed to coincide with February 23. Due to the fact that this information was at the disposal of the federal forces, they were able to prepare to repel the attacks of the militants. In particular, from the 70th motorized rifle regiment of the 42nd division, commanded by General Surovikin, a blocking assault detachment was formed, which occupied the indicated positions in the area of ​​the destroyed poultry farm in the suburbs of Grozny. The reconnaissance unit, consisting of 9 people, collided with the bandits leaving the city and there was a clash. Being under fire from grenade launchers, the scouts tried to hide in the building of the poultry farm, not taking into account that the roof was preserved in the dilapidated house. This became a fatal mistake. One of the militants' shots hit the supporting structure, the roof collapsed and buried all the scouts under it. But their death was not in vain: while the battle was going on, the second squad of the reconnaissance platoon of the 70th motorized rifle regiment approached, and the bandits could not break through. Some of the militants were killed on the spot, and some went back to the city. In the morning, at the site of the death of nine heroes-scouts, General Surovikin publicly promised to destroy three militants for each soldier. This plan was overfulfilled, although, of course, this did not bring the guys back. Much later, one of the newspapers described this episode in such a way that, allegedly, the scouts arranged a booze in this building, opened fire at each other and brought down the roof on themselves. Apparently, the newspaper did not know (or maybe they were fulfilling someone's order?) That immediately after the death of the soldiers, an investigation was carried out, which was headed by Colonel General Vladimir Bulgakov, then First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, and now Commander of the Far Eastern Military district. General Surovikin also took an active part in the investigation. The bodies of the dead were carefully examined, and neither alcohol nor shrapnel wounds were found. When Surovikin found out about this brazen lie, he ensured that the media printed a true picture of what happened, providing them with the materials of the investigation. The desecrated honor of the fallen warrior-heroes was restored.

And after returning from Chechnya, General Surovikin continues to closely monitor the situation in the North Caucasus. Recently, a conscript soldier escaped from one of the units located in the Central Military District, “taking” 8 machine guns with him. Surovikin immediately informed the Central Internal Affairs Directorate about this and simultaneously conducted his own investigation, during which it turned out that the stolen assault rifles were planned to be resold to the North Caucasus through accomplices of a "civilian" serviceman - immigrants from this region. In the course of a special operation jointly with the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, all the stolen assault rifles were found and seized within a few days.

And just the other day, Sergei Surovikin provided significant assistance in the search for a three-year-old girl who got lost in the forest, having allocated 400 servicemen for this purpose at the request of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, which we talked about in detail - the girl was found alive and unharmed thanks to a large-scale operation.

According to many experts published in the media, General Surovikin is the best candidate for the post of chief of the military police. It combines such qualities necessary for this as vast combat experience, humanity and, finally, knowledge of legal processes.

General Sergei Surovikin received the medal "For Military Merit" for his feat at the age of 23.

More precisely, Captain Sergei Surovikin received this high award. Then S. V. Surovikin was not yet a general and was not even a battalion commander. Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin commanded a company in the Taman division.

It was 1989.

Captain Sergei Surovikin oriented himself instantly and rushed to the burning BMP. On the run, he ordered the troops to evacuate, pulled the mechanic out of the levers, and sat down in his place - the "fire on wheels" had to be taken away as far as possible - if the ammunition had exploded, the losses could have been very serious - there were people around.
Surovikin tried to start the burning engine and... God loves the Guard - the blazing engine started up. On a burning car, which could explode at any moment, Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin rushed to the shore of the reservoir. Two kilometers of frantic driving on a burning infantry fighting vehicle, when every meter could be the last in his life ... Flying up to the shore, Surovikin immediately jumped in a car from a dam and crashed into the water from a height of two and a half meters. The water extinguished the completely sunken infantry fighting vehicle, and Captain Sergei Surovikin got ashore.

Video "General Surovikin. Path of an officer. Part 1".

The magazine "Russian Reporter" and the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) conducted the next annual survey "The Most Authoritative People of Russia-2012". These studies make it possible to reveal the true and deserved reputations of people, determined by their real deeds, and not by their position or fleeting media popularity.

This year, for the first time, the range of expert surveys went beyond Moscow and spread to the regions, which contributed to obtaining more accurate results - to assess the authority not only in the capital, but also in Russia as a whole. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that the number of respondents included people who directly, and not only according to media reports, know the candidates for a place in the ranking.

The study was conducted in 10 professional categories, and in each of them 10 most authoritative people were identified. For the first time in the category "employees of law enforcement agencies" among the "most authoritative ten" there are not only "the biggest bosses" in the relevant departments, but also people who have achieved great practical success in their direct work. Among them are the Prosecutor of the Amur Region Nikolai Pilipchuk, Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin and the head of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department Alexander Trushkin. At the same time, General Surovikin is generally the only representative of the Armed Forces on this list, despite the fact that he occupies a prominent, but far from the highest, step in the army hierarchy.

What does Surovikin owe for getting into such a respected rating? After all, the career of Sergei Surovikin was not easy at all.

In early December, information was leaked to the media about the intentions of Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu to change much of what his predecessor had “reformed”.

First of all, instead of "effective managers", Sergei Shoigu returned to the management of the army generals who have experience in large-scale and lengthy military operations, and at the same time enjoy great authority among the military.

In the Russian army, in general, there are not so many generals who enjoy almost universal respect and recognition. They paid for their authority with personal courage, careful attitude towards soldiers and victorious military operations. These are such generals of the strategic level of leadership as Valery Gerasimov, Arkady Bakhin, Vladimir Chirkin, Viktor Bondarev, Vladimir Shamanov and a number of others. As befits military generals, they all went through hot spots, and proved to be competent, successful military leaders. In the management of the Armed Forces, the role of these military generals has increased dramatically: they received new positions or new opportunities to influence the process of building the army.

There has also been a differentiated approach to the structure of the army, depending on the situation in which it has to, or will have to, act.

Serious tasks of national importance arose in the Eastern Military District. There is no reason to doubt that Sergei Surovikin will successfully cope with this case as well - he coped with no less difficult tasks before that.

Combat officers and generals are distinguished by increased demands not only on their subordinates, but, above all, on themselves. The character of a combat officer was clearly manifested in the story of the canceled "conviction of General Surovikin." With the help of this conviction, canceled in 1995, the opponents of Sergei Surovikin tried to misinform the public. They were not embarrassed that the general, tried for actually committed crimes, would not have been approved either for the post of chief of the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, or for the post of chief of staff of several military districts. The fact that, until the beginning of the "zero" years, if a person was clearly innocent, but already appears in the case, he was given a deliberately small punishment, and almost immediately after that the conviction was canceled (and an innocent person is not punished, and accountability improves ) - they also preferred "not to remember".

Surovikin, left dissatisfied with such a decision of the court (after all, even according to not so much legal concepts as public ones, a criminal record, albeit canceled, still existed - and this despite the fact that he did not violate the law at all) filed a lawsuit again. He did this when ill-wishers decided to play on the facts of a criminal record allegedly in his biography, ignoring the fact that both the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Code directly say that an extinguished conviction eliminates all the consequences associated with it. And then the second trial took place, which decided to completely cancel the first sentence. Again, from a legal point of view, this means that there was no criminal record at all! Here is a copy of the decision of this court, which was at the disposal of our editors.

There remains one more question that interested us and, for sure, interests our readers - why Lieutenant General Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin went to court, which, in the end, made a decision: “The verdict of the military court of the Moscow garrison of September 26, 1995 in part of the conviction of Sergey Vladimirovich Surovikin under Art. 17 and part 1 of Art. 218 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR cancel and terminate the criminal proceedings on the basis of paragraph 2 of part 1 of Art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation due to the absence of corpus delicti in the acts "(quote according to the Decree of the Presidium of the Moscow District Military Court, which is available in our edition), only after so many years, and why didn’t you do it earlier?

With incredible difficulty, we managed to find the general's phone and contact him to ask this question. Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin, who, together with the Commander, Admiral Konstantin Sidenko, was organizing work in the Eastern Military District in accordance with the new tasks, was clearly busy and not particularly inclined to communicate with journalists. However, despite our intervention in his busy schedule, he was restrained and even polite. Well, at least polite for a very busy military commander. However, we are not offended - we understand that we have torn off General Surovikin from public affairs.

In response to our question, Sergey Vladimirovich explained: “For me, this topic was closed back in 1995. The investigation sorted out the case, established my innocence, they apologized to me and extinguished my criminal record. That misunderstanding, since then, has not prevented me from living or serving. Why should I remember him? But, as soon as I was appointed senior of the working group for the creation of the Military Police, individual citizens began to speculate on that old fact and denigrate my honor and dignity. And this is unacceptable for me. I had to go to court and, as they say, finally put all the points - the court decision on conviction was canceled, due to the absence of corpus delicti in my actions, there is no longer a subject of speculation ".

On May 9, Ural residents could see their countrymen in live broadcasts of parades from various cities of Russia, often far beyond the borders of the Ural Federal District. On the air of Vesti 24, for example, the notorious General Sergei Surovikin also flashed - he commanded the Victory Parade in Khabarovsk on May 9, 2013. The parade was hosted by the commander of the Eastern Military District, Admiral Konstantin Sidenko.

Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin, who served in the Urals (including as chief of staff of the Central Military District) was appointed first deputy commander - chief of staff of the Eastern Military District after, for the first time in Russian history, he created the Military Police, and she began his job in the army.

Surovikin is a man of legendary, albeit difficult, fate. Having started his service in Afghanistan, in the special forces, where he got immediately after the Omsk Command School, Surovikin then went through almost all the "hot spots", including Tajikistan and Chechnya. According to the testimonies of his colleagues, Surovikin as a commander is distinguished by his desire to fight not by numbers, but by skill, the most careful attitude to the life of his soldiers and officers. It happened that a wounded general, risking his own life, pulled his fighters out of burning cars.

General Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich was appointed Commander of the Eastern Military District by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 761 of 04.10.2023. On the video - the ceremony of handing over the Standard of the Commander to Sergei Surovikin.

VIDEO (click on image to view video)

On November 29, Krasnaya Zvezda officially published a message stating that Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, who until recently led a group of Russian troops in Syria, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS). The atypical appointment of a combined arms general attracts attention. the site recalled the career history of several senior officers of the Russian army, who changed their specialization just as drastically.

Biography under the microscope

Sergei Surovikin graduated from the Omsk Combined Arms Command School and commanded motorized rifle units. In particular, the battalion of the Tamanskaya division, which captain Surovikin brought to Moscow in August 1991, turned out to be the hero of the infamous incident in the Tchaikovsky tunnel on the Garden Ring. Then, while trying to block the exit of a column of armored vehicles from the tunnel, three defenders of the White House were killed.

They tried to bring Surovikin to justice for that story, but he was fully acquitted, and it is known that Russian President Boris Yeltsin personally stood up for the captain.

In the 1990s, Surovikin served in Tajikistan as part of the 201st motorized rifle division, where he rose to the rank of chief of staff. In the 2000s, he commanded divisions in Russia (including the 42nd motorized rifle division in Chechnya), and then the 20th army. In 2008–2010, he held an important post: he headed the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff. If the General Staff, according to Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov, is the brain of the army, then the GOU is the key structure of this brain, responsible for planning combat operations and operational command and control of troops.

Then Surovikin served in the leadership of the Central and Eastern military districts. Since 2013, he has headed the Eastern District, and since May 2017, he has simultaneously led the Group of Russian Forces in Syria.

Of course, any general, no matter who he was when he graduated from the school, receives a serious general command training course at the Academy of the General Staff, getting acquainted with the characteristics of all branches of the military and types of the Armed Forces. This allows senior officers, rising to key positions in the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense, to better understand the specifics of the "neighbors" and link it into a single plan.

But it's one thing to get to know each other at the academy and during self-training, and it's quite another to grow up from the Air Force or Air Defense Forces on your own, recognizing them from top to bottom.

Let's see if it's normal for a combined arms general to lead the country's air force, air defense and missile defense? Have there been such precedents in our history and how successful are they?

Who is entitled to what

In Soviet times, the corporation of land workers quite firmly held the highest positions in military administration. Mostly motorized riflemen, tankers, and less often artillerymen grew to the top. At the highest posts, there were practically no, say, signalmen or chemists (excluding the command of the specialized branches of the military).

A notable exception was perhaps Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, who headed the Soviet General Staff from 1977-1984. He is a military engineer by education and spent the first 10 years of service in the engineering troops., only after that moving to the operational positions of the headquarters.

District commanders are usually appointed from among the ground troops. The only exception is Admiral Konstantin Sidenko, who in 2010-2013 led the Eastern Military District. Prior to that, the submariner Sidenko commanded the Pacific Fleet. Such an experiment became possible thanks to a new approach to the military district (unified strategic command), which gathered under its headquarters the control of all forces and means in the accountable territory, including the air force and fleets.

Among the top commanders of the army, rarely, but still, people came across not quite a “profile” initial education. General of the Army Viktor Samsonov, Chief of the Russian General Staff in 1996–1997, graduated as a Marine Corps officer and only after graduating from the Frunze Academy did he move into motorized rifle formations. Colonel-General Vladimir Komarov, head of the combat training department of the Ground Forces in 1961-1969, served in the border troops of the OGPU (NKVD) since 1930, and only with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he joined the army, having received an ordinary rifle regiment under command.

Paratroopers were frequent "guests" in the Ground Forces, but the ground forces also managed to lead the "winged infantry". The rebellious Colonel General Vladislav Achalov, who headed the Airborne Forces in 1989-1990 and was the Minister of Defense in the alternative government of the Supreme Council (September-October 1993), is a tanker, and for the first seven years he served on tanks. He was transferred to the Airborne Forces only after the Academy of Armored Forces, and later he was again torn off from the landing, returning to the leadership of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, then to the Leningrad Military District, and only from there he was appointed to the post of commander.

Reverse transitions happened more often. The most famous paratrooper Vladimir Shamanov, who from the mid-1990s led the combined arms groups in the North Caucasus, and after a period of civilian political career, returned to service - first to the combat training department of the Ministry of Defense, and then to the post of commander of the Airborne Forces (2009-2016).

Lieutenant General Valery Asapov, who died in Syria in September 2017, is also an officer of the Airborne Forces, but from the post of chief of staff of the 98th airborne division, he went down a different line, rising to the rank of commander of the 5th combined arms army.

Among the paratroopers now occupying combined arms command positions, we can mention the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Sergei Istrakov(the last position in the Airborne Forces was the commander of the airborne assault brigade). In the Ground Forces, several more officers of the Airborne Forces serve in high command positions, including the chiefs of staff of the Central and Southern military districts.(Evgeny Ustinov and Mikhail Teplinskiy), as well as the commander of the 8th Army, Sergei Kuzovlev.

General Boris Gromov, a motorized rifle officer by education who commanded the 40th Army in Afghanistan, served as First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR in 1990-1991. At the end of 1991, he returned to the structures of the USSR Ministry of Defense, then to Russia. The appointment of Lieutenant General Ivan Yakovlev (self-propelled fighter, then commander in the tank troops) to the post of commander-in-chief of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1968-1986) was similar. Yakovlev, in turn, was replaced by another motorized rifleman - General Yuri Shatalin, chief of staff of the Moscow Military District.

Make from scratch

There were two young types of troops who, due to the novelty and lack of mastery of the topic, were especially lucky to have "non-core commanders." These are the Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN) and the Air Defense Forces, which are of interest to us, among others.

The Strategic Missile Forces were initially created by artillery generals: war hero Kirill Moskalenko and Mitrofan Nedelin, who tragically died at Baikonur in the explosion of the R-16 intercontinental missile. However, then came a long period of domination by people who had nothing to do with rocket technology, but who managed to master it..

From 1962 to 1992, the Strategic Missile Forces were commanded in succession: infantrymen Sergei Biryuzov and Nikolai Krylov, tankman Vladimir Tolubko and infantryman (originally machine gunner and machine gun company commander) Yuri Maksimov.

And if Tolubko in 1960-1968 was a member of the leadership of the Strategic Missile Forces and, in fact, directly created them from scratch (although he was then sent to command troops in the Far East for four years), then Biryuzov, Krylov and Maximov to strategic missile technology had nothing to do with their appointment.

Maksimov, by the way, before moving to the Strategic Missile Forces, managed to be a military adviser in Yemen and Algeria, as well as command the Turkestan military district at a crucial moment when Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. It was only in 1992 that the Strategic Missile Forces received their first commander, who was raised inside the rocket corporation, the future Marshal and Minister of Defense Igor Sergeyev.

The air defense forces were also pretty lucky with commanders from the outside. Firstly, Biryuzov, already mentioned above, managed to lead them. In 1966-1978, the Air Defense Forces were led by Pavel Batitsky, a cavalryman who ended the war as commander of a rifle corps. and since 1948 transferred to the leadership of air defense groups.

Batitsky is better known as the person who personally shot Lavrenty Beria in 1953, but his contribution to the formation and strengthening of Soviet air defense - the main instrument for deterring US strategic aviation - cannot be overestimated.

After eight years - when one of the best Soviet aces of the war, Marshal Alexander Koldunov, was at the head of the air defense, a scandal erupted with the landing of a light-engine aircraft by Matthias Rust on Red Square. Koldunov was replaced as Commander-in-Chief of Air Defense by Ivan Tretiak, another combined-arms commander who led the Far Eastern Military District.

Until that moment, Tretyak had only the most indirect relation to air defense: it was he, being the commander-in-chief of troops in the Far East, who on September 1, 1983 gave the order to shoot down a plane that invaded the airspace of the USSR and later turned out to be a Korean Air Boeing 747 passenger airliner. By the way, Tretyak, with his analytical mind and official thoroughness, left a favorable impression and good memory about himself in the air defense.

So the appointment of Surovikin, if you look at the established traditions of the troops (recall that the country's air defense forces and means are now part of the Aerospace Forces), does not look at all strange. On the contrary, there is a kind of preservation of traditions.

On November 22, 2017, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, 51-year-old Colonel General Sergei Surovikin was appointed the new Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS). Previously, he led the grouping of Russian troops in Syria, though not for long: according to some sources, since March of this year, according to others, since June. Prior to that, he served as commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District for several years. The career of this military man developed rapidly and noisily.

The upcoming appointment of Surovikin as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces became known back in September, when Colonel General Viktor Bondarev was announced to leave this post. His departure looks strange: the age limit for military service for a colonel-general is 65 years old, and Bondarev will turn only 58 years old on December 7, so he could have served for another seven years. And he spent only two years as commander-in-chief of the new branch of the Armed Forces created in 2015.

Even more questions are raised by the appointment of a combined-arms general at the head of a purely "air" branch of the Armed Forces, who has never had anything to do with military aviation, space forces or air defense and missile defense forces, which are also part of the Aerospace Forces. In military aviation, combined arms officers, tankers, and representatives of the Ground Forces in general are traditionally called "boots", it just so happened. It also happened that only an aviation general should command military aviation, but not a "general in boots" at all, because, without knowing the specifics of aviation, it is simply unrealistic to understand a huge number of things.

From the late 1930s, Soviet military aviation was headed by "non-core" specialists, but this was the dawn of its creation: that is, there were already pilots, but they had not yet grown into strategic-level commanders. But since 1939, only pilots commanded military aviation. True, there was a case when, in 1987, after Mathias Rust’s plane landed near the Kremlin, General of the Army Ivan Tretyak, who had never had anything to do with aviation before, was appointed commander-in-chief of the air defense forces (which included air defense aviation - over 1200 fighters), a graduate machine-gun school and an infantryman to the bone. From many lips I heard the story of how he came to inspect the airfield in the Rostov region and, climbing to the control tower, looked from above the runway, the centralized filling station, taxiing and gave something like: "Oh, what a wonderful tankodrome here would be!" or "Well, how many tanks can be placed here!"

First of all, General of the Army Tretyak changed the shoes of the aviation entrusted to him into boots, and when inspecting the air regiments, he did not check the condition of the aircraft, but went around the airfield around the perimeter and looked at whether the fence posts were even, what was the distance between the rows of barbed wire and whether the well hatches were painted correctly. That was his inspection. And between flights, the pilots of the air defense regiments planted trees, painted and rearranged curbs, cleaned forest plantations near the airfield, and the commander-in-chief was not at all interested in organizing flights.

Government publications hastened to report that General Surovikin led the Russian group in Syria, having gained invaluable experience in the combined use of forces there. He also has the Military Academy of the General Staff behind him, from which he graduated with honors. But he was in Syria for three months. They also write about his rich combat experience, but what exactly: in organizing flight training for pilots of various types of aviation or in providing maintenance for aviation equipment? Probably, he can designate a combat mission by showing on the map exactly where the aircraft needs to strike. But can a combined-arms general plan the forces and means to accomplish the assigned task? Of course not - for this it is necessary to know at least the characteristics of aviation equipment and the means of destruction used at a professional level.

The argument regarding General Surovikin's successful graduation from the General Staff Academy is completely weak: all commanders in chief and commanders of the Air Force were trained in this academy. And they also studied there strategic issues and the organization of interaction of all types and branches of the troops. However, for some reason, aviation generals are not appointed commanders-in-chief of the Ground Forces, they are not placed at the head of military districts or commanders of combined arms and tank formations.

In addition, it was during the command of Surovikin that the Russian group (as well as mercenaries from PMCs) in Syria suffered the most significant losses, up to a general and several colonels. It is also believed that during the fighting in Deir ez-Zor, Surovikin failed the task of crossing the Euphrates River, the purpose of which was to block the advance of the Kurds to the oil fields. Therefore, they say, the Kurds got the largest oil fields - 75 percent of all Syrian oil. Nevertheless, it was General Surovikin who turned out to be the only one of all the commanders of the Russian group, who was constantly shown by the central television channels. Assuring that it was during his command that the Syrian government forces achieved maximum success on the battlefields.

First blood

The official biography of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces is interesting because it contains too many gaps and mysteries. For example, it says that in 1987 he graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School with a gold medal, but where he served until 1991, not a word about this. Other sources report that he fought in Afghanistan, but about the chronological scope of this service and in what particular part - this is silent. Although in 1989 he was already serving in the Moscow region, in the "court" 2nd guards Taman motorized rifle division, so if he was in Afghanistan, then no more than a year. Having received during this time the Order of the Red Star and the medal "For Courage": a lot for a freshly minted platoon lieutenant.

True, there is neither the Red Star nor the medal "For Courage" on the dress uniform, he also does not wear the straps of these awards, which is also strange. With slats and orders, the general is generally confused. According to the information of the RIA Novosti agency, published in 2011, Sergey Surovikin was awarded three Orders of Courage, the Order of Military Merit, medals of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, I and II degrees with the image of swords, the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", etc. However, in the modern official photograph from the website of the Ministry of Defense, for some reason, he has only one of the three Orders of Courage, the Order of Military Merit, and for some reason only one of his military medals - " For military merit." In other pictures, he either has two bars of the Order of Courage, or all three, and all this refers to the same period of time. Orders, of course, tend to accumulate, but for them to decrease ... It is strange not to wear at least the bar of Soviet military awards. And in general, the procedure for wearing awards and award bars is strictly regulated: nothing superfluous, but without any reduction, wear everything that you received.

Just four years after graduating from college, in August 1991, Sergei Surovikin was already a captain and battalion commander. More precisely, an acting battalion commander, but in four years to grow from a lieutenant to a whole battalion commander in the "court" Taman division is not just fast, but excessively accelerated. About such impetuous in the army they usually say "he is being led", meaning "furry paw". But the "paw" turned out to be very useful when, during the GKChP, it was the battalion he commanded that had the dubious honor of shedding the blood of three civilians: Vladimir Usov, Dmitry Komar and Ilya Krichevsky.

According to one of the active participants in the events, Sergei Bratchikov, it was the battalion commander who took out a pistol and shot the first person who came across in the forehead. True, no one could prove anything later: neither the bullet was found, nor the weapon from which they fired, and the battalion commander's service pistol turned out to be clean. Maybe everything was completely different, but then three army divisions, a division of internal troops, KGB units were brought into Moscow, and only Surovikin's battalion shed the blood of civilians. Captain Surovikin spent several months in Matrosskaya Tishina, but in December 1991 he was released and even promoted to major: they say that on the personal instructions of Yeltsin. And in 1992, the 25-year-old major was sent to study at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy: the breakthrough was simply unprecedented.

Pistols Surovikin

In 1995, a student of the Frunze Military Academy, Major Surovikin again fell into history, this time a purely criminal one. The military court of the Moscow garrison found him guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR then in force: Part 1 of Article 17 (“Commission of a crime by a group of persons by prior agreement or by an organized group”), Article 218 (“Illegal carrying, storage, acquisition, manufacture or sale of weapons , ammunition or explosives") and Section 218 § 1 ("Theft of firearms, ammunition or explosives"). The future general was accused of complicity in the acquisition and sale, as well as carrying firearms and ammunition without a permit.

These articles of the then Criminal Code provided for substantial terms of imprisonment: 218 - from three to eight years, 218-1 - up to seven years, and if there was a preliminary conspiracy by a group of persons, or the act was committed "by a person to whom firearms, ammunition or explosives issued for official use or entrusted under guard", then up to ten years in prison. But the sentence turned out to be soft and completely humane: one year of imprisonment on probation. True, apart from the personnel bodies of the Ministry of Defense, no one would have known about this story if it were not for the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky. On December 2, 2011, he sent an official letter to Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, in which he officially informed him of this incident. Which was especially important in connection with the fact that Surovikin (by that time already a lieutenant general) headed a working group on the creation of military police bodies "with the prospect of being appointed head of the Main Directorate of the Military Police of the Ministry of Defense."

The Chief Military Prosecutor informed the Minister of Defense that "not only for moral and ethical reasons, but also in accordance with Article 20 of the draft federal law "On the Military Police of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation", a ban on serving in the military police of citizens with or who had a criminal record is justifiably provided for." This demarche of the Chief Military Prosecutor did not go unanswered. The then-created Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, represented by its Military Investigation Department, for some reason in the Southern Military District, to which Surovikin had nothing to do then, rose to the defense of the general.

One of the leading officials of this subdivision of the Investigative Committee admitted that "while studying at the Frunze Military Academy, there were cases when some teachers illegally sold weapons, for which they were criminally punished." And so, "fulfilling the request of one of these teachers, Major Surovikin agreed to hand over a pistol to a colleague from another course, which was supposed to be used supposedly to participate in the competition. The major, not knowing about the true intentions, fulfilled the order." During the interrogation, Major Surovikin told about his confidence that he was not doing anything illegal, and therefore, "when the investigation figured out that the officer had been set up, the charge was dropped and the conviction was extinguished."

All legal acts regulating the handling of personal service weapons unambiguously interpret its removal outside the military unit outside the framework of the performance of official duties as a crime. In peacetime and in a peaceful place, a service weapon should be kept in a service safe or armory, from where it is issued when a serviceman is assigned to a squad or during test shooting, after which it is surrendered again. The personal (service) weapon of an officer (type of weapon and its number) is recorded in his identity card.

But this is a personal service weapon, and a student of the military academy does not and cannot have any personal service weapon. Unless he is assigned to a patrol or squad for the academy: then he will receive a pistol and two clips, signing in the book for issuing weapons and ammunition, and after the outfit he will hand over, making a signature in the corresponding column in the same way. The loss of a weapon, as well as its theft or complicity in such, even out of "ignorance", is one of the most "bad" crimes for a regular officer, a black mark. And definitely a cross on a military career.

Many years later, Surovikin himself will say that "this topic" was allegedly closed for him back in 1995: "The investigation sorted out the case, established my innocence, they apologized to me and extinguished my criminal record," and then "the court decision on conviction was canceled, due to the absence of corpus delicti in my actions, the subject of speculation is no more." But, as follows from the letter of the chief military prosecutor, everything was not exactly like this: the investigation, of course, sorted it out, but, having filed charges, referred the case to court. Which delivered, albeit a conditional, but guilty verdict under three articles of the current Criminal Code.

Surovikin began to seek the abolition of the sentence only many years later, when he was already a general and in connection with the upcoming high appointment. That is, until this became an obstacle to the next career take-off, he fully agreed with the verdict and was not going to protest anything? But it seems that not the entire sentence was canceled, but only under two of the three articles of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR: for some reason, under the 17th (“Complicity”) and part 1 of Article 281 (“Theft of firearms, ammunition or explosives"). There is not a word about the abolition of the verdict in the part of article "just" 218 ("Illegal carrying, storage, acquisition, manufacture or sale of weapons, ammunition or explosives").

iron hand

The major was sent - formally to the war, but not to Chechnya, where the fighting was in full swing, but to the 201st motorized rifle division stationed in Tajikistan. At 32, he is already a colonel and the entire division chief of staff. Tajikistan was also considered a "hot spot" at that time, but by that time formally, since the 201st division actually did not conduct combat operations there: they ended in the summer of 1993. An officer I know, who served in the same 201st motorized rifle division in 1995, says that "there was a resort there then." Suppose, not quite a resort, but certainly not a full-fledged theater of operations. One way or another, but in Tajikistan, Surovikin also moved quickly through the ranks, quickly running through the steps of the battalion commander, the chief of staff of the regiment, the regiment commander, and then becoming the chief of staff of the division: from the battalion commander to the chief of staff of the division - in just five years.

In 2002, Surovikin graduated from the Academy of the General Staff - also with honors. Then a new appointment - to the Volga-Urals Military District, commander of the 34th motorized rifle division. The divisional commander was considered exemplary, earning a reputation as a stern commander and an "iron hand", making the connection advanced. Only the methods by which this was achieved can hardly be considered innovative: it was with the appointment of Surovikin to this position that the division regularly began to appear in scandals and criminal reports related to massacres and even murders.

For example, in March 2004, the military court of the Yekaterinburg garrison sentenced two conscripts of this division to eight years in prison for the murder of a fellow soldier, Yaroslav Lazarev. As it turned out, the soldier was killed with the knowledge of the officers, in fact, on their orders. In the summer of 2003, this soldier, having arrived home on a visit, did not return to the unit. But after a while, Lazarev was "figured out", tracked down and caught. Two officers of the special team threw the fugitive into the trunk of a car and brought him to the 32nd military camp, where the 34th division was stationed with its headquarters. On the evening of December 5, 2003, Captain Denis Shakovets, commander of the company in which Private Lazarev served, lined up his soldiers and, having explained to them the pernicious nature of unauthorized absences, ordered Lazarev to be tied to the bars of the armory.

After that, on the orders of the officer, two soldiers bullied the "defector" all night: first they beat the unfortunate man with forged boots, fists and batons, which made his eye bleed out. Then the guy was already tortured with electric shocks, tortured to death: on the morning of December 6, Lazarev died, crucified on a grate. But the real term, although short, received only two direct executors of the order. Captain Shakovets was given two years probation, and to General Surovikin, apparently, another gratitude - for bringing the division to the forefront, he also deserved the Order of Military Merit, it seems, at the same time.

Another story of the same period is completely connected with a massacre already in the office of the divisional commander himself. In March of the same 2004, Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Tsibizov turned to the prosecutor's office of the garrison with a statement that he had been beaten by the senior military commander - the division commander, Major General Surovikin. Lieutenant Colonel Tsibizov claimed that on March 15, 2004, together with two senior officers, the general beat him in his office because he voted "for the wrong candidate" at the by-elections to the State Duma on March 14 of the same year from the Verkh-Isetsky district. The general immediately hastened to accuse the lieutenant colonel of almost desertion: he allegedly did not appear in the service for a week and a half. The garrison prosecutor's office did not reveal anything: the witnesses "did not show up", and Tsibizov was forced to withdraw his statement. At the headquarters of the Volga-Urals Military District, the very fact of the general's massacre was categorically denied.

But the next case became absolutely egregious: on April 21 of the same 2004, in the same office of Surovikin in the closed 32nd military camp, his deputy for weapons, Colonel Andrey Shtakal, committed suicide. The 37-year-old colonel is survived by his wife and daughter. A criminal case was initiated on this fact, but it was soon closed. According to the military prosecutors, the situation was as follows: Lieutenant-General Alexander Stolyarov, deputy commander of the PUrVO troops, came to the division with an inspection, who remained dissatisfied with the results of the inspection. It was he who summoned Shtakal and Surovikin for a conversation in Surovikin's office.

Further, I quote, "remarks were made to the servicemen during the check. In response, Colonel Shtakal [committed suicide]. Thus, the investigation established that Surovikin was in no way guilty of this tragedy." In reality, no evidence was presented that Surovikin was also subjected to an official scolding and, in general, that this happened in the presence of the Zamkovy district. Then the official version suddenly underwent a change and there were no more witnesses left, and the question of incitement to suicide disappeared, as it were, by itself.

Guards Colonel Andrei Shtakal is a paratrooper, his reputation is impeccable, his colleagues unanimously spoke of him as a good commander and a very decent person. He is a participant in hostilities, holder of the Order of Courage, on his tunic is the sign of the Military Academy (apparently, the name of Frunze), a sign for many parachute jumps. Andrey Shtakal was appointed deputy commander of the 34th motorized rifle division for weapons in June 2003. He did not think of any suicide: not that character, a real fighter. And the colonel did not have any service pistol with him! The investigation made public such a detail: the shot was fired not from Colonel Shtakal's service PM, but from some stranger, allegedly belonging to a certain officer Bochkin. And according to one version, this Bochkin gave his award pistol to Shtakal so that he would hand it over to the warehouse, and the deputy division commander allegedly for some reason did not do this. Experts in forensic medical examination have their own addition: the nature of the colonel's wound indicated that he supposedly did not want to commit suicide, but intended only to imitate it, but "did not calculate the angle of application of the weapon to the temple."

True, my interlocutor, who once served in one of the departments of the General Staff, says that even if it is suicide, "the officers of a good commander do not shoot themselves in the office with service weapons."

The case was quickly closed, and Surovikin himself was sent from the PUrVO to Chechnya, as commander of the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division. But even there, the divisional commander had an emergency: on February 21, 2005, nine reconnaissance soldiers of the 70th motorized rifle regiment of the 42nd division were killed under a collapsed wall of a poultry farm in the village of Prigorodny, Grozny region, three more were seriously injured. According to the official version, the militants fired from a grenade launcher. General Surovikin immediately became a television star, swearing in front of television cameras that for each dead soldier he would destroy three militants. But what kind of scouts are these who let the enemy approach their location? Soon they put forward a version of self-collapse. But journalists from Novaya Gazeta found out at the same time that there had been no battle and no shelling, and that one of the tipsy servicemen accidentally fired from a grenade launcher inside the building. Or careless dealt with a mine.

But the proceedings stalled, and soon General Surovikin was transferred from Chechnya to Voronezh, to be promoted - chief of staff - first deputy of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army: in his incomplete 39 years. When Anatoly Serdyukov became Minister of Defense, Surovikin's career began to grow rapidly, and since April 2008 he has been commander of the 20th Army. He stayed in this position for seven months, and in November of the same year he quickly sat down in the chair of the head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GOU General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation). The GOU is the key department of the General Staff, it is it that is responsible for the strategic and operational planning of military operations and operational command and control of troops.

Traditionally - both in Soviet times and in the recent history of Russia - the GOU was headed by military leaders with predominantly rich staff experience, while Surovikin spent most of his military career in purely command positions. In addition, he came to the second most important post in the General Staff, having no experience of serving as the chief of staff of the military district and commander of the district troops. That is, he did not pass all the prescribed (and even mandatory for the head of the GOU) steps of the army ladder, before that all his experience was limited to tactical (division) and operational levels (army). In his new position, Surovikin lasted only 14 months. From January to December 2010, our hero was the chief of staff - the first deputy of the command troops of the PUrVO: the service life is purely nominal, less than a year! But along the way, Surovikin graduated from the Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense, having received a law degree.

General and his wife

Soon followed by a transfer to the already well-known Yekaterinburg - chief of staff - first deputy commander of the newly created Central Military District (TsVO). But even in this position, he stayed for a very short time, and in fact it was completely formal, since he had been on a long business trip since 2011: he was involved in the organization of the military police. He was transferred from Yekaterinburg quietly and behind the scenes, apparently at the urgent request of the district commander, Colonel-General Vladimir Chirkin, who was tired of the numerous scandals in which Surovikin again managed to be noted. This time the scandals were connected with the business of his wife, Anna Borisovna Surovikina. That's what they said about the general in Yekaterinburg: this is the one who is the husband of a talented businesswoman.

Wives, as you know, are the greatest asset of the Russian bureaucratic elite: they are all exceptionally talented in business, and therefore just as exceptionally rich. Military officials are no exception here: while they vegetate on beggarly salaries, their spouses work furiously, increasing family wealth and fortune. So General Surovikin has an extremely talented, and therefore wealthy wife. According to 2016 data, when Surovikin commanded the troops of the Eastern Military District, his wife, with an income of 44.021 million rubles, took second place in the list of the richest spouses of employees of the Ministry of Defense. She had three apartments with a total area of ​​479 square meters. m, three land plots with a total area of ​​about 4.1 thousand square meters. m, house 686 sq. m, parking place (12 sq. m) and non-residential premises (182 sq. m). Also, the general's wife was the owner of the Lexus RX 350.

Her husband earned much less that year: 10.4 million rubles. But he also has two apartments with a total area of ​​623 square meters. m and a passenger car Dodge Nitro. Anna Borisovna Surovikina, together with her daughter and cousin Alexander Misharin (governor of the Sverdlovsk region in 2009–2012), was the founder of the Argusles sawmill (the name Argus-SFK is also found). According to the then deputy of the Yekaterinburg Regional Duma, Leonid Volkov (now he leads the headquarters of Alexei Navalny), they sawed not only the forest, but also the regional budget. It is also known that Misharin is an old and close friend of Surovikin. As the resource "UralInformBuro" wrote back in April 2012, the talented wife of the general "not only conducts a forestry business with the daughter of the governor Misharin, but in conjunction with the security forces and officials of the regional government seeks to enter any profitable areas of business."

After publications about his wife, as Leonid Volkov claimed, he was allegedly given the general’s threats: “This man has spoken several times in different groups of people over the past week that he will kill me because I offend his wife, slander her and so further. He did not convey any threats to me personally. He expressed his threats in a circle of people who obviously know me and communicate. This is such a way of saying hello." The scandal was noisy, but ended almost in sizzle: the general's wife sued Volkov, the court ordered him to remove something from the blog and pay moral compensation in the amount of 5 thousand rubles. When Misharin ceased to be the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, and General Surovikin was transferred from Yekaterinburg, then the affairs of the Argus-SFK company went from bad to worse: huge debts ran up for renting land and forests to the regional budget - several tens of millions of rubles, the forest Surovikin's spouses and Misharin's daughters were taken away through the court, and the "innovative enterprise" went bankrupt.

"Love to death"

In the summer of 2011, another emergency occurred in the diocese of Surovikin: on the night of June 2-3, a fire broke out at the 102nd arsenal of the Central Military District, in Udmurtia. The warehouse stored 172.5 thousand tons of ammunition, of which 163.6 thousand tons - almost 95 percent - were destroyed by fire and explosions. 12 generals were then brought to disciplinary responsibility, including Deputy Minister of Defense General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov and commander of the district troops Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin. The chief of staff of the district was not punished, since he was then on vacation. On the other hand, Major General Sergey Chuvakin, who temporarily performed his duties, was punished. They whispered again that the general had a very “good dry-cleaner”, which perfectly removes stains from his uniform.

Surovikin himself left in the fall of 2012, one might say, for another promotion: for about a year he served as chief of staff - first deputy commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District (VVO), then was appointed commander of the VVO.

At one of the military forums, I found the following description of the officer who worked with him: “very smart, but he will love everyone around him to death. working hours, and even in Moscow the working day is in full swing, they pull, and from 6.00 - preparation for the morning meetings. A bunch of references, slides, etc. ... In short: grief from the mind. " Another officer, who also served under Surovikin in the Air Military District, complained that all his official and even night time was spent only on filling out notebooks and plans, preparing photo reports, drawing posters and writing numerous reports, while during checks they checked not combat training at all, but only physical education , and even those same notebooks and plans. In December 2013, Surovikin received the rank of Colonel General.

And in 2014, according to the current head of Navalny’s headquarters, Leonid Volkov, the commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, for some reason, works not in his district, but in the Rostov region, where he directs the dispatch of his subordinates to the southeast of Ukraine tank units, the notorious “Buryat tankers.” Whether he personally led this process or not, it is obvious that without the knowledge of the commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District, no “Buryat tankmen” could have ended up in the Donbass.

Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, who until recently led the Russian grouping of troops in Syria, has been appointed commander-in-chief of the country's aerospace forces.

Surovikin was born on October 11, 1966 in Novosibirsk. 30 years ago he graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School with a gold medal. In 1995 he graduated with honors from the command faculty of the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze. And 15 years ago, also with honors - the Military Academy of the General Staff.

He fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya. Was wounded three times. He commanded a platoon, company, battalion, regiment, division, army. He was chief of staff and commander of the military district, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff.

Since March 2017, he has led the Russian grouping of troops in Syria.

He was awarded the Orders of the Red Star, "For Military Merit", as well as three Orders of Courage, medals of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I and II degrees, medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For Distinction in the Protection of the State Border" and etc .

Married, has two daughters.

4 LITTLE KNOWN FACTS

1. In 1989, during the exercises, Surovikin stole a flaming infantry fighting vehicle with ammunition from a congestion of military personnel, and was awarded a medal.

2. On August 21, 1991 (during the GKChP), a military convoy headed from the Moscow region to the capital, commanded by Surovikin, was blocked by protesters. As a result of direct contact, three people died (the only victims of the putsch), and an infantry fighting vehicle was burned.

3. Surovikin was arrested, but in December 1991 the Moscow prosecutor's office dropped the criminal case against him and other servicemen "due to the absence of signs of a criminally punishable act." They say that Boris Yeltsin personally gave the order to release Captain Surovikin.

4. In October 2012, he was the only military man on the list of the 100 most authoritative people in Russia, compiled by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) and the Russian Reporter magazine.

WHY CHOOSE HIM?

Those in the know say that after the 2015 merger of the Air Force and the Space Defense Forces into one branch of the armed forces, "there was jealous friction between pilots and astronauts" over who should command the new formation. We decided to appoint an “outsider” to the main post in the Aerospace Forces. You will not catch him in professional sympathies for some subordinates and a cool attitude towards others. When selecting a candidate for the new Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, other factors were also taken into account - his ability to restore order in subordinate units with an “iron fist” and an impressive track record (besides, Surovikin underwent an excellent “internship” in Syria, where military aviation was also under his command).

General Surovikin knows how to find an approach to his subordinates - one of his deputies shot himself right in his office, another subordinate complained about the scuffle on his part.

Nevertheless, Surovikin is expected to head the Aerospace Forces (VKS) from October. At the same time, the general never in his life sat at the helm of an aircraft. What will his subordinates think about this?

The commander of the Russian grouping in Syria, 50-year-old Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, will head the Aerospace Forces from October instead of Viktor Bondarev, who is leaving for the Federation Council, sources in the military department told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

According to sources, this information has already been brought to the attention of the leadership of the VKS.

"Land travelers" in aviation are called "boots"

Among military pilots, the message about the possible appointment of Surovikin will be perceived with extreme irritation, said a senior general in the reserve air force.

“Surovikin never flew himself in his life, all his life he wore green shoulder straps, which people with blue shoulder straps despise. He did not command a single branch of the troops introduced into the VKS, and did not even stand next to them for the entire time of his service. I did not study according to the profile of any of the four former branches of the Armed Forces, now introduced into the VKS. For the Air Force to be led by a man from the motorized infantry? This has never happened before,” the source said. - Land travelers in aviation are called "boots". Subordinates, of course, will carry out all the orders of Surovikin, but on the sly they will despise him.

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, the former Deputy Air Force Commander of the Baltic Military District of the USSR for Army Aviation, Major General Alexander Tsalko also perceives such an appointment without enthusiasm. “Not the best option, to be honest,” he told the VZGLYAD newspaper. “Maybe he is a good person. But in general, in a good way, it would be better for him to refuse this position. I would say that he does not understand in this matter. Do not sit in your sleigh - this is my position, ”he added.

“There are levels where the position is political, but the Minister of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief must be professionally trained. Or at least listen to the experts,” Tsalko stressed. - This is absolutely special training should be: a pilot, preferably front-line aviation. For example, an army commander, for example, who has passed the levels of command of a regiment and division, is a person who will more or less competently manage.

Tsalko adds that with such appointments, it happens that commanders have to be taught elementary things. “The level is very high. He needs to delve into literally everything - documents regulating flight work, combat training, life. So many features that he simply will not enter, ”the pilot explained.

In this regard, Tsalko noted: "The problem is that the combined arms commander believes that with the appointment to the position he receives certain knowledge." Recall that the command staff of such branches as the Navy, Airborne Forces and VKS (Air Force), as a rule, is trained in specialized, rather than combined arms military universities.

“During the Zapad-81 exercises, the late General Valentin Varennikov twice removed me from the post of regiment commander because I did not allow the crew to fly in the fog. There are plenty of such cases when they press incompetently. Sometimes people even die because of this incompetence. And such a commander-in-chief will have a problem. Will he be able to obey his specialized deputies or not? I'm afraid not always,

the general complained. Tsalko noted that if we take army aviation, which was repeatedly transferred from the Air Force to the ground forces and vice versa, then "the paradox is that even some pilots began to incompetently command army aviation."

“Military people are forced people. Be patient where you go. What will they show him, a cookie in his pocket? Commands will be executed. If there are bad commands, they will evade them,” he explained.

The general is sure that few people in the Aerospace Forces will be enthusiastic about Surovikin's appointment: “It's not about flight ambition. The thing is, people don't understand.

A high-ranking source of the VZGLYAD newspaper in the Russian Air Force recalls that each type of troops and branch of the armed forces has its own professional language for orders and orders. It is with the help of this language that the generals set combat missions for their subordinates, and for tankers the setting of the task sounds fundamentally different than for sailors or pilots. The tank general simply does not know what words and concepts to issue this or that order for, say, an air squadron. If only for this reason, due to the appointment of General Surovikin, the Aerospace Forces can expect problems with command and control of forces.

The new commander-in-chief knows how to attack quickly

Whether this is a coincidence or not is not yet clear, but the appointment of Surovikin became known the next morning after the good news came from Syria - our troops were able to quickly break through the encirclement of militants, which on Tuesday got a platoon of the Russian military police in the province of Idlib. 29 Russian soldiers were released from the encirclement. It was General Surovikin who, by the way, was the creator of the Russian military police, managed to organize the deblockade operation with lightning speed.

But Tsalko is sure that success in Syria is a common merit, because Surovikin is not the first commander of the group, and he headed the group quite recently, in June. “This is not the person who came to Syria at the most difficult time and took on all this. He came to a knurled economy that works, ”the source emphasized.

In Syria, the commander has deputies for areas. “There is a deputy for aviation who gives him professional advice,” Tsalko stressed. According to him, the commander consults on how to act in each specific case. At the same time, Tsalko emphasized, the deputy for aviation is protected by the fact that he is subordinate in parallel to the commander-in-chief of the VKS - that is, in case of disagreement, he can turn to his own commander-in-chief.

The battle path began in the August coup

Sergei Surovikin was born in Novosibirsk in 1966. In 1987, he graduated from the Omsk Higher Command Military School with a gold medal, in 1995, with honors, from the Frunze Military Academy, and in 2002, also with honors, from the Academy of the General Staff.

For the first time, Surovikin got into the media field as a young captain. During the days of the August putsch of 1991, the battalion of the Taman division under his command was sent to patrol the center of Moscow, it was during the incident with the BMP of his battalion on the Garden Ring that three young people died. Surovikin was arrested, but the charges against him were eventually dropped, as he was only following orders. Moreover, on the personal orders of Yeltsin, he was promoted.

Since 1995, he was sent to Tajikistan, where he went from battalion commander to division chief of staff. In 2002 he was appointed commander of the 34th Simferopol motorized rifle division. In 2004 he fought in Chechnya, after which he commanded the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army. Then he was deputy chief of the General Staff and chief of staff of the Central Military District. Prior to his appointment in Syria, he led the MoD working group on the creation of a military police and then commanded the troops of the Eastern Military District.

Another noisy incident with Surovikin occurred during his studies at the Frunze Academy - in 1995 he was sentenced to a year of suspended imprisonment for carrying weapons and ammunition. However, it later turned out that he was framed, and the conviction was dropped. In 2004, Surovikin's subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Tsibizov, accused the boss of beating him for political reasons, but then he himself withdrew the statement from the prosecutor's office.

In the same year, a tragic incident occurred - right in the office of divisional commander Surovikin, in his presence, his deputy for weapons, Colonel Andrey Shtakal, shot himself.

The new commander-in-chief will rely on specialized deputies

The editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Viktor Murakhovsky, suggests waiting for the official appointment of a new commander-in-chief. But in general, he does not see anything unusual in the fact that a combined arms general will lead a "foreign" branch of the military. “VKS is becoming an interspecific structure that includes many types of troops and works in the interests of all armed forces, and not only in the airspace,” Murakhovsky told the VZGLYAD newspaper.

The expert recalled that Surovikin previously commanded the Eastern Military District: “This is also one of the largest interspecific operational formations, which included the fleet, air army, air defense and all other branches of the military in the east of the country.”

Murakhovsky noted that the new commander-in-chief will command various types of troops, in particular the Long-Range Aviation and the Air Force itself, operational-tactical aviation, and he already has such experience. Indeed, the grouping in Syria includes air defense, ground forces and special operations forces.

Periodically appear off the coast of Syria and the forces of the Navy, which are operationally subordinate to the commander for the duration of the presence. Murakhovsky credits Surovikin with the success of the Russian aviation group in Syria.

The training of flight personnel and the use of aviation itself will be handled by individuals, Murakhovsky explained: for example, the deputy commander-in-chief for aviation. The use of various types of troops is planned by a special headquarters. “The Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces is now the person who organizes the training and combat use of interspecific weapons systems operating in air and space,” he explained. The expert does not expect any indignation on the part of the VKS pilots with the new appointment. “Those who are indignant in the army are leaving,” he summed up.

As you know, the military is conservative and does not like change. Similar rumors were heard in the officer corps in the spring of 2004, when Anatoly Serdyukov, a tax service official who was far from the army, was appointed Minister of Defense. Since his official biography included the position of director of a furniture store, many officers at first called him Taburetkin.

However, over time, Serdyukov got up to speed and even launched a large-scale reform. On the eve of the “five-day war”, almost no one remembered his furniture past. And the reforms he initiated forever changed the face of our army, and years later, even many of his critics admit that the reforms turned out to be correct in many respects.