Pavel grachyov minister. Biography of Pavel Grachev. Grachev and scandals

As you know, only descendants can judge the role of a person in history. Therefore, today no one can say with certainty whether Pavel Sergeevich Grachev was right, performing certain actions at a time when he held the most important government posts and gave orders, on which the fate of thousands of people depended. At one time, his brilliant career aroused the envy of many colleagues, while many often forgot what the first Russian had to go through before he reached the highest echelons of power.

Childhood and early years

Grachev Pavel Sergeevich was born in January 1948 in the village of Rvy, in the Tula region. His father was a simple mechanic, and his mother was a milkmaid. The future military leader was restless and showed an interest in sports, and most of all he liked basketball. After finishing 11 classes, he entered the famous RVVD command school, deciding to forever link his life with the army.

The young man studied diligently and was praised by the commanders more than once. In 1969, Pavel Sergeevich Grachev received a diploma with honors, and he was awarded the rank of lieutenant and the qualification of an assistant-translator.

Service in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces

Pavel Sergeevich Grachev, whose biography and career until 1980 were quite typical for young military men who were his peers, at the age of 21 was appointed commander of a reconnaissance platoon in one of the units deployed in the territory of the Lithuanian SSR.

Then for four years he was sent to serve in his native Ryazan school, where he held various positions and worked directly with the cadets. In 1975, Grachev became the commander of the training battalion of the 44th training airborne division, and in 1978 he continued his education at the military academy. M. V. Frunze.

Afghanistan

Completion of Pavel Grachev's studies at the Academy. MV Frunze coincided with the beginning of the last local war in the history of the USSR. The promising young commander, who showed great promise, was immediately sent to Afghanistan, where he spent the next three years. During this period, he continues his career growth, and after returning to his homeland, he was early assigned the rank of colonel.

1985-1991 years

The second mission of Pavel Grachev to Afghanistan ends with the withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops, which included the one hundred and third Guards Airborne Division under his command.

In honor of the military leader's merits during the hostilities in May 1988, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Following the old saying "Live and learn", Grachev Pavel Sergeevich again went to study and entered the Military Academy of the General Staff, after which he was appointed to the post of deputy, and then the USSR.

Joining Yeltsin's team

The turning point in the biography of Grachev was after which he more than once had to make important political decisions. In particular, he, along with generals Gromov and Achalov, refused to obey the State Emergency Committee and ordered his subordinates to take the White House under their protection. Upon the return of M. Gorbachev from the Crimean Foros, Grachev was appointed first deputy and a few days later he was awarded the rank of colonel-general.

The career growth of the military leader did not stop there. In particular, in May 1992, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree according to which the Minister of Defense Russian Federation Grachev Pavel Sergeevich was appointed, whose photo has appeared on the pages of newspapers more than once in connection with operations in the zones of local conflicts in the territory of the former USSR.

Chechen War

The controversy about the role played by Pavel Sergeevich Grachev (Hero of the Soviet Union) during the events in the Caucasus in the first half of the 90s still does not subside. In particular, he was subjected to fierce criticism, since in June 1992 he ordered to transfer to Dzhokhar Dudayev half of all weapons belonging to the Russian army, which were stored in Chechnya. According to Grachev, it was still impossible to take out the ammunition. However, the fact remains, and after only two and a half years, this weapon was used against Russian soldiers.

At the same time, in 1994, Grachev did not manage to avoid a conflict with Yeltsin, who considered that a week was quite enough time to gather military force and enter Chechnya. An experienced commander tried to reason with the president that this was too short a time, but he was not listened to. Pavel Sergeevich even met in Chechnya with the leaders of the so-called Ichkeria, before Russian troops entered their territory, but, unfortunately, this did not give any results.

The military leader retired at the age of 59 and took up social activities. Prior to that, he was actually betrayed by Yeltsin - in accordance with the election agreements of the latter with the general

Personal life

Throughout his life, Pavel Grachev had a reliable rear. His wife - Lyubov Alekseevna - learned with him all the hardships of the fate of an officer's wife, with her eternal travel and exhausting expectations of her husband from dangerous business trips. In addition, there were many rumors about her husband's infidelity, but Lyubov Alekseevna did not believe them, and Pavel Sergeevich Grachev always remained her only love.

The military leader's family suffered the loss of their beloved husband and father, who died in September 2012 at the age of 64.

Another iconic politician of the Yeltsin era passed away

WHAT CAUSED THE DEATH: ALCOHOL OR MUSHROOMS?

On Sunday, September 23, a "lightning" appeared on the tapes of Russian news agencies: former Russian Defense Minister Pavel Sergeevich Grachev died. He died relatively young, not yet at retirement age. He lived only 64 years old.

The circumstances of Grachev's death are shrouded in a veil of mystery. The military clinical hospital named after Vishnevsky refused to name the cause of death of the general of the army and the Hero of Russia, stating only that "death occurred at 14:40 Moscow time."

Medical experts interviewed by the columnist for the IAP AZERROS, on condition of anonymity, expressed a version: most likely, the death occurred as a result of a massive stroke. According to doctors, a sudden cerebral hemorrhage with its further necrosis could be caused by alcohol poisoning.

Experts tried to reconstruct the chronology of events. So, on September 11, in the evening, General of the Army and Hero of Russia Pavel Grachev took part in the celebrations organized by one of his friends on the occasion of his birthday. Naturally, there were toasts to the health of the birthday boy.

Late at night Grachev returned home and felt nausea and severe pain in his head, then fainted. An ambulance was called, and the doctors recorded a sharp jump in Grachev's blood pressure - up to 220! On the night of September 12, Grachev was hospitalized in the 50th cardiac intensive care unit. After a stroke, Grachev fell into a deep coma and died on September 23.

Two versions of death were put forward: either the patient was poisoned by mushrooms, or a stroke occurred as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol. A recent study by French experts has shown that drinking a liter of vodka per week increases the risk of a major stroke by up to 90%.

French experts studied the medical history of 540 patients who crossed the 60-year mark. They all had a stroke. The survey showed that 25% of them were alcoholics, that is, they took three or more doses of alcohol per day, which is 50 grams of pure alcohol per day. It turned out that alcoholics had a stroke on average at the age of 60 - 14 years earlier than non-drinkers.

GRACHEV - HERO OF THE AFGHAN WAR?

Pavel Grachev is one of the most controversial figures of the era of Boris Yeltsin's rule. In 1981, a 33-year-old graduate of the Military Academy. Frunze was sent to Afghanistan to serve as part of the contingent Soviet army... In 1981-1983 Grachev took an active part in the hostilities against the Afghan mujahideen. This experience was later useful to him for conducting military operations in Chechnya.

After a two-year trip to Lithuania (1983-1985), Grachev again arrived in Afghanistan and was appointed there to the post of commander of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division. On May 5, 1988, Major General Grachev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union "for performing combat missions with minimal human losses".

GRACHEV AND GKChP

In December 1990, Grachev took over as commander of the USSR Airborne Forces. It was in this position that Pavel Sergeevich found the August 1991 coup, which radically changed the course of world history.

On August 19, 1991, General Grachev first began to carry out the order of the GKChP committee on the introduction of troops into Moscow. By his order, units of the 106th Guards Airborne Division were transferred to the capital from Tula, which took strategically important objects under protection. Moreover: by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Yazov, Pavel Grachev, together with the KGB special forces and the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, prepared his subordinates for the assault on the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, in which at that moment the Russian leadership headed by Boris Yeltsin was hiding.

However, on August 20, on the second day of the putsch, a turning point came: Pavel Grachev, along with Air Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov and General Boris Gromov, went over to the side of Boris Yeltsin. It was Pavel Grachev at that moment, according to experts, who predetermined the outcome of the confrontation between Yeltsin and the head of the State Emergency Committee Gennady Yanaev.

By order of Grachev, tanks and an army were brought up to the White House to protect it. Yeltsin praised Grachev's merits. Two days after the suppression of the putsch, on August 23, 1991, under the dictation of Boris Yeltsin, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who returned from Foros, signed a decree appointing Pavel Grachev as First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, and on October 29, 1991, by decree of the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin, Grachev was appointed Chairman of the RSFSR State Committee on Defense Issues.

GRACHEV AND THE STORM OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL IN 1993

In May 1992, Yeltsin appointed Grachev as Russia's defense minister. And I was not mistaken. Grachev for the second time in two years saved Yeltsin from defeat. On October 3, 1993, troops loyal to Grachev surrounded the building of the Russian parliament, where the vice-president of the Russian Federation Alexander Rutskoy and the speaker of the Supreme Soviet Ruslan Khasbulatov were hiding. Soon Grachev ordered to begin shelling from the tanks of the Supreme Soviet, and then to begin the assault on the building. After the arrest of Rutskoy and Khasbulatov, the diarchy in the country ended, and from that moment Boris Yeltsin became the sole ruler of Russia. Largely thanks to Pavel Grachev and his army.

GRACHEV AND THE FIRST CHECHEN WAR

But Yeltsin's joy over the victory over the Supreme Soviet was short-lived. In 1994, the situation in Chechnya worsened. By Yeltsin's decree, Grachev was included in the Group for the Disarmament of Militants in Chechnya. This is how the First Chechen War began. Then, before the start of the campaign of the Russian army on Grozny, Grachev uttered the phrase that later became famous: "I will restore order in the republic in seventy-two hours with the help of one" fifty kopeck piece "- the 350th regiment of the 103rd Airborne Division".

However, Grachev did not fulfill his promise: in two years of the first Chechen war, the Russian army was unable to pacify the armed opposition in Grozny, and on the eve of the presidential elections in 1996, Yeltsin dismissed Grachev.

After the loud resignation, the name of Pavel Grachev has already ceased to arouse interest in the media and the public. From this moment, the decline of the political career of one of Yeltsin's most loyal associates begins.

GRACHEV AND SCANDALS

Grachev's resignation in 2006 was a payback not only for his defeat in the First Chechen War. Grachev was also involved in a number of scandals. According to his opponents from the liberal wing of the Yeltsin team, Grachev was involved in the corruption case in the Western Group of Soviet Forces, which, on Yeltsin's orders, was completely withdrawn from the former GDR in 1994.

At that time, the Russian media accused Grachev of illegally acquiring several Mercedes cars, after which Grachev, with the light hand of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, was nicknamed "Pasha-Mercedes".

The name of Pavel Grachev was also associated with the high-profile murder of the journalist "Moskovsky Komsomolets" Dmitry Kholodov. True, the liberal media did not have direct evidence of Grachev's involvement in the murder of Kholodov.

GRACHEV AND THE ERA OF YELTSIN

The death of Pavel Grachev made many of us remember that in recent years many iconic figures of the Yeltsin era have died. These are members of the State Emergency Committee Gennady Yanaev, Valery Boldin, Valentin Varennikov, Vladimir Kryuchkov, Valentin Pavlov, Boris Pugo. This is the author of "shock therapy" Yegor Gaidar, and Boris Yeltsin himself. Today, 21 years after the events of August 1991, many in Russia have understood that Yeltsin and his associates have failed to build a democratic multi-party democracy in Russia. And in 2012, the political situation in Russia seemed to return to 1991, when the democratic opposition was fighting to abolish the 6th article of the USSR Constitution "on the leading role of the CPSU."

Dmitry KISELEV, political commentator

Former chief military adviser of FSUE Rosoboronexport, former defense minister of the Russian Federation, general of the army. Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", "For Personal Courage", as well as the Afghan Order of the Red Banner. He was a defendant in the murder of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. Died in Moscow on September 23, 2012.
Pavel Sergeevich Grachev was born on January 1, 1948 in the village of Rvy, Tula region. Graduated with honors from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School (1969) and the Frunze Military Academy (1981). In 1981-1983, as well as in 1985-1988, Grachev took part in the hostilities in Afghanistan. In 1986 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union "for performing combat missions with minimal human losses." In 1990, after graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff, Grachev became deputy commander, and from December 30, 1990 - commander of the USSR Airborne Forces.
In January 1991, by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Yazov, Grachev brought two regiments of the Pskov airborne division into Lithuania (according to a number of media reports, under the pretext of assisting the military enlistment offices of the republic in compulsory recruitment into the army).
On August 19, 1991, Grachev, following the order of the State Emergency Committee, ensured the arrival of the 106th Tula Airborne Division in Moscow and its taking under the protection of strategically important objects. According to media reports, at the beginning of the coup, Grachev acted in accordance with Yazov's instructions and prepared paratroopers together with the KGB special forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs troops to storm the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. On August 20, Grachev, together with other high-ranking military personnel, informed the Russian leadership about the intentions of the State Emergency Committee. The media also voiced a version according to which Grachev had warned Boris Yeltsin on the morning of August 19 about the impending coup.
On August 23, 1991, Grachev was appointed chairman of the RSFSR State Committee for Defense and Security with a promotion from major general to colonel general and became first deputy defense minister of the USSR. After the formation of the CIS, Grachev became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Armed Forces of the CIS (OVS CIS), Chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Defense Issues.
In April 1992, Grachev was appointed first deputy defense minister of Russia, in May he first became acting minister, and then minister of defense in the government of Viktor Chernomyrdin. In the same month, Grachev was awarded the rank of army general. Grachev, according to a number of media outlets, himself admitted to lack of experience, so he surrounded himself with experienced and authoritative deputies, mostly Afghan generals.
The role of Grachev in the operation to withdraw Russian troops in Germany was assessed by the media ambiguously. Noting the complexity and scale of the military operation (it became the largest of all in peacetime), the press also pointed out that corruption and embezzlement flourished under the guise of preparing and carrying out the withdrawal of troops. However, none of the senior military officials serving in Germany were convicted, although several trials took place.
In May 1993, Grachev became a member of the working commission to finalize the presidential draft of the Russian constitution. In September 1993, after presidential decree number 1400 on the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet, he said that the army should be subordinate only to Russian President Yeltsin. On October 3, Grachev summoned troops to Moscow, which took the parliament building by storm the day after a tank attack. In October 1993, Grachev was awarded the Order For Personal Courage, as stated in the decree - “for courage and courage shown in suppressing an armed coup attempt on October 3-4, 1993”. On October 20, 1993, Grachev was appointed a member of the Russian Security Council.
In 1993-1994, several extremely negative articles about Grachev appeared in the press. Their author - the journalist of "Moskovsky Komsomolets" Dmitry Kholodov - accused the minister of involvement in a corruption scandal in the Western Group of Forces. On October 17, 1994, Kholodov was killed. A criminal case was opened into the murder. According to the investigators, the crime, to please Grachev, was organized by retired colonel of the Airborne Forces Pavel Popovskikh, and his deputies acted as accomplices in the murder. Subsequently, all suspects in this case were acquitted by the Moscow District Military Court. Grachev was also involved in the case as a suspect, which he found out only when the decision to terminate the criminal case against him was read out. He denied his guilt, pointing out that if he spoke about the need to "deal" with the journalist, he did not mean his murder.
According to some media reports, in November 1994, a number of regular officers of the Russian army, with the knowledge of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, took part in hostilities on the side of forces in opposition to President of Chechnya Dzhokhar Dudayev. Several Russian officers were captured. The Defense Minister, denying his knowledge of the participation of his subordinates in hostilities on the territory of Chechnya, called the captured officers deserters and mercenaries and said that Grozny could be taken in two hours by the forces of one airborne regiment.
On November 30, 1994, Grachev was included in the group of leadership of actions to disarm bandit formations in Chechnya, in December 1994 - January 1995, he personally directed the military actions of the Russian army in the Chechen Republic from the headquarters in Mozdok. After the failure of several offensive operations in Grozny, he returned to Moscow. Since that time, he was subjected to continuous criticism both for the desire for a military solution to the Chechen conflict, and for the losses and failures of Russian troops in Chechnya.
On June 18, 1996, Grachev was dismissed (according to several media reports, at the request of Alexander Lebed, appointed Assistant to the President for National Security and Secretary of the Security Council). In December 1997, Grachev became the chief military adviser to the general director of the Rosvooruzheniye company (later - FSUE Rosoboronexport). In April 2000, he was elected President of the Regional Public Fund for Assistance and Assistance to the Airborne Forces "Airborne Forces - Combat Brotherhood". In March 2002, Grachev headed the General Staff commission for a comprehensive check of the 106th Airborne Division, stationed in Tula.
On April 25, 2007, the media reported that Grachev was dismissed from the post of chief military adviser to the general director of FSUE "Rosoboronexport". The chairman of the Russian Paratroopers' Union, Colonel-General Vladislav Achalov, with reference to whom the media disseminated this information, said that Grachev was removed from his post of adviser "in connection with organizational staff events." On the same day, the press service of Rosoboronexport clarified that Grachev was dismissed from the post of adviser to the FSUE director and was seconded to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to resolve the issue of further passage military service back on February 26, 2007. The press service explained this personnel decision by the abolition from January 1, 2007 of the institution of secondment of military personnel to Rosoboronexport. Information about Grachev's resignation appeared in the media a day after the death of the first Russian President Yeltsin, who appointed the ex-defense minister to the post of adviser to the state company by a special decree.
In June 2007, Grachev was transferred to the reserve and was appointed chief adviser - the head of the group of advisers to the general director of the production association "Radiozavod named after A. Popov" in Omsk.
On September 12, 2012, Grachev was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Vishnevsky military hospital in Moscow; on September 23, he died. The next day it became known that the cause of death was acute meningoencephalitis.
Grachev received a number of state awards. In addition to the Hero Star and the Order For Personal Courage, Grachev was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Star, For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, as well as the Afghan Order of the Red Banner. He was a master of sports in skiing; headed the board of trustees of the CSKA football club.
Grachev was married, he is survived by two sons - Sergey and Valery. Sergey graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School.

Russian military leader.
Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation (1992-1996).
First Russian General of the Army (May 1992). Hero of the Soviet Union.
Chairman of the Russian State Committee for Defense Issues (1991).
First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union (December 1990 to August 1991).
Commander of the Airborne Forces of the Soviet Union (December 1990 to August 1991).

Pavel Grachev was born on January 1, 1948 in the village of Rvy, Tula region. The boy grew up in a workers 'and peasants' family. His father worked as a locksmith, and his mother as a milkmaid. After graduating from high school in 1964, a year later he left for conscription into the armed forces. Demobilized, he entered the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, from which he graduated with a gold medal in the specialties "Platoon Commander of the Airborne Troops" and "Assistant-Translator from German." In 1968 Pavel became the master of sports of the Soviet Union in cross-country skiing.

From 1969 to 1971, Grachev served as the commander of a reconnaissance platoon of a separate reconnaissance company of the 7th Guards Airborne Division in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas. Then he was appointed platoon commander. In 1972 he was promoted to the rank of company commander of cadets of the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. In 1975 he became the commander of the training paratrooper battalion of the training airborne division.

Further, since 1978, Pavel Sergeevich was a student of the Mikhail Frunze Military Academy, from which he graduated with honors in 1981. Then he was sent to Afghanistan, where he took part in hostilities. From 1981 to 1982 he served with the rank of deputy commander. In 1982 he was appointed commander of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment as part of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan.

Returning from Afghanistan in 1983, Grachev was again sent to Kaunas, Lithuania as chief of staff, deputy commander of the 7th Guards Airborne Division. In 1984 he was awarded the rank of colonel ahead of schedule.

From 1985 to 1988, when reassigned to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, he served as commander of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division as part of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces. Grachev received the next military rank of Major General on October 1, 1986.

By the decree of the Supreme Soviet of Russia for the performance of combat missions with minimal human losses and for the professional command of a controlled formation and the successful actions of the 103rd Airborne Division, in particular, on the occupation of the strategically important Satukandav pass, Khost province during the military operation "Magistral" on May 5 1988, Major General Grachev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After returning from Afghanistan, he continued to serve in the Airborne Forces in various command positions. On December 30, 1990, Grachev was appointed commander of the USSR Airborne Forces. In total, during his military service, he made 647 parachute jumps, some of them while testing new equipment. Also, eight times he was wounded and wounded. In February 1991, Pavel Sergeevich was awarded the next military rank of Lieutenant General.

The Russian military leader, on August 19, 1991, carried out the order of the State Emergency Committee on the introduction of troops into Moscow, and also ensured the arrival of the Tula 106th Guards Airborne Division in the city, which took under protection the strategically important facilities of the capital. In the afternoon of August 20, 1991, together with Marshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, Generals Vladislav Achalov and Boris Gromov, he expressed his negative opinion to the leaders of the Emergency Committee on the plan to seize the Supreme Soviet of Russia by force.

Then he established contacts with the Russian leadership. By his order, the tanks and personnel at the disposal of General Alexander Lebed were sent to the White House to protect it. According to Valentin Varennikov's recollections, in his testimony in the “GKChP case” Grachev stated that no one was going to storm the Russian parliament. Subsequently, he was promoted: on August 23, 1991, by the Decree of the President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Mikhail Gorbachev, he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR - Chairman of the State Committee of Russia on Defense Issues.

Pavel Sergeevich, on August 31, 1991, relieved of his post as commander of the airborne forces. By the decree of the President of Russia Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin on October 29, 1991, the appointment of Grachev as chairman of the Russian State Committee for Defense Issues was confirmed, but two weeks later, in connection with the resignation of the Council of Ministers of Russia, he became the acting chairman of this state committee.

From February to June 1992, he was First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the CIS Joint Armed Forces, Chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Defense Issues. On April 3, 1992, Pavel Grachev took office as First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. At his post, he was responsible for the implementation of interaction with the General Command of the Joint Armed Forces of the CIS on the management of military formations under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.

Since May 1992, Grachev has been entrusted with direct control of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Pavel Sergeevich on May 7, 1992, the first in Russia after the collapse of the USSR, was awarded the rank of army general. FROM May 18, 1992 took office as Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, in which he served for four years.

In May 1993, he was introduced to the working commission for finalizing the draft of the new Constitution of Russia. In November of the same year, he was appointed a member of the country's Security Council.

The next year, 1994, Pavel Grachev was included in the Group for Leadership in Disarming Bandit Formations in Chechnya. From December 1994 to January 1995, from the headquarters in Mozdok, personally led the military operations of the Russian army in the Chechen Republic. After the failure of several offensive operations in Grozny, he returned to Moscow.

By the decree of the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin of June 17, 1996, he was placed at the disposal of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In accordance with a special presidential decree, on December 18, 1997, he took up the duties of an advisor to the general director of Rosvooruzhenie. In April 1998 he became the chief military adviser to the general director of FSUE “Rosvooruzhenie” - “Rosoboronexport”, officially taking up his duties.

In April 2000, Pavel Grachev was elected president of the Regional Public Fund for Assistance and Assistance to the Airborne Forces "Airborne Forces - Combat Brotherhood".

Later, on April 25, 2007, Grachev was dismissed from the group of advisers to the general director of Rosoboronexport. In the same year, he took up the post of chief adviser, head of a group of advisers to the general director of the Omsk production association "Radio Plant named after Alexander Popov". At the end of 2007 he was transferred to the reserve.

On the night of September 12, 2012, Grachev was hospitalized in serious condition in the 50th cardiology intensive care unit of the Alexander Vishnevsky Central Military Clinical Hospital in Krasnogorsk.

Despite treatment, Pavel Sergeevich Grachev died September 23, 2012 from acute meningoencephalitis. He was buried with military honors at the Novodevichy cemetery in the capital.

Pavel Grachev's awards

Hero of the Soviet Union (May 1988)

Two Orders of Lenin

Order of the Red Banner

Order of the Red Star

Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree

Yeltsin hung his main crimes on the ex-defense minister

Yeltsin hung his main crimes on the ex-defense minister

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 putsch. And the country greeted the news of his death with the words: "Pasha-Mercedes gave an oak!" He was accused of double betrayal, they said that with his stupidity, mediocrity and martyrdom, he destroyed thousands of soldiers' lives during the first Chechen campaign. How could a hero of the Afghan war fall so low?

Even during the funeral of the ex-Minister of Defense of Russia Pavel GrachevWhen "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 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 had already warmly greeted 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 in the paws of Satan. "

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

Where is the truth? And the truth is that no one to this day knows exactly what happened on the fatal days of August 91st. As well as what forces, in addition to the army, special services, police, the KGB "Alpha" and Israeli Beitarians, 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 - opponents of Yeltsin.

Eggs in different baskets

It is clear today that in 1991 we were choosing 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 assassination 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, gave Grachev the unsightly role of a conspirator. The Rand people 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 coup project had two main options: with Gorbachev's participation and without him. “When I was shown his possible scenarios and our possible contractions long before the putsch, my eyes dashed. There was so much 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 Baltics and even abroad. And how many proposals were made about the scenarios of the putsch itself! And the "Algerian option" - a revolt 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: there would be a putsch either with his blessing, or under the flag of his lack of information, or in case of his disagreement or even against him. The GKChP chose one of all the options that we could only dream of - not just against Gorbachev, but also with his isolation. "

But who showed these options to Popov? Three years later it 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 received by specialists from the CIA. " The composition of the GKChP was not formed at all by its high-ranking participants, but the exchange of information between them was arranged so that they were all sure that they were acting on their own initiative and for the good of the USSR. How did the commander of the Airborne Forces Pavel Grachev get into this company of the first persons of the KGB, the party, the ministers? He entered the game on the orders of the marshal Dmitry Yazov... The veteran of the Great Patriotic War was a staunch opponent of both Gorbachev's idea of \u200b\u200breducing the army and Yeltsin's plans to transform the Soviet republics into sovereign states. He ordered his favorite to participate in the development of the scenario of the coup, 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.

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

In the putsch, Grachev brought tanks to Moscow. The people were shocked. 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 their shoulders. In 1991, Grachev was not going to shoot the people with cannons. The calculation was simple: if the GKChP takes over, he can tell Yeltsin, they say, I warned you, and report to Yazov that I was the first to surround the nest of resistance. If Yeltsin wins, I will be the first to come to your aid. The officers, who remained faithful to the oath, call this double-dealing and call Grachev's first betrayal.

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 TV programs engaged by the same "fugitive oligarch" who had direct contacts with the bandits and could influence Yeltsin.

Grachev himself, dismissed by Yeltsin in a shameful resignation, left the Ministry of Defense with dignity and did not try to whitewash himself or spoil others. General Gennady Troshev claims that Grachev tried with all his might to persuade Yeltsin not to send troops into Chechnya, or at least to postpone their introduction until the spring in order to have time to prepare the army. Even tried to negotiate with Dudaev... It didn't work out. As a result, Yeltsin's decree and the first assault on Grozny on January 1, Grachev's birthday. The Minister of Defense also protested against the entry of an armored column into Grozny on November 26, 1996, which was actually doomed to be burned. The press indiscriminately accused Grachev 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 elimination of the Dudayev regime. Opponents accused Grachev of illegally acquiring two "Mercedes", because of which he was nicknamed "Pasha Mercedes". But it turned out that he acquired them for the Ministry of Defense legally, and the scandal erupted due to the fact that the minister did not understand why he should pay customs if the car is in public service.

Amorous affairs

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

Grachev told about his views on marriage and adultery in an interview with "Interlocutor" in February this year: - I am not cheating on my wife Lyubov Alekseevna. Although the word "treason" I hate. To change means to leave the family and go to another woman. I do not admit this. But if you met a girl, you liked her, you too, you have mutual sympathy. What kind of treason 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. 43 years have passed since then. She says: "I know that you walked from me." I ask: "How did you feel about this?" - “Before, - the wife answers, - I was indignant. And then I thought: well, okay, I’m provided for, I have a good house, great children, grandchildren, you’re with me all the time! ” And she's right. You see, if a man marries early, he will still at some point be drawn to another woman, to try, so to speak, whether she is better or worse than his wife. Therefore, women need 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-defense minister 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 now heads a recycling company. When the grandfather found out that his grandson had been given his name, he shouted to all his acquaintances into the telephone receiver: “You know, Pavel Grachev will die, but Pavel Grachev will still remain. Especially my enemies need to know this, so that they never forget the name Grachev! "

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Mikhail POLTORANIN, politician and publicist: