Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in 1995. Grachev Pavel Sergeevich

AT 14.40 (Moscow time) hours are gone Pavel Sergeevich Grachev . We remember him as commander of the 345th Guards OPDP, as Divisional Commander 103 Guards Airborne Forces, as Commander of the Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, Minister of Defense of Russia(my namesake).
We will remember. And I was at that time in the sky .. on jumps. ​
The paratrooper "went to heaven" ...

I wrote something about him There is also a video

Born (January 1, 1948 (according to Grachev himself - December 26, 1947) in the village of Rvy, Leninsky district of the Tula region in the family of a locksmith and a milkmaid. In 1964 he graduated from school. Since 1965, in the Soviet Army, he entered Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, which he graduated from With Honours in the specialties "platoon commander of the airborne troops" and "referent-translator from the German language" (1969), graduated as a lieutenant. After graduating from college in 1969-1971, he served as commander of a reconnaissance platoon of a separate reconnaissance company of the 7th Guards Airborne Division in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR. In 1971-1975 he was a platoon commander (until 1972), a company commander of cadets of the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. From 1975 to 1978 - commander of the training parachute battalion of the 44th training airborne division. Since 1978 he was a student of the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze, from which he graduated in 1981 with honors and after which he was sent to Afghanistan.

Since 1981, he took part in military operations in Afghanistan: until 1982 - deputy commander, in 1982-1983 - commander of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment (as part of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan). In 1983, as chief of staff - deputy commander of the 7th Guards Airborne Division, he was seconded to the territory of the USSR (Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR). In 1984, he was promoted ahead of schedule to a colonel. Upon returning to the DRA in 1985-1988, he was commander of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division as part of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops. In total, he spent five years and three months in the country. May 5, 1988 "for the performance of combat missions with minimal casualties" Major General Grachev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Gold Star Medal No. 11573). After returning, he served in the airborne troops in various command positions.

In 1988-1990. Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. After graduation, he was appointed first deputy commander of the Airborne Forces. Since December 30, 1990 - Commander of the Airborne Forces of the USSR (the position of Colonel General, Grachev at that time - Major General)....

Pavel Grachev owned the famous phrase, said before the start of the operation of the federal troops in Chechnya, about

that it is possible to restore order in the republic in seventy-two hours with the help of one "fifty kopecks" - the 350th regiment of the 103rd Airborne Division.

This phrase was uttered after the failure of an attempt to capture Grozny by the Chechen opposition with the support of Russian tankers in November 1994.

Later he quote about one regiment of the Airborne Forces commented as follows:

— Pavel Sergeevich, what about your infamous promise to take Grozny in two hours with one airborne regiment? “And I still don’t give up on it. Just listen fully to that statement of mine. Otherwise, after all, they snatched out only one phrase from the context of a large speech - and let's exaggerate. It was about the fact that if you fight according to all the rules of military science: with unlimited use of aviation, artillery, missile troops, then the remnants of the surviving bandit formations could really be destroyed in a short time by one parachute regiment. And I really could do it but then my hands were tied.

Since 2007, he worked as an adviser - head of the group of advisers to the general director of the Omsk Popov Radio Plant.

t text is not mine
64-year-old Army General Pavel Grachev, who served as Minister of Defense in 1992-1996, died in the cardio-reanimation hospital. Vishnevsky on Sunday afternoon, 23 September.
The infamous military leader of the Yeltsin era was taken to the clinic on the night of 11 days ago from his apartment in the capital.
“Father is in the intensive care unit of the hospital,” Grachev’s son Valery told Life News at the time, “now he is already better, they are going to transfer him to the department.
Unfortunately, the improvement was only temporary.
- This afternoon, the general died, - confirmed Life News in the organization "Combat Brotherhood". - It's too early to talk about the reasons.
After the news of the death of Pavel Sergeevich, his wife needed urgent help, an ambulance car drove to the general's dacha.
According to the son, his father had a seizure due to high blood sugar levels. Doctors at first assumed that Grachev poisoned by mushrooms, but later a different diagnosis was made - stroke .
“According to relatives, the evening before hospitalization, the general was at a birthday party with one of his friends,” a source in medical circles told Life News.
After returning from a gala dinner, Grachev suddenly became ill, he lost consciousness. Relatives, without a moment's hesitation, called an ambulance.
Arriving doctors recorded a sharp jump in pressure in the patient and insisted on urgent hospitalization.
According to preliminary data, Grachev will be buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery of the capital on Tuesday, September 25. Farewell will take place at the Cultural Center of the Armed Forces next to the theater of the Russian Army.
Pavel Grachev, who participated in armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya, is also known from the events of August 1991 in Moscow. Then Grachev complied with the order of the State Emergency Committee to send troops to the capital, but then he doubted the legitimacy of the actions of the conspirators and defended the White House.
Later, Grachev became involved in several scandals, for example, about the purchase of Mercedes cars with the help of the Western Group of Forces (ZGV), for which the nickname Pasha-Mercedes stuck to him.
Many also criticized him for his statement about the possibility of bringing order to Chechnya with the help of one regiment of the Airborne Forces.
Later, Grachev was a witness in the murder of journalist Dmitry Kholodov.
Former Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Pavel Grachev died of acute meningoencephalitis. Today, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the cause of death of a colleague.

From the message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation: “Army General Grachev Pavel Sergeevich died on September 23 this year at the 65th year of his life in the 3rd Central Military Clinical Hospital named after. A. A. Vishnevsky of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow from acute meningoencephalitis" .
Meningoencephalitis is a combination of inflammation of the membranes and the substance of the brain. A day later, the clinic commented on the death of the general.
Medics: “This disease can be infectious, toxic or allergic. So far, we cannot say what was the root cause of the onset of the disease in Pavel Sergeevich. We can talk about this after the necessary laboratory tests have been carried out.”
The clinic noted that the virus entered the patient's brain through the bloodstream. The disease could develop from several hours to several weeks. The doctors' prognosis was unfavorable - according to statistics, meningoencephalitis is characterized by a high percentage of deaths.
According to an Interfax source in the clinic, it will take several days to determine which infection struck Pavel Grachev.
NTV.Ru recalls: reports of the death of the former Minister of Defense of Russia appeared the day before. However, doctors did not name the reasons for the death of the 64-year-old general until today 09/24/2012.

The former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General Pavel Grachev, a military and statesman who at one time received a lot of the most contradictory characteristics from his contemporaries, is an extraordinary and significant personality who influenced not only the events of the 90s in Russia, but also state of modern Russian armed forces. His contribution to the political atmosphere of the state is still regarded differently and will be analyzed in the future. The official cause of Pavel Grachev's death was meningoencephalitis.

He was born in 1948 in the village of Rvy, Tula Region, into a simple family. He graduated from high school in 1964 and was called up for military service a year later. In the Soviet army, Grachev entered the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1965, graduating in 1969 with a gold medal and received the specialty "platoon commander of the airborne troops" and "referent-translator from the German language."

From 1971 to 1975, Pavel Sergeevich served in Kaunas, later he became a company commander in his native school. Already in 1975, he received command of a training paratrooper battalion and in 1978 became a student of the Frunze Military Academy. Since 1981, Grachev served in Afghanistan, where he participated in hostilities: as deputy commander, and then as commander of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment. After a short break from 1983 to 1985, he was again sent to Afghanistan as the commander of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division. Grachev was shell-shocked and wounded several times in battle.

In May 1888, Pavel Grachev received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for a successful military operation at the Satukandav pass. After returning to his homeland, he continued his service and in 1988 became a student of the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. After graduation, he was appointed deputy commander of the Airborne Forces, and since December 1990 - commander.

During the August coup, Major General Grachev, on the orders of the State Emergency Committee, brought the 106th Guards Airborne Division into Moscow. However, he, along with other military leaders who arrived in the capital, refused to fulfill the order of the putschists to seize the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Contacting the government, Grachev gave the order to protect the White House. For this, he later received an appointment from Gorbachev as First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chairman of the State Committee of the RSFSR on Defense Issues. In October of the same year, the new president, Boris Yeltsin, confirmed this position by conferring on Grachev the rank of colonel general.

Since February 1992, Grachev was the first deputy commander-in-chief of the CIS Unified Armed Forces and expressed the ideas of creating a system of unified CIS armed forces. In May 1992, he received direct control of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and became the first army general in Russia after the collapse of the USSR. From that time Pavel Grachev until 1969 was the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

During his tenure in this post, Pavel Sergeevich quite successfully resolved some issues regarding the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the former Soviet republics, the strengthening of unity of command in the army, and others. During the activation of Chechen militants by 1994, Grachev advocated a peaceful solution to issues, but was criticized by the leadership and opposition. The war in Chechnya dragged on, despite his assurances to complete all military operations in a short time. This and statements about the reduction of the Armed Forces, contract service, became the reason for Grachev's resignation from office. After several years as a military adviser on various issues, he was transferred to the reserve in 2007.

In September 2012, 64-year-old Gromov was taken to the Vishnevsky hospital in a serious condition, but the doctors could not save him: he died 12 days later. Trying to establish why Pavel Grachev died, the experts put forward 2 main versions: a stroke as a result of alcohol intoxication and mushroom poisoning: the day before, the patient celebrated a friend's birthday. There are also assumptions by the former press secretary of the Ministry of Defense Barants about the voluntary poisoning of the general after failures and a long painful illness. Only his relatives know the true cause of Grachev's death.

He is buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Yeltsin pinned his main crimes on the ex-Minister of Defense

Yeltsin pinned his main crimes on the ex-Minister of Defense

This week will be 9 days since the death of the Hero of the Soviet Union, who played a special role in the collapse of his homeland. Pavel GRACHEV became an enemy for many officers already in the days of the August 1991 coup. And the country met the news of his death with the words: “Pasha-Mercedes gave oak!” He was accused of double betrayal, they said that with his stupidity, mediocrity and martinetism, he ruined thousands of soldiers' lives during the first Chechen campaign. How could the hero of the Afghan war fall so low?

Even on the days of the funeral of the ex-Minister of Defense of Russia Pavel Grachev, when “about the dead - either the truth or nothing,” passions boiled on the Internet: “Not an officer, not a soldier, and not a minister. Banal Judas. In August 1991, he betrayed the USSR and the oath, taking the side Yeltsin. I think the young soldiers who were sent to Chechnya after a month of training have already warmly welcomed Uncle Pasha", "After the black October 1993, when Grachev betrayed Russia and its constitution, taking the side of the EBN and becoming its punisher, his soul was forever in paws of Satan."

Everything seems to be clear. But here are the words of a man with a reputation for being unconditionally honest, courageous, a patriot of Russia - the President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov: “Pavel Sergeevich Grachev, a real Hero, a man who devoted his life to selfless service and selfless defense of our Great Motherland, has passed away, and his life can rightfully serve as an example of patriotism, fortitude, fidelity to duty, officer honor. As a real general and officer, he always faithfully served his homeland, and loyalty to his country is the highest value.

Where is the truth? And the truth is that to this day no one knows exactly what happened on the fateful days of August 1991. As well as what forces, in addition to the army, special services, police, KGB "Alpha" and Israeli Beitarovites, were involved in the square near the "White House" in October 1993, where they crushed with tanks and shot from the roofs of the American embassy ordinary people who came out to protect the deputies - Yeltsin's opponents.

Eggs in different baskets

It is clear today that in 1991 we chose between two traitors - Gorbachev and Yeltsin. And then the future "Tsar Boris" presented himself as the guardian of the aspirations of the people and did not stutter about the collapse of the USSR. According to the historian Alexandra Shevyakina, the author of the book "Contract Murder of the USSR", strategists from the "Rand Corporation" - an American private company that received an order to create a program for the liquidation of the USSR, assigned Grachev the unsightly role of a conspirator. The Randites staked on the elite, primarily the Republican, the KGB and the "fifth column" and on brainwashing with the help of the "democratic" press.

One of the "washers" - the future mayor of Moscow, Gavriil Popov, recalled that the putsch project had two main options: with Gorbachev's participation and without him. “When I was shown its possible scenarios and our possible contractions long before the coup, my eyes widened. What was not here: resistance in the "White House", and near Moscow, and departure to St. Petersburg or Svedlovsk to fight from there, and a reserve government in the Baltic states and even abroad. And how many proposals there were about scenarios for the putsch itself! And the "Algerian option" - a rebellion of a group of troops in one of the republics. The uprising of the Russian population. Etc. etc. And it became clearer and clearer that everything would depend on the role of Gorbachev himself: the putsch would be either with his blessing, or under the flag of his lack of information, or with his disagreement or even against him. Of all the options, the GKChP chose the one that we could only dream of - not just against Gorbachev, but also with his isolation.

But who showed Popov these options? Three years later, this was declassified by the chairman of the KGB of the USSR Vladimir Kryuchkov: "Popov had contacts with the Secretary of State Baker, with his expert group, was taken over by experts from the CIA." The composition of the GKChP was not at all formed by its high-ranking members themselves, but the exchange of information between them was arranged so that all of them were sure that they were acting on their own initiative and for the good of the USSR. How did Pavel Grachev, commander of the Airborne Forces, get into this company of top officials of the KGB, the party, and ministers? He entered the game on the orders of the marshal Dmitry Yazov. The veteran of the Great Patriotic War was an ardent opponent of both Gorbachev's idea of ​​reducing the army and Yeltsin's plans to turn the Soviet republics into sovereign states. He ordered his favorite to participate in the development of the putsch scenario, allegedly conducted by the KGB in order to prevent the collapse of the USSR. In the KGB, Grachev was subtly processed, saying that in a real situation he would already figure out whose commands - Yazov, Gorbachev or Yeltsin - to carry out.

Of the traitor Gorbachev and Yeltsin, whom the people then idolized, Grachev chose the second. But he could not fail to follow Yazov's orders, although this could strengthen Gorbachev's position. And he led his game, deciding to "keep the eggs in different baskets." At meetings with Yazov, he proposed tough anti-Yeltsin measures, and then reported on the reaction to Yeltsin.

During the putsch, Grachev brought tanks into Moscow. The people were in shock. And he ran to the "White House" in readiness to lie down on the asphalt, just to protect Yeltsin. People asked 19-year-old tankers: “Who are you for?” They just shrugged. In 1991, Grachev was not going to fire cannons at the people. The calculation was simple: if the GKChP takes over, it can tell Yeltsin, they say, I warned you, and report to Yazov - I was the first to surround the nest of resistance. If Yeltsin wins, I will be the first to come to your aid. This double-dealing officers, who remained faithful to the oath, are called the first betrayal of Grachev.

pasha mercedes

I share the grief of mothers and fathers whose sons died in Chechnya for vile interests Berezovsky and future oil oligarchs. But still, I dare to remind you that we know about all the atrocities of Grachev only from the press and television programs, engaged by the same "fugitive oligarch" who had direct contacts with the bandits and could influence Yeltsin.

Grachev himself, dismissed by Yeltsin in shame, left the Ministry of Defense with dignity and did not try to whitewash himself or offend others. General Gennady Troshev claims that Grachev tried with all his might to convince Yeltsin not to send troops into Chechnya, or at least postpone their introduction until the spring, in order to have time to prepare the army. Even tried to negotiate Dudayev. It didn't work out. The result was Yeltsin's decree and the first assault on Grozny on January 1, Grachev's birthday. The Minister of Defense also protested against the entry into Grozny on November 26, 1996 of an armored column, which was actually doomed to be burned. The press indiscriminately accused Grachev personally of the tragedy, but later it turned out that this “brilliant” operation was organized by the then director of the FSK Stepashin and the head of the Moscow FSB Savostyanov, who oversaw the removal of Dudayev’s regime. Opponents accused Grachev of illegally purchasing two Mercedes, because of which he was nicknamed Pasha-Mercedes. But it turned out that he legally bought them for the Ministry of Defense, and the scandal erupted because the minister did not understand why he should pay customs if the car was in public service.

Amorous affairs

Later, the prosecutor's office looked for Grachev's dachas in Portugal and Cyprus, but did not find them. But Express Newspaper was the first to find a dacha Elena Agapova- the press secretary of the Department of Defense, a sexy woman who was so devoted to the secretary of defense that the officers had no doubt that they were having an affair. The dacha in the general's settlement was not assigned to her by rank, which aroused the burning envy of high-ranking military men. Because of her, another scandal erupted.

Grachev spoke about his views on marriage and adultery in an interview with Sobesednik in February of this year: - I do not cheat on my wife Lyubov Alekseevna. Although the word "treason" I hate. To change means to leave the family and go to another woman. This I do not admit. But if you met a girl, you liked her, she liked you too, you have mutual sympathy. What kind of betrayal is this? We rested, took a walk, and then she returned to her place, and you to yourself. This is not treason, but a temporary respite between fights. Lyubov Alekseevna and I got married when I was 21 years old. It's been 43 years since then. She says: "I know that you walked from me." I ask: "And how did you feel about it?" “Before,” the wife replies, “I was indignant. And then I thought: well, okay, I’m provided for, I have a good house, great children, grandchildren, you are with me all the time!” And she's right. You see, if a man marries early, he will still be drawn to another woman at some point, to try, so to speak, whether she is better or worse than his wife. So women have to either accept it or leave. Grachev's two sons, Sergei and Valery, followed in their father's footsteps, but they did not wear shoulder straps for long. Sergei, a graduate of the airborne school, went into business and left for the UAE. His wife and daughter Natasha refused to go with him, and they divorced. Now Sergei has a new life partner. The ex-minister of defense admitted that the main love of his life is his grandson Pasha, a gift from his youngest son, a former student of the FSB Academy, who is now heading a recycling company. When the grandfather found out that his grandson had been given his name, he shouted into the telephone to all his friends: “Know that Pavel Grachev will die, but Pavel Grachev will still remain. My enemies especially need to know this so that they never forget the name Grachev!

Quote

Mikhail POLTORANIN, politician and publicist:

Pavel Grachev, the first minister of defense of post-Soviet Russia, who died last Saturday, was buried in Moscow.

The farewell ceremony was held at the Cultural Center of the Armed Forces from 11 am to 1 pm.

Condolences on Grachev's death were expressed by President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov emphasized that Grachev led the armed forces at the most difficult time and actually created the army of sovereign Russia.

The 64-year-old army general was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Vishnevsky military hospital in Krasnogorsk near Moscow on September 12 with a diagnosis of a stroke, which was subsequently not confirmed.

mysterious death

As one of the versions, it was about mushroom poisoning.

An autopsy found that the commander died of a rare disease - acute meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and its membranes caused by a bacterial or viral infection).

How Grachev got infected is not known.

The former head of intelligence of the Airborne Forces, Pavel Popovskikh, rejects the possibility of an assassination attempt.

"He did not pose any kind of threat to anyone, for sure, he was generally a silent person and knew how to keep his own and state secrets, believe me, I know this for sure," Popovskikh said.

“We saw each other for the last time on August 2. He didn’t look very healthy, I must say, a little so sickly, thinner. But he kept himself cheerful, was, as always, an energetic, active and businesslike person. Although, the general opinion is not only mine that he had some kind of illness. A little bit just complexion and some thinness said that he was not all right with his health. But we did not ask, and he did not say anything, "he added.

The career of Pavel Grachev turned out to be the same as the era itself - chaotic, inconsistent, somewhat successful, somewhat stupid, somewhat heroic Konstantin Bogdanov, military observer

Pavel Sergeevich Grachev was born on January 1, 1948 in the village of Rvy, Tula Region. He graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, the Frunze Military Academy and the General Staff Academy. He commanded an airborne regiment and a division in Afghanistan. He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union "for the performance of combat missions with minimal human losses."

"He will be remembered not as a military man, but as an official in an officer's uniform," Pavel Svyatenkov, a political scientist at the National Strategy Institute, said after Grachev's death.

"He was a real, not a parquet general. A real soldier," former head of the State Property Committee Alfred Koch tweeted.

The head of the Union of Russian Paratroopers, Lieutenant General Valery Vostrotin, agrees with Koch's assessment.

"He was a platoon commander for me - I entered the Ryazan Military School, and my first platoon commander was Lieutenant Grachev: tall, slender, master of sports in skiing. He was fair, in a hussar, I would say, an officer, he is for We, the cadets, were an idol even then. Then I met him nine years later in Afghanistan. He was my commander there. Although I was already experienced, and he had just come after the academy, he again won us over instantly with his honesty, decency and professionalism "He took us, being not very experienced yet, and we were already experienced battalion commanders, to combat operations. And the main task was: not to kill anyone. In the first place was, "recalls the veteran.

Army and politics

In early 1991, a successful "Afghan" general was appointed commander of the Airborne Forces.

Selected elite troops have always been considered in the USSR and Russia as the Life Guards. Their significance objectively increases during periods of instability. Unaccustomed to this, Grachev immediately became a political figure and found himself at the epicenter of turbulent events.

According to the investigation on the "GKChP case", on August 6, 1991, KGB chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, two days after Gorbachev's departure for Foros, invited Grachev and KGB generals Alexei Yegorov and Vyacheslav Zhizhin to his place and instructed them to prepare a strategic forecast and a list of measures to ensure state of emergency.

On August 8, the generals declared the inadvisability of introducing a state of emergency before the signing of the Union Treaty. "After August 20 it will be too late," Kryuchkov replied.

Undoubtedly understanding what was about to happen, Grachev did not warn either Gorbachev or Yeltsin, and at half past five in the morning of August 19, according to the order, raised the alert and sent the 106th Tula Airborne Division to Moscow.

However, when Boris Yeltsin called him from his dacha in Arkhangelsk, he hung up the phone and confidently declared to his comrades-in-arms: "Grachev is ours." It is noteworthy that Grachev, along with the heads of the Union republics, was among the people with whom Yeltsin considered it necessary to speak immediately.

Grachev is an experienced warrior, he passed all command positions, he smashed the "spirits" in Afghanistan. Largely thanks to Grachev, the army did not crumble to dust in the early 90s. The military know and remember that it was Pavel Sergeevich who came up with a lot of "tricks" to increase the monetary allowance for officers: either a surcharge for "tension", then pension "cheat", then an additional payment for secrecy, etc. Gennady Troshev,
retired Colonel General, Hero of Russia

At around 11:00 p.m. on August 20, when the assault on the White House was being prepared, Yeltsin's adviser Yuri Skokov met with Grachev on the street near the headquarters of the Airborne Forces. According to Skokov, Grachev asked to tell the leadership of Russia that "he is Russian and will never allow the army to shed the blood of his people."

After the failure of the putsch, Grachev was appointed first deputy of the new USSR Minister of Defense Yevgeny Shaposhnikov. He also became the first military commander to receive the rank of army general in the new Russia.

Once again, Grachev faced a dramatic choice on October 3, 1993. After supporters of the Supreme Soviet seized the building of the Moscow mayor's office and tried to storm the television center in Ostankino, and Alexander Rutskoi proclaimed from the balcony of the White House: "Tomorrow - to the Kremlin!", Boris Yeltsin demanded to bring tanks into Moscow.

Grachev at the meeting asked for a written order.

General Viktor Karpukhin, who commanded the Alpha group during the 1991 coup, later said that the words that the army and Alpha "refused to shoot at the people" sound nice, but the military would have carried out the order if they had received it in a clear, unambiguous form . However, the members of the GKChP chimed in, actually posing the question in this way: it would be nice if you took the White House, but keep in mind that we have nothing to do with it.

Yeltsin did not suffer from a lack of decisiveness and did not hide behind other people's backs. Want a written order - please!

The tanks fired 12 shots at the White House, 10 of which were unloaded blanks. Only two shells were live, and they caused a fire in the building.

According to numerous insiders, most of the Russian security forces in 1993 did not have much love for the president and his reforms. But Yeltsin was still in their eyes a responsible and predictable person, and the seizure of power by young radicals who settled in the White House could lead to anything, up to civil war or armed conflict with the West.

Even bad order was preferable in the eyes of the generals to chaos comparable to the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century.

The general attitude was expressed by the commander of the Kantemirovskaya division, Boris Polyakov, who said in those days: "For me, Rutskoi is False Dmitry."

“Whatever is said about Grachev, he absolutely did not want the politicization of the army and fought with all his might. When Grachev made a choice and switched to full support of Yeltsin in the confrontation with the Supreme Soviet, he did it for the simplest reason: he sincerely believed that it will be better for the army, and I saw in Yeltsin at least some, but a stabilizer of the situation," Konstantin Bogdanov, a military observer for the RIA Novosti agency, points out.

Criticism and Kholodov's case

Having taken the post of Minister of Defense in May 1992, Grachev faced many problems that until recently and in a dream could not have been dreamed of by the Russian military.

Grachev was a good airborne division commander in my 40th army [in Afghanistan]. He never rose above this level. He became a minister only because Igor Rodionov defected to Yeltsin's side in time,
Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in 1996-1997

"A man who clumsily and honestly fought for the preservation of the" indestructible and legendary ", but clearly had neither the resources, nor the mandate, nor a coherent strategic plan for this," Konstantin Bogdanov assesses him.

According to the expert, Grachev understood the inevitability of the withdrawal of the Russian army from Eastern Europe, but opposed the withdrawal of troops from the CIS countries with all his might.

Pavel Popovskikh credits Grachev with fighting against the privatization of the military-industrial complex.

"During the years when he was Minister of Defense, Pavel Sergeevich Grachev managed to prevent the privatization of the military-industrial complex, which Anatoly Chubais and Yegor Gaidar wanted. He succeeded thanks to his special relationship with Boris Yeltsin," Popovskikh said.

Some observers believed that Grachev, who had risen from divisional to ministerial level in a little over a year, lacked experience. Others point out that in the current situation, little depended on him.

“Everything fell out of hand and went to hell, the country was written off as scrap in bulk, and with such logging, it’s better not to get in the way of echelons with chips,” says Konstantin Bogdanov.

The Minister soon became a favorite target for the media, not only the left and nationalist, but also the liberal ones.

"He stayed with Yeltsin, and that's why we had the 90s, and the new Constitution, and the market economy, and the free press, which just scolded him and poured dirt on him," Alfred Koch is perplexed.

When, at the direction of Grachev, two Mercedes-500s were purchased for the ministry at the expense of proceeds from the sale of the property of the former Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, the nickname Pasha-Mercedes was firmly entrenched in the press.

"The fact that in 1994 became almost the central item on the agenda of the federal press and caused an extremely painful reaction from the state authorities, now, 18 years later, causes us only bewilderment. Just think, two Mercedes, but for the office, and not for yourself Today, even Navalny would not be interested in such a case," Konstantin Bogdanov noted.

Another scandal erupted after Grachev allegedly ordered the head of the economic department of the Ministry of Defense to allocate a garage to his son.

“Young, inexperienced,” one of the observers commented at the time. “In the past, it was not the minister, but the minister’s wife, who would talk to the head of the HOZU on such an issue. , the supply manager is a toady, and I am busy with state affairs.

With Pavel Grachev, we were engaged in the withdrawal of troops from the former republics of the USSR, and the construction of the Russian army, and reforms, and the first Chechen war. A lot of unfair words were said about him in the press and electronic media, but, in my opinion, he was the most powerful of those ministers of defense under whose leadership I happened to serve. He was remembered as a decent man and a brave paratrooper who made most of his parachute jumps while testing new technology. I sincerely respect him Peter Deinekin,
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force in 1992-1998, General of the Army

Pavel Popovskikh offers his version of events.

According to him, thanks to his closeness to Yeltsin, Grachev had the opportunity to resolve many issues contrary to the position of the cabinet's financial bloc. "Because of such actions, he became objectionable to the government, and persecution began against him," says Popovskikh.

When Boris Yeltsin established the rank of Marshal of the Russian Federation on February 11, 1993, the media unanimously concluded that this was being done "under Grachev."

Two journalists from "Moskovsky Komsomolets" came to the workshop of the Ministry of Defense, where the uniforms and insignia of the highest commanding staff were made, and, in order to get sensational material, played a scene. One pretended to be drunk, while the employees together escorted him out, the other seized the moment and photographed ready-made marshal's epaulettes with huge stars and double-headed eagles on the desktop of the gold embroidery.

Due to numerous media scandals and military failures in Chechnya, Grachev never received the highest rank.

Perhaps the main opponent of Grachev, who accused him of abuse, primarily in the course of selling the property of a group of Soviet troops in Germany, was Dmitry Kholodov, a Moskovsky Komsomolets correspondent.

Colleagues of the journalist later admitted that Kholodov waged a kind of personal war with Grachev.

On October 17, 1994, a man who did not identify himself called Kholodov and indicated the number of the cell in the station's storage room, where there was a briefcase with some sensational material. When Kholodov brought it to the editorial office and tried to open it, there was an explosion.

After retiring, Grachev led a private life, left no memoirs, and rarely appeared in public. Until April 2007, he worked as an adviser to the general director of the Rosvooruzhenie company, then as an adviser to the director of the Popov Omsk Radio Plant.

A retired senior official always fell into complete insignificance. And Grachev, after his resignation, instantly disappeared, as if he had never existed. It is necessary to change the principles of forming our elite so that expulsion from a ministerial post does not equal expulsion from politics Pavel Svyatenkov, political scientist

The personality of Pavel Sergeevich Grachev is known to most people interested in politics. He held a high position in the most difficult time for the country, devoted most of his life to military activities. In order to learn about the biography of Pavel Sergeevich Grachev, as well as to get better acquainted with the successes in the career of a military man, you just need to familiarize yourself with the material of the article.

Youth

Pavel Sergeevich Grachev was born on the first day of the new year 1948. The place of his birth is a small village near Tula. The family of Pavel Sergeevich was the simplest: his father, Sergei Grachev, worked as a mechanic at a factory, and his mother was a milkmaid in his native village.

Education

In 1964, Pavel Sergeevich Grachev graduated from school with success, and the following year he entered the Airborne Forces School, which is located in Ryazan. Upon graduation, in 1969, Grachev was awarded a gold medal in several specialties. In 1978, already an experienced military man, Pavel Sergeevich attended a course of lectures at the military academy, which bears the name of Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze. He also graduated with honors. After graduation, Grachev was sent to Afghanistan.

The beginning of a military career

Since 1969, for several years, Grachev commanded a reconnaissance platoon of the Airborne Division, located in the city of Kaunas, which is located in Lithuania. For the next four years, Pavel Sergeevich commanded a company of cadets at the Ryazan Airborne Forces School, and until 1978 Grachev was in the position of commander of a training battalion.

Military activities after the fighting in Afghanistan

Grachev returned to the USSR in 1983 after participating in the Afghan armed conflict, where he held the position of deputy commander, and later he himself began to command a guards regiment. Pavel Sergeevich was sent to Kaunas, where he served as chief of staff. Good service was appreciated: in 1984, Grachev received the rank of colonel ahead of schedule, and in November 1986 he was given a new rank - major general.

Awards and titles

In May 1988 Grachev Pavel Sergeevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Grachev received this honorary award for the fact that the combat mission under his strict guidance was completed with minimal human losses, in particular, Pavel Sergeevich showed himself well in the most difficult military operation "Magistral".

Participation in the August coup and further promotion

August 20, 1991 Grachev received an order to send troops to Moscow to protect the most important objects. He fulfilled this order by sending the Tula 106th Airborne Division to a combat mission. On August 23, Pavel Sergeevich was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. At the beginning of November of this year, in connection with the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers, he began to perform duties related to defense issues. Grachev believed that it was necessary to create a common defense system for the CIS countries.

April 1992 was marked by another high appointment of a serviceman, this time he became the Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia. His duties included control over military units under the jurisdiction of the Russian troops. In May 1992, Pavel Sergeevich was appointed army general. The first army general in the history of the Russian Federation.

Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation

The promotion went by leaps and bounds. On May 18, 1992, Pavel Sergeevich took over as Minister of Defense. Most of the higher ranks in the ministry Grachev distributed to his colleagues in Afghanistan. He opposed liberties in the army, considered unity of command the only possible option for doing business in the armed forces. He banned the All-Russian Officers' Meeting and the trade union of military personnel, which caused indignation of the military.

In June 1992, Grachev's decision to transfer half of all weapons belonging to the Soviet army to the Chechen politician Dudayev caused a great resonance. Pavel Sergeevich called this forced measures, since the weapons actually already belonged to the militants, and there was no way to take them out. This situation had a very negative impact on the military clash that happened two years later, when Russian soldiers were fired from the transferred weapons.

Pavel Sergeevich Grachev supported Russian President Boris Yeltsin, which caused a sharply negative attitude from the opposition. On October 3, riots took place in Moscow, during which Grachev, despite his statements that the army should only perform the functions of protecting the Motherland and not interfere in the internal affairs of the State, brought troops into the city, who stormed the parliament building.

Pavel Sergeevich repeatedly admitted that he was opposed to the entry of Russian troops into Chechnya, but Yeltsin and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Chernomyrdin, did not share his opinion. The management of military operations in Grozny did not end very well, and Grachev returned to Moscow. Since then, he has been subjected to even greater criticism not only from opposition groups, but also from former associates.

The activities of Pavel Sergeevich after the end of his military career

In December 1997, Grachev added another position to his track record, becoming an adviser to the general director at the large Rosvooruzhenie company. In 2000, Pavel Sergeevich was elected president of the Airborne Forces - Combat Brotherhood Foundation. Since 2007, he worked as an adviser to the general director at the radio plant named after A. S. Popov. In the same year, he was transferred to the reserve.

Investigations and allegations

Secretary of the Security Council A. Lebed said that the embezzlement committed by Grachev became the cause of the armed conflict in Chechnya. The media actively supported this position of Lebed and accused Pavel Sergeyevich of repeatedly illegally purchasing expensive cars. Grachev himself did not refute this information in any way, but he was not involved in the investigation either.

In October 1994, the murder of journalist Dmitry Kholodov was committed, in which Grachev was suspected. In addition to Pavel Sergeevich, some officers were accused in the case. All the defendants were acquitted, and the crime was never solved. The investigator of the investigative department of Shchelkovo about Grachev Pavel Sergeevich recalled that during interrogations the former defense minister was very confident, which confused even experienced policemen. The investigator did not understand the nature of such confidence: either Grachev really had nothing to hide, or he knew that serious evidence would never be found against him.

last years of life

On the night of September 11-12, Grachev entered the cardiology department of the intensive care unit of the hospital. Vishnevsky, which is located in the city of Krasnogorsk near Moscow. Pavel Sergeevich died on September 23, 2012. The media called the cause of death of Grachev Pavel Sergeevich a severe hypertensive crisis, and according to one version, it could be poisoning. The official report of the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the real cause of Grachev's death was acute inflammation of the brain. He left behind a wife and two adult children.

1. The number of wounds and shell shocks Pavel Sergeevich Grachev received during his service is amazing: he was shell-shocked eight times and received about ten wounds.
2. Despite the fact that the official date of birth of Pavel Sergeevich is January 1, 1948, he stated that he was born on December 27, 1947.
3. During his military service, Pavel Sergeevich made an amazing number of parachute jumps - 647 times he jumped from an airplane.
4. Pavel Sergeevich Grachev became the youngest army general in the history of Russia. This title was awarded to him at the age of 44.
5. In 1993, Grachev participated in the finalization of the new constitution of Russia.
6. Pavel Sergeevich believed that the army should be formed according to a mixed principle and a contract basis should be introduced.
7. It is interesting that there is a full namesake of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, a member of the board of directors of the Polyus Gold company - Grachev Pavel Sergeevich, the biographies of these famous men are often confused due to the same names. Such confusion has repeatedly created awkward situations. So, in an article about the director of Polyus Gold, Grachev Pavel Sergeevich, a photograph of his namesake, a military man, was posted.