HISTORICAL BACKGROUND and additions:
1. The period 1937-41 became the saddest in the history of Russian Engineering. During these years, about 1,000 military engineers were repressed: generals and officers of engineering and other branches of the military, naval engineers, technicians-quartermasters of ammunition depots, explosives and chemical products, engineering parks and special equipment warehouses. It should be noted that the concepts of the formation of the Red Army in the period 1921-41 assigned one of the secondary roles to the engineering troops and engineering personnel. Mass repressions continued both in educational institutions and in army units and units, including in the border units of the NKVD. Many commanders and specialists were subjected to unreasonable pressure from the punitive authorities of the regime: they were regularly summoned for interrogation, were subjected to deliberate slander among commanders and colleagues, were suspended from work, and were under investigation. In February 1939, an extraordinary commission of the People's Commissariat of Defense, sent to investigate the sabotage activities of Mikhail Petrovich Vorobyov, Military Engineer 1st Rank (Colonel) and Head of the Military Engineering School (future First Marshal of the Engineering Troops in history) noted that "... the school for over the past three years the quality of the educational process has sharply increased...". Although the commission had the task of exposing the activities of M.P. Vorobyov, but the successes achieved were so obvious that the conclusion turned out to be exactly the opposite of what was expected. By a strange coincidence, the Military Engineering School was given special attention by the then first secretary of the Leningrad regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Zhdanov. His intercession saved both the Head of the School and the School itself from disbandment at that time. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 56 of April 2, 1939, the School was given the name A.A. Zhdanova. A similar and sadder situation of defeat affected the Military Engineering Academy - starting with its withdrawal from St. Petersburg to Moscow and repeated reorganizations and divisions of faculties and departments - in the period 1924-41. The Finnish campaign, which began in the fall of 1939, showed a complete failure of the concept of the structure of the Red Army, an absolute lack of engineering units and subunits, and poor preparation for carrying out engineering support tasks for combat operations. The mediocrity of the command, and first of all the People's Commissar of Defense Voroshilov, led to the fact that the cadets, most of the command and teaching staff, and the head of the school were sent to the front in December 1939 to break through the well-organized engineering defense system of the Mannerheim Line. The educational processes at the School were disrupted, the graduation of lieutenants in 1940 was almost completely disrupted, the graduation class of 1941 was reduced by more than half: in the Finnish war the School suffered heavy losses both among the teaching staff and among the cadets. As a result, the army lost about 400 engineering lieutenants. With the outbreak of a new war in 1941, the remaining cadets at the School were sent to the defense of the Luga Frontier and the construction of defensive structures of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), several dozen Red Army soldiers and teachers carried out an urgent order from the command to organize operational camouflage of the city, and then to save works of art Hermitage. In fact, in the summer of 1941, the training of engineering specialists was curtailed, and the School as an educational center was rapidly disintegrating. The results of the battles of June-July 1941 once again showed the leadership of the Red Army the lack of engineering units and the impossibility of forming new ones due to the lack of trained command and engineering personnel. It was the current state of affairs at the fronts that changed the attitude towards military engineers and forced the State Defense Committee to issue an order for the urgent evacuation of the School with the task of fully restoring its activities as soon as possible. It turned out that the School was the only military educational institution in the country that trained officers in a number of unique specialties and specializations, as a result of which it came under the personal control of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (the leader with the iron nickname) with a daily report on the state of affairs. Among the unique specialties were: fortifiers, miners and sappers, pontooners, builders of bridges and special structures, electrical engineers - without the latter, as it suddenly turned out, it was impossible to operate Katyusha multiple rocket artillery combat vehicles, mechanics, specialists in fuels and lubricants, divers land surveyors, topographers and cartographers, and a number of others. Part of the above information is presented based on materials from the military-historical resources of Alma Mater of the Engineering Troops, Anatomy of the Army Yu.G. Veremeeva, Sapper-Museum. Repressions against military and civil engineers began in 1917, the situation especially worsened in the 20s and 30s, in the period after the Victory of 1945 - until the joyful March of 1953
2. According to the unofficial recollections of war veterans - senior officers and generals - during the Finnish campaign and the Second World War, there were cases of the Red Army commanders shooting commissars, political instructors, party workers and other observers who interfered with the war and taking adequate operational actions appropriate to the developing situation. There are also memories of the negative role of those watching the progress of hostilities in a number of major front-line operations. There is a written source on this issue - a direct indication in the book of the religious historian, great-grandson of Ushinsky - Dmitry Pospelovsky "Totalitarianism and Religion", Chapter 18 "USSR - a totalitarian state" (a link to the book and chapter is provided at the end of the album and on other pages of the site)
3. NOTICE 1: for A.M. Zelensky's period of 1938-40 was a difficult period and only a favorable combination of circumstances made it possible to avoid unjustified repressions during the period of late 1938 - early 1939 and in 1940. Over the course of many years, from 1937 to 1985, members of our family experienced periodic illegal (without the sanction of judicial or prosecutorial authorities) interference in official activities, as well as illegal invasion of personal life and public activities - from the criminal authorities of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Red Gestapo ( NKVD-MGB-KGB), who were engaged in official and unofficial repressions, corporate intrigues and illegal political service of intra-party groups of the criminal Communist Party of the Soviet Union, incl. during the Romanovism period of 1971-83.
4. NOTICE 2: Our family does not and never has had any military or civilian trophies from the period of World War II, including the Finnish War of 1939-40, as well as the periods of pre- and post-war occupation of Eastern Europe, the Newly Independent States and Territories - included previously to the Russian Empire. Our family has nothing to do with the crimes of the Soviet regime, as well as with the crimes of the punitive bodies of the USSR - the NKVD, MGB, KGB and others. The only negative fact is the episode of unconscious and forced complicity in the Finnish campaign of 1939-40, for which the USSR was declared a military aggressor and expelled from the League of Nations in December 1939
5. NOTICE 3: the regime of the so-called leader, with an iron nickname, and his commissar-Chekist accomplices was also condemned by the international community within the framework of the resolution “Uniting a divided Europe: protecting human rights and civil liberties in the 21st century.” By decisions of the European Parliament (2008) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (2009), the Day of Remembrance for the victims of the totalitarian regimes of fascism and Sovietism was established (celebrated on August 23). The adopted documents emphasize that both Nazism and Stalinism were characterized by genocide of peoples, political assassinations, violation of human rights and freedoms, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The facts of the collusion of the Soviet Union with the Nazi regime in the form of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and economic support for fascism in the periods preceding and the beginning of World War II are undeniable. By the resolution of the Parliament of the European Union of October 23, 2008 and others - the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-33 was recognized as a crime against humanity, figures of the Soviet regime were recognized as criminals who committed an act of genocide of the peoples of the USSR, these decisions were supported and recognized by the UN, International public organizations and all Christian denominations . On April 16, 2012, by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the Soviet regime was recognized as a war criminal in part of the Katyn episode of 1940. According to International Law, the statute of limitations does not apply to war crimes and crimes against humanity
6. NOTICE 4: A.M. Zelensky in 1985 decided to REFUSE the government award - the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class, anniversary. In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Order of the USSR Ministry of Defense, as part of the 40th anniversary of the celebration of the Victory of the Great Patriotic War, it should have been presented for the 1st Art. According to the publicly available data bank Rodvignaroda.ru - there is a submission for OOV 2nd Art., Anniversary, there is no mark on the presentation of the award
7. NOTICE 5: Our family supports lustration and a complete ban on fascist and Soviet ideology, symbols and especially the Soviet swastika (hammer and sickle), a ban on the playing of Nazi and Soviet anthems. We support the closure and ban of criminal punitive agencies of the USSR, incl. KPSS and their successors. We approve of the state dismantling of Soviet statues. We support the holding of a tribunal over the Soviet regime and in particular over the foreign agent, fugitive criminal and usurper Ulyanov, nicknamed Lenin, as well as his lastborn - the Tiflis bandit and non-military impostor, a banal political instructor and a bloody ghoul with an iron cry. We support lustration and the institution of non-citizens in the territories of Eastern Europe liberated from the occupation of the lumpen-Bolshevik regime. Our family understands and approves of the relocation of the Bronze Soldier monument in Tallinn, a unique city in North-Eastern Europe. The significance of Revel-Tallinn is infinitely great and had a strong influence on the history of Russia. Suffice it to recall the special attitude of Emperor Peter the Great towards the city. It was here that Count Christopher Antonovich von Minich, an associate of Peter the Great and the Builder of the Russian State, an outstanding statesman and military figure, one of the founders of Russian military engineering, worked and improved his skills. Abram [Ibrahim] Petrovich Hannibal (1688 - 1781), Engineer General-in-Chief, First Russian Engineer-Fortifier, was professionally established here. Alexey Fedorovich Lvov (1798 - 1870) was born in Reval - a military engineer-traveler, musician and composer, creator of the music of the Russian Anthem "God Save the Tsar!" (1833). We do not consider the Russian Federation to be the successor of Russia (1721 - 1917, 1991 - 1999)
8. NOTICE 6: The revelation of January 2012 for our family was the fact of demining and preserving A.M. Zelensky in 1944 of the unique building of the Government of Estonia (Riigikogu, Eesti Vabariik) - a monument of history, culture and architecture of the 18th (Baroque) and 20th (Expressionism) centuries
© 2009 - 2019 SAPPER MUSEUM - VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF ENGINEERING FORCES
© 2009 - 2019 Vladislav Evgenievich Zelensky
© 2009 - 2019 Dr. Wladyslaw-Eugen Zielenski
When using site materials, reference to the author and primary sources is required!
For online publications, a hyperlink to the website www.Sapper-Museum.narod.ru is required.
A new page in the history of the domestic engineering troops began in the early 90s. in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the creation of the Russian Army on the basis of the Soviet Armed Forces and the implementation of military reforms in the Russian Federation that meet the requirements of the emerging military-political situation.
Reforming the organizational structure
In the context of the destruction of the single military-strategic space of the countries of the socialist camp, the cessation of the activities of the Warsaw Pact Organization, the emergence of sovereign states in the post-Soviet space, which began the construction of national armed forces, which included more than 90 formations, units and institutions of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army, before the leadership of the Armed Forces Forces of the Russian Federation and the head of the engineering troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the need arose to solve extremely complex problems: the re-creation of the engineering troops as part of the RF Armed Forces, the determination of their rational organizational structure, and the improvement of their technical equipment. The main goal in solving these problems was to create such engineering troops that could ensure the functioning of the defensive system of the Russian state with a sharp reduction in military spending, which, in the views of the military-political leadership of the state, was possible only through the creation of a powerful mobile reserve within the group of engineering troops .
The most important feature of the creation of a new group of engineering troops was that in the early 90s. 64 formations and units were withdrawn from the territories of the states of Eastern Europe and the former republics of the USSR with the simultaneous disbandment, about
11,200 units engineering equipment, more than 12,800 wagons of engineering ammunition and property. After the withdrawal, all formations and units were settled at the existing bases of engineering troops of the army, district and central subordination. Most of the withdrawn units were located in the Leningrad, Moscow, Volga, North Caucasus and Ural military districts.
The reorganization of the engineering troops was carried out with a significant reduction in them, which required the development of such an organizational structure in which units and formations would have not only high mobilization and combat readiness, but also the ability to carry out combat and national economic tasks with available forces and means.
The solution to this problem was carried out as follows: firstly, combat units were deployed in the regular peacetime organization, capable of performing priority tasks of engineering support for covering the state border, troop actions in “hot spots” during peacekeeping operations, as well as during combat training and in the daily activities of military districts; secondly, a system was developed for the guaranteed deployment of formations and units of engineering troops in wartime and engineering support for the strategic deployment of the RF Armed Forces.
At the same time, one of the main requirements for the engineering troops was that they had to maintain the ability to carry out the peacetime state tasks assigned to them.
When improving the organizational and staffing structure of the engineering troops, the main attention was paid to the transition to a brigade system (battalions and cadres of brigades and regiments were reorganized into reduced strength engineer brigades, whose organizational and staffing structure was as close as possible to the wartime structure.), the formation of storage bases military equipment (BHVT), intended for mobilization work, maintenance, storage of engineering weapons and material reserves, as well as issues of control and communications, organization of mine-search service, significant strengthening of military engineering units and equipping them with armored means.
Taking into account the experience of combat operations of troops in the Chechen campaigns, an engineering and sapper brigade was formed in the North Caucasus Military District, consisting of separate battalions capable of independently performing engineering support tasks, and, first of all, demining areas and objects. In addition, a centrally subordinate engineering and sapper brigade is deployed to carry out unexpected tasks. The experience of its use in ensuring the entry and deployment of peacekeeping forces in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict confirmed the correctness of this decision.
To eliminate the consequences of major man-made accidents and natural disasters, several separate engineering brigades were additionally deployed within the engineering troops, the presence of which made it possible in peacetime to significantly reduce possible damage to the country's economic facilities and population, to train and accumulate personnel trained to perform engineering support tasks in extreme conditions and in peacetime.
Along with these activities, the lists of personnel of formations and units of engineering troops were specified in accordance with the military-geographical and climatic conditions of their locations: for example, equipment that found limited use in the Arctic was excluded from the personnel of formations and units of the northern regions. At the same time, the engineering troops received equipment that made it possible to increase the efficiency of performing engineering support tasks while reducing their numbers and transitioning to a personnel manning system.
The measures taken in terms of reorganizing the engineering troops were complex and often contradictory. By the end of the 90s. the staffing strength of the engineering troops was reduced by 36%, their total number was 35 thousand military personnel, including about 16 thousand in the Ground Forces, 11 were disbanded, 13 formations and units were reorganized, All units were maintained at a reduced staff ( about 6.5% of wartime needs).
The reorganization of the engineering troops was carried out under the leadership of the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the RF Ministry of Defense, Colonel General V.P. Kuznetsova (1991-1999). In April 1999, Major General N.I. was appointed to the post of Chief of Engineering Troops of the RF Ministry of Defense. Hearts. His appointment coincided with the next stage of the reorganization of the engineering troops, as a result of which at the beginning of 2000 they were left with 135 formations, units, institutions and military educational institutions, including: four brigades, 18 regiments, two special units, separate battalions - 33, military equipment - 12, mobilization depots - five, military educational institutions - three, training centers - four, research institutions - four, engineering and technical service units - 57. However, quite serious sets of engineering units continued to exist troops of the branches of the RF Armed Forces: the engineering troops of the Strategic Missile Forces consisted of 19 separate engineer battalions and one training center; Air Force and Air Defense engineering troops - five engineer battalions and four technical support units; Navy engineering troops - one separate road and seven separate naval engineering battalions, five mobilization depots and eight support units; Airborne Engineering Troops - five engineering units and divisions.
The basis of the peacetime engineering troops were engineer-sapper and pontoon-bridge brigades, reduced-strength units and BHVI. The reduction in the number of personnel led to a transition from a brigade to a regimental organization of engineering troops of district and army subordination.
Improving engineering weapons
During the period under review, significant attention was paid to the development of engineering weapons. The most complex and knowledge-intensive tasks for the development of new types of engineering equipment and weapons were solved by the 15th Central Research Institute named after. D.M. Karbyshev, which was headed by Major Generals K.E. Kochetkov and A.M. Averchenko. The efforts of the institute's scientists were focused on solving problems in three main areas: modernization of existing facilities; creation of special, qualitatively new engineering means; development of dual-use equipment and selection for the army of equipment produced for the needs of the national economy and meeting the requirements of the troops. The solution to the most complex and voluminous problems was carried out jointly with scientists from the Military Engineering University.
The modernization of engineering weapons was carried out to increase their technical capabilities by replacing basic machines and modifying working equipment. An example of such modernization was a universal tracked minelayer for installing all types of cluster mines based on the chassis of the GMZ-3 minelayer and the working equipment of the UMZ minelayer. Additional equipment for existing engineering vehicles was also developed.
Thus, additional equipment to the standard IMR-2M manipulator increased its functionality - it became possible to collect unexploded ammunition on the ground and load it onto transport for transportation to destruction sites.
When developing engineering ammunition, priority was given to anti-tank mines - remotely launched and anti-aircraft mines. The development of new anti-personnel mines was carried out taking into account the requirements of the Protocol of the new edition (1996) of the Geneva Convention to reduce civilian casualties in areas of mass use of anti-personnel mine-explosive barriers. In connection with the possible accession of the Russian Federation to the Ottawa Convention on the Complete Prohibition of the Production and Use of Anti-Personnel Mines, problems arose in creating alternative weapons that can replace them in a combat situation, organizing their production and accumulating the minimum required reserves.
The means of engineering reconnaissance, construction and overcoming mine-explosive barriers (MVD), military fortification, camouflage and imitation were further developed.
For reconnaissance of the cost zone, portable mine detectors of the IMP-2 type began to be used, providing a search for any ammunition containing a minimum amount of metal. In order to ensure that armored military equipment can independently overcome the cost zone, the engineering troops received tracked roller-knife trawls of the KMT-7KN type, capable of sweeping mines with non-contact magnetic fuses. To clear mine routes for troops, the BMR-3 armored mine clearing vehicle on a tank chassis was developed, which was successfully used during the Chechen campaigns. To make continuous passages, extended mine clearance charges and means of their transportation were improved. A sapper protective kit was also developed, including a suit made of Kevlar fabric, reinforced with armor plates, and special shoes that protect against damage from anti-personnel high-explosive mines.
To carry out tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination, a robot-2 clearing machine, a bulldozer based on the T-10.32-8 tractor, an EOV-4422KZ excavator, a DZ-171.1KZ bulldozer, and a KC-35766K3 truck crane were created.
To mechanize excavation work, the BTM-4 trench machine was created, capable of performing work in frozen soils.
Much attention was paid to the creation of new designs of fortifications: a hidden-type universal firing structure (UOS) was developed for firing from machine guns, grenade launchers and man-portable anti-tank missile systems; a set of frame-fabric unified military fortification structures was created to equip the positions of motorized rifle, tank and artillery units; modular container-type fortifications for equipping the main elements of control posts and medical posts; The issues of using advanced materials in the construction of fortifications were developed.
To camouflage military equipment from optical reconnaissance equipment on snowy and green plant backgrounds, the following were developed: a universal camouflage station for making models of military equipment from polyurethane foam, texture and camouflage painting of equipment and fortifications in the field; pneumatic models of weapons and equipment; thermal catalytic emitter for imparting thermal unmasking characteristics to false objects; camouflage kits MKT-2S and MKT-ZL, masks for camouflaging weapons and military equipment from optical, radar reconnaissance equipment and guidance systems for high-precision weapons on vegetative backgrounds.
The most important direction in the development of engineering weapons was the creation of dual-use equipment, which included road vehicles, pontoon parks, landing craft, bridge-building installations, excavation and trench machines, excavators, drilling rigs, means of extraction, purification and storage of water, mobile power plants , repair, lifting, sawmills, etc. For example, the EA-17 single-bucket excavator, which was tested under military conditions, was modified and put into service. The solution to the problems of water supply for troops was carried out in the direction of creating universal complexes based on reagent-free technology - the SKO-10/4-1A integrated water purification and desalination station. To ensure the electrification of engineering work, an engineering power station ED-16 with a capacity of 16 kW was developed.
Along with the development of engineering weapons since the early 2000s. Comprehensive work began to be carried out to improve the technical equipment of the engineering troops - equipment with storage periods of more than 25 years was removed from units, the re-equipment of engineering formations began from trailed to tracked minelayers, track-layers to engineering clearing vehicles, road mine detectors to engineering reconnaissance vehicles.
Central command and control bodies of engineering troops
With the beginning of the Russian period of the engineering troops, their central command bodies underwent reorganization: the scientific and technical committee was removed from the staff of the directorate of the chief of the engineering troops, the combat training department was transformed into the apparatus of the combat training department and military educational institutions with a reduction of 60% of its number; The position of first deputy chief of engineering troops was eliminated.
At the beginning of 1992, the positions of the leadership of the UNIV of the RF Ministry of Defense were filled by: Colonel General V.P. Kuznetsov – Chief of the Engineering Troops of the RF Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General V.A. Vasiliev – Chief of Staff of the Engineering Troops, First Deputy NIV of the RF Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General
N.G. Topilin – Deputy NIV of the RF Ministry of Defense for armaments, Colonel I.G. Oleinik – Deputy NIV of the RF Ministry of Defense for theater preparation, Major General V.V. Kelpsh - Head of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Engineering Troops, Major General M.S. Nefedov – Head of the Armament and Supply Department, Colonel V.P. Menyailov is the head of the department for operation and repair of engineering equipment. In July 1992, Major General Yu.V. was appointed to the post of Chief of Staff of the Engineering Troops - First Deputy NIV of the RF Ministry of Defense. Krasnikov. Confirmation of UNIV management positions took place in February-March 1993.
In the first half of the 90s. UNIV was entrusted with the following tasks: organizing and carrying out measures to prepare the territory of Russia in engineering terms to repel possible aggression, design and construction of fortified areas, control posts and other objects of defense significance in the western regions of Russia; control over the withdrawal of formations and units of engineering troops from the territories of former socialist countries and union republics, their arrangement in new locations; engineering support for localizing and blocking areas of armed conflicts, participation in peacekeeping operations on the territory of near and far abroad countries; ensuring the readiness of units of the engineering troops to carry out work to eliminate the consequences of accidents and man-made accidents and natural disasters.
The main units of the UNIV generally retained their appearance and structural features inherited from the Soviet Army, which indicated the continuity of the principles of building the central command and control bodies of the engineering troops in the new historical conditions. The main one among these principles can be considered the correspondence of the organizational and staffing structure to the level of tasks being solved in the management of subordinate troops. Therefore, even in the conditions of the inevitable decrease in the number of UNIV, which was determined by the general reduction of the RF Armed Forces, the command of the engineering troops managed to maintain a workable management structure. For example, the headquarters of the engineering troops in terms of quantitative composition has hardly changed compared to the staff in 1987, meanwhile, it included a department for theater preparation, control posts and capital construction with a staff of 10 people.
Optimization of the structure of the headquarters of the engineering troops was expressed in a significant reduction in the number of support services, which made it possible, in conditions of reduction, to maintain the staff of the main departments of the headquarters - operational-intelligence and organizational-mobilization for the successful performance of its main functions of leading and monitoring the combat and mobilization training of engineering troops, developing strategies for their combat use, improving the organization of engineering troops at a new historical stage.
Changes in the organizational and staffing structure and the numerical composition of other units of the UNIV were relatively small: the apparatus of the combat training management and the military training school was reduced by three people and received a new name - the apparatus of the combat training management, the groups within it were abolished; management of editorial and publishing work in the troops was transferred to the headquarters of the engineering troops.
The greatest changes occurred in the structure of the weapons department: instead of five departments, the new staff remained three - planning and supply, engineering weapons and the engineering ammunition department. The departments of electrical equipment and special equipment, material funds and spare parts were abolished. The reduction in management staff amounted to 18 people. (from 52 to 34) by reducing the number of civilian personnel.
The transfer of functions of disbanded departments to the remaining ones became an increasingly common phenomenon in management practice in the context of the ongoing reduction of the RF Armed Forces. In this case, there was not a consolidation of departments, but a combination of tasks to control the production of one or another type of armed forces within one structural unit, which placed higher demands on the professional training of weapons department officers - they had to be well versed in the entire range of armed forces and be able to establish working contacts with industrial enterprises that were going through difficult times due to the economic crisis of the 90s.
The repair and operation department has fully retained its numerical strength (34 people) and structure, consisting of three departments and the energy supervision inspection, however, the name and nature of the activities of the third department have changed: instead of the department for providing military-technical assistance to foreign countries (for obvious reasons - termination activities of the Department of Internal Affairs), a logistics department of the same size appeared. The military-technical property sales group, created in 1990 to resolve issues related to the withdrawal of troops from the countries of Eastern Europe and the former republics of the USSR, continued to remain part of the repair and operation department.
In the organization of daily activities in the 90s. The command of the engineering troops of the RF Ministry of Defense was guided by the “Regulations on directorates and independent departments of the Directorate
NIV Ministry of Defense of the USSR", approved by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR dated April 20, 1991, in general, valid until February 1993. Since the beginning of the 90s. The process of automation of managerial work in the engineering troops has been developed. The main governing body for the introduction of new information technologies in the management of subordinate troops became the headquarters of the engineering troops, which was entrusted with: organizing and conducting operational support and coordination of work on the creation of engineering subsystems of automated control systems and ensuring control over the creation of material support for the developed automated control systems; introduction of technical automation equipment into the daily activities of troops. To solve these problems, in accordance with changing source data, the Engineering Troops Computing Center was created, subordinate to the NIV of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In the future it was planned to combine
The VC with the command post of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which was under construction at the end of 1989, into a single complex for command and control of engineering troops - the command post of the Chief of Engineering Troops.
Thus, the command of the engineering troops, when organizing the daily work of leading the troops, tried to meet the requirements of introducing new information technologies into management practice. Gradually, the process of managing units, institutions and enterprises of the engineering troops acquired the character of an automated exchange of information, in which formalized documents processed by computer played a predominant role.
Combat use and use in emergency response
The construction of Russian engineering troops was carried out in conditions of their performing various and complex combat and national economic tasks, which indicated an increase in their role in the system of the RF Armed Forces: engineering support for localizing and blocking areas of armed conflicts, suppressing armed clashes and separating warring parties not only on the territory Russia, but also carried out through the UN Security Council or in accordance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation; engineering preparation of Russian territory to repel possible aggression, including the design of control posts and other defense facilities.
Great efforts of the engineering troops were required to carry out work to eliminate man-made accidents and natural disasters, demining areas and objects; considerable attention was paid to protecting bridges and hydraulic structures during periods of ice drift and floods, and providing assistance to the population during floods.
New political realities have set the Russian military-political leadership tasks not only to eliminate military conflicts and attempts to destroy the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, but also to protect the borders of other CIS states.
The soldiers of the engineering troops showed high professionalism and courage during the events on the Tajik-Afghan border in July-August 1993, fulfilling the Decree of the President of Russia and the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on border defense: in the shortest possible time they installed mine-explosive barriers in probable directions actions of bandit formations, fortification equipment of border outpost areas was produced, and tasks to provide troops with water were completed. In total, more than 200 thousand mines were installed to cover the border. Simultaneously with the solution of these tasks, the training of relevant military specialists began, including for the Armed Forces of Tajikistan. For their courage and heroism, 52 engineering officers were awarded state awards, including 26 of them - the Order for Personal Courage. This work was carried out mainly by volunteer sappers, students of the Military Engineering Academy who served in Afghanistan: Lieutenant General Yu.V. Krasnikov, S.A. Tertyshnikov, Colonels E.A. Sokolov, Yu.V. Cherenshchikov, M.V. Firsov, A.K. Kovtun, Major Yu.P. Chernenko and others.
In 1994, the engineering troops ensured the deployment, deployment and operations of peacekeeping forces in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz military conflict. They were assigned the following tasks: reconnaissance of the terrain, routes of movement, areas of location and positions of troops for the presence of minefields; demining of roads, helipads, and locations of peacekeeping forces; search and destruction of explosive objects: restoration of the destroyed section of the road during the operation to clean up the Kodori Gorge; fortification equipment, areas occupied by troops, positions, checkpoints and posts. In the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, more than 12,000 explosive objects were discovered and destroyed, a large number of various fortifications were equipped, and more than 650 hectares of the area were checked for the presence of explosive objects. In carrying out these tasks, the newly formed sapper battalion of the engineer-sapper brigade of central subordination received a baptism of fire, which, within just one day, was transferred by military transport aircraft to the city of Gudauta located in the north of Abkhazia, and then in a short time made a 120 km march to the designated area Gali region of Abkhazia.
For successful demining of the area while ensuring the entry and deployment of peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia, many officers, sergeants and soldiers of the engineering troops were awarded high state awards. So, senior lieutenant R.G. Bersenev was awarded the high title of Hero of Russia (posthumously), the Order of Courage was awarded to the colonel
A.V. Nizhalovsky, lieutenant colonels V.A. Dyachenko, N.T. Salamahin, Major Yu.A. Yamanov, senior lieutenants S.M. Vasilevsky, R.I. Zayuka.
One of the main tasks for the engineering troops since the mid-90s. was the engineering support for the actions of troops in the Chechen Republic. Since December 1994, the engineering troops were entrusted with the tasks of ensuring the organized entry of troops into the territory of the republic, blocking and storming the city of Grozny and other populated areas. To ensure the advance of troop groups to Grozny, taking into account the experience of Afghanistan, six reinforced movement support detachments were created, each of which included reconnaissance, security and support groups. During the conduct of hostilities, the engineering troops carried out tasks of reconnaissance and neutralization of enemy mines and land mines, as well as the destruction of road objects, the construction of barriers to cover their troops, the fortification of the area, the extraction and purification of water.
The task of clearing mines from explosive objects was one of the most difficult for the engineering troops. Despite the fact that the battles of the last war ended long ago, in the vast space where the battles raged, many mines, bombs, and shells remained, from which people and especially children died. The number of explosive objects neutralized and destroyed by sappers in the post-war years amounted to tens of millions.
In the last decade, about 100 thousand such items were destroyed annually, for which over one and a half thousand specialists from the engineering troops were involved.
At the turn of the new millennium, as before, one of the main tasks for the engineering troops remains readiness to ensure the actions of the Armed Forces to protect the state integrity of the country. Since 1999, the most important task for the engineering troops has been to support the counter-terrorist operation of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus region. During the ongoing counter-terrorism operation, the engineering troops were assigned the following tasks.
At the first stage (from August 28 to October 1, 1999) - engineering support for the defeat of militants in Dagestan, the liberation of captured settlements, and the implementation of counter-terrorism measures throughout the territory bordering Chechnya. During the second stage (from October 2 to November 25, 1999), they solved the problems of engineering support for the liberation of the plains and the creation of security zones on the territory of Chechnya. At the third stage, the implementation of engineering tasks and activities acquired a specific character. This was due to the fact that the engineering troops were forced to perform tasks unusual for them - to ensure: the security of the functioning of authorities in the liberated territory; return of internally displaced persons to their places of permanent residence; blocking routes and preventing the exit of illegal armed groups from the territory of Chechnya to adjacent areas; completion of the destruction of large militant strongholds and bases; establishing control over all regions of the Chechen Republic.
The specifics of engineering support for the counter-terrorism operation necessitated the creation of a group of engineering troops, the basis of which was
14 engineering battalions of the RF Ministry of Defense, Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The number of engineering troops personnel did not exceed 4% of the total strength of the Joint Group of Forces. Despite this, the engineering troops carried out significant amounts of work: they installed 200 km of minefields, in which up to 800 militants were destroyed, discovered and neutralized more than 300 thousand explosive objects, checked about 500 objects for the presence of mines, and cleared mines.
400 hectares of farmland, destroyed 200 militant fortifications; built 98 km of mountain road; built two floating bridges and restored two capital bridges; dug and equipped about 9 thousand trenches and shelters with a total volume of excavated soil of more than
2.2 million cubic meters; extracted and purified 200 thousand tons of drinking water.
The Motherland appreciated the contribution of the engineering troops to the defeat of the gangs. A significant part of the military personnel have been awarded and nominated for high government awards. Only in the UNIV of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, four military personnel were awarded the Order of Courage, and nine were awarded the Order of Military Merit. Major General A.S. Krasnikov, Lieutenant Colonels V.A. Rostovshchikov, S.V. Zhuikov (posthumously), majors O.V. Kryukov,
A.I. Kobin (posthumously), captain A.Yu. Zhuravlev (posthumously), senior lieutenants
V.L. Marienko (posthumously), A.M. Kolgatin (posthumously) and private E.G. Borisov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. In terms of the number of Heroes of Russia per thousand people in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the engineering troops have the highest indicator, which confirms their commitment to the glorious traditions of our army.
The successful execution of combat missions by engineering troops in various “hot spots” largely depended on their skillful leadership by the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops. Suffice it to say that only the head of the engineering troops of the RF Ministry of Defense, Colonel General
N.I. Serdtsev traveled for direct supervision and assistance to the troops of the United Group in the North Caucasus region more than 10 times. Units of engineering troops under the leadership of the Chief of Staff of the Engineering Troops of the Russian Defense Ministry completed their tasks in a timely and high-quality manner to cover the Russian-Georgian border
Lieutenant General A.S. Shustov, and the construction of an 87 km long road in mountainous conditions, headed by the Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the RF Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General N.G. Antonenko, has no analogues.
Military engineering preparation of the country's territory
Despite the difficult political, economic, and social situation in Russia in the 90s.
XX century, at the organizational level, certain steps were taken in the field of engineering equipment of the country's territory. As part of the headquarters of the engineering troops, a department for theater preparation, control posts and capital construction was created, numbering 10 people, which solved the problem of creating a management body designed to manage the engineering equipment of the territory of the Russian Federation within the newly defined strategic and operational directions, which from the beginning of the 90s x years began to replace the usual theater of operations. Considering the large volume of upcoming events, the theater preparation department immediately began to solve the problem of determining the scope of research work and establishing close relationships with other branches of the military and civilian organizations in order to create a unified system of military infrastructure on the territory of the military districts that had become border ones.
Simultaneously with the improvement of the organizational and staffing structure in the Department
The NIV of the RF Ministry of Defense justified the creation of groupings of engineering troops to cover new strategic and operational directions, especially in areas of potential military conflicts, and specified the composition and equipment of the units and subunits included in them. Due to the fact that the command did not have the opportunity to proportionally distribute forces in directions, the main attention in creating a unified group of engineering troops for operations during the threatened period was given to strengthening the border districts, primarily Leningrad, North Caucasus and Moscow. The basis for this was, as military analysts noted, the fact that “Russia’s land borders are 300 kilometers longer than the borders of the former USSR. Their conflict potential is much higher.” In some other military districts, for example in the Volga and Far Eastern districts, the deployment of most of the pontoon-bridge units was envisaged.
Military engineering education
The leading educational and scientific center, as before, remained the Military Engineering Academy, headed by Lieutenant General V.A. Vasiliev, Yu.V. Krasnikov and A.B. Shevchuk.
In 1998, in accordance with the concept of reforming military education, the academy merged the engineering and fortification faculty with the command faculty into a common command and engineering faculty, the correspondence education department was transformed into a correspondence education department, retraining courses for officers were abolished, with their tasks assigned to the retraining faculty and advanced training, a special faculty is being established on the basis of a special department for training foreign military personnel.
1998 The Military Engineering Academy is renamed the Military Engineering University, with the inclusion of the Nizhny Novgorod Higher Military Engineering Command School (formerly Kaliningrad), the Tyumen Higher Military Engineering Command School and the St. Petersburg Higher Military Topographical Command School as branches school, renamed institutes.
Until 2006, the Military Engineering University was a multidisciplinary higher military educational institution that trained command and engineering officers for all types of the Armed Forces (Ground Forces, Strategic Missile Forces, Air Defense, Navy), specialists for the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the Topographical Service , Internal and Border Troops of Russia and the armies of other states.
The Tyumen branch of the university specialized in training officers with higher military-special education for the Air Force, the Central Directorate of the RF Ministry of Defense, the Central Road Administration, and other ministries and departments that require specific educational facilities and teaching methods.
The Nizhny Novgorod branch of the university, located in the city of Kstovo on the Volga, for a long time remained the basic educational institution for training engineering personnel for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Military topographers and surveyors were trained in St. Petersburg. Such a network and capacity of military educational institutions met the needs of the Armed Forces, other ministries and departments for engineering specialists, and made it possible to recruit cadets in the Central and Eastern regions of Russia.
As a result of the reorganization, the Military Engineering University became a unified educational, methodological and scientific center of the engineering troops, which made it possible to quickly solve scientific problems and issues of methodological support of the educational process, training of scientific and pedagogical personnel, and provide a practical orientation in the training of students and cadets. In the early 2000s. At the university, officer training was carried out at eight faculties, a correspondence education department, 33 departments (11 eleven university-wide and 22 faculty), and three branches that had sufficient scientific and pedagogical potential.
In total, 40 doctors and more than 260 candidates of military, technical and other sciences worked at the university. Of these, 45 had the academic title of professor, more than 200 - associate professor and senior researcher. Eleven university scientists had the honorary title “Honored Worker of Science of the Russian Federation”, and three – “Honored Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation”. The organization of educational and methodological work at the university was carried out in accordance with established requirements and provided training for students in 16 specialties and five specializations, including cadets in four science-intensive engineering specialties. A new phenomenon in the training of students is that some of them are sent for internships in combat areas, in particular, in the North Caucasus Military District, to gain practical skills.
One of the most important areas of activity of the academy (university) in these years was scientific work. In the context of a significant reduction in funding for science, the main efforts in scientific work were aimed at solving the problems of reforming engineering troops, generalizing the experience of engineering support for combat operations in armed conflicts and local wars, and developing the theory of engineering equipment of the country's territory. Academy (university) scientists took an active part in the development of fundamental statutory documents of the engineering troops. The materials of the conducted research became the basis for the preparation of dissertations, monographs, development of new textbooks, teaching aids and lectures on the profile of departments and faculties of the university.
The system of training junior specialists of the engineering troops has undergone significant changes. By the beginning of the 2000s. their training was carried out on the basis of four interspecific regional (6, 187, 399, 47 training centers) and district training centers in
27 specialties.
Engineering support
The most difficult problem for the NIV Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet period can rightfully be considered the technical equipment of engineering troops - the development and adoption of new engineering weapons, placing orders for their production in industry, organizing maintenance, repair and storage of engineering equipment, supply spare parts, etc. The lack of funding has had a particularly acute impact on the entire production cycle of engineering equipment - from scientific research and development of technical documentation to military and field testing of finished samples, organization of serial production of promising military equipment, including dual-use equipment. With the transition to market relations, the established system of supplying troops with engineering equipment began to show noticeable failures.
One of the first steps taken by the NIV Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to rectify the current situation was setting the task for commanders and headquarters to remove the NZ equipment from storage and equip it with active units and units of the engineering troops based on the instructions of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. Of course, this was a forced step that did not completely solve the problem, since as a result of such measures, the mobilization reserve of engineering weapons that had been created over many years was reduced. And in general in the 90s. There was a very tense situation in providing the engineering troops with modern equipment. The situation was aggravated by the fact that a significant part of the engineering equipment and weapons in the troops was gradually exhausting its service life and becoming obsolete. Organization of competent operation, timely maintenance and repair of engineering weapons in conditions of a significant shortage of personnel, especially in military repair bodies, unsatisfactory supply of engineering troops with spare parts, tools and consumables was a serious problem for the practical activities of the operation and repair department within the UNIV Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The technical equipment of troops with engineering equipment was negatively affected by the loss of a significant part of the production base for the production of engineering weapons after the collapse of the USSR. The most noticeable loss was the cessation of supplies to the troops of heavy-duty KrAZ vehicles, which were the main basic wheeled vehicle for engineering equipment, since the Kremenchug Automobile Plant, which produces these vehicles, ended up on the territory of Ukraine, which refused military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation. This situation made it impossible for further mass production of many types of engineering equipment produced on the basis of the powerful, cross-country vehicle KrAZ, which had long been mastered by the engineering troops. It was necessary to use other vehicles for similar purposes, for example the Ural, which, in turn, were not so powerful and passable. Similar problems existed during the development of other classes of engineering equipment.
Only 6 people in the Soviet Army were awarded the highest rank in the engineering troops of the USSR - marshal of the engineering troops. And among them was the Armenian Sergei Aganov. At first, few people knew about his Armenian origin. Even the Armenians did not really believe in this before. After all, his last name was not Oganov, but Aganov. Although it was difficult not to notice his expressive Armenian facial features: thick dark eyebrows, a pronounced nasolabial fold, a characteristic large nose.
The future marshal was born on June 4, 1917 in Astrakhan in the family of an Armenian employee, Christopher Aganov, and a Russian actress and singer Maria Frolova. The father's real name was originally Khachatur Ohanyan. Therefore, in many pre-war sources and biographical sheets, Sergei Aganov was recorded as Sergei Khachaturovich Oganyan. And Sergei’s paternal grandfather, who came to Astrakhan, came from Nagorno-Karabakh. It was this stunning Armenian region that produced all the most famous Armenian marshals, generals and admirals.
Sergei first attended school in Astrakhan, and then until 1929 he studied at a secondary school in Baku. After graduating, he entered the Moscow School of Tram Electricians and Mechanics. From 1935 to 1937, Aganov worked at the Moscow Electric Plant as an assistant mechanic, and then became a foreman of assembly mechanics. At the same time, he studied at the evening department of the workers' faculty of Moscow State University.
Sergei Khristoforovich was a man with a technical rather than a humanitarian mindset. That is why in 1938 he entered the Moscow Military Engineering School. Thus, in 1938, Aganov began his military service in the Red Army. In 1940, he graduated from college with honors and received the rank of engineer officer.
Sergei Aganov was sent to the Leningrad Military District. He volunteered to participate in the Soviet-Finnish War in battles on the Karelian Isthmus as commander of a sapper platoon of the 257th separate sapper battalion of the 123rd Infantry Division, and from March 1940 he commanded a sapper company. Already during this period, the authorities noticed Aganov’s talents, and he was appointed head of the school for junior commanders of the engineer brigade of the Leningrad Military District.
And soon the Great Patriotic War began. In the very first days of the war in June 1941, Sergei Aganov went to the front to join the active army. He took part in numerous battles. At the beginning, he commanded a sapper company, from October 1941 - senior adjutant (in modern terminology this corresponds to the position of chief of staff) of a sapper battalion, from February 1942 - deputy commander of a motorized engineering battalion, and from April 1942 - assistant chief of staff of the 54th Engineering Troops. th army. Aganov fought on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. In October 1941, he received the rank of first lieutenant, and in February 1942, the rank of captain. In the ranks of the heroic defenders of Leningrad, he endured all the hardships of the blockade.
Sergei Khristoforovich was full of strength, ambition and desire to apply his knowledge, skills and experience in business. The war contributed to their identification and this helped him in his military career. He coped well with any tasks assigned. In November 1942, the command noticed the talent and abilities of Aganov, who received the rank of major, and he was recalled from the front to undergo further military service at the headquarters of the Red Army engineering troops.
At headquarters, he served as assistant chief of the operations department. In 1943, Aganov was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree. In 1944 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and served as senior assistant to the chief of operations until the end of the war. As part of a group of representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, he repeatedly went to the active army. He provided great assistance to the troops in organizing engineering support for operations on the Southwestern, Bryansk, Voronezh, 3rd Belorussian, 1st Baltic and 2nd Baltic fronts.
Surprisingly, some ill-wishers later reproached Aganov for wanting to hide behind the bodies and lives of ordinary soldiers due to the fact that he had only spent about a year and a half at the front. Not knowing his merits, they thereby undeservedly offended him. Sergei Khristoforovich himself spoke about this: “Yes, I admit honestly, I was very offended to hear such accusations addressed to me. After all, many fought without being directly on the battlefield. And this in no way detracts from their services to the Fatherland. I have repeatedly traveled to "the battlefield, helped the guys, advised, explained many plans. And, amazingly, not one of them accused me of what these people who were born after the war accused me of."
After the end of the war, Aganov continued to serve at the headquarters of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army. In 1946 - 1951 he was a senior officer, then from 1951 - deputy head of the department, and from January 1952 - head of the headquarters department. Sergei Khristoforovich was a man who constantly improved himself. In 1947, he entered the correspondence department of the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze, from which he graduated in 1950 with a gold medal. In 1953, he entered and in 1955 successfully graduated from the Higher Military Academy of the General Staff named after K. E. Voroshilov, after which his career rapidly took off. Titles and positions replaced each other.
From November 1955, Aganov headed the engineering troops of the 8th Guards Army in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany for 5 years. In 1959, he was awarded the rank of Major General of the Engineering Troops. He was then transferred to teaching. In August 1960, Sergei Khristoforovich was appointed senior lecturer at the Military Academy of the USSR General Staff. And in December 1963 - deputy head of the military engineering department of the Military Academy of the General Staff. In 1964, he successfully defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Military Sciences.
Since January 1967, Aganov has been the chief of the engineering troops of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. Since January 1970, Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops Aganov became Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since April 1974, he has been the head of the Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev. In March 1975, Sergei Aganov was appointed head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He held this position until March 1987. On April 25, 1975, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General of the Engineering Troops. And on May 7, 1980, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov the high rank of Marshal of the USSR Engineering Troops. For his skillful leadership of engineering troops during the Zapad-81 exercises, he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree.
Aganov worked a lot and rested little. One of his close friends said: “Sergei Khristoforovich simply did not know how to rest. Even while on vacation, he managed to constantly design something. He always had a notebook or notebook with him for notes.” He devoted his entire life to the modernization of engineering troops, introducing innovations and his own developments. Aganov paid great attention to improving the organizational structure of the engineering troops and their technical equipment, developing effective methods of engineering support for combat operations of troops, and training engineering personnel. He made efforts to improve the educational level of the command staff of the country's engineering troops.
Under the skillful leadership of Aganov, from 1975 to 1987, the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense underwent a major reconstruction, were thoroughly modernized and improved, and new means of both attack and defense were developed. During this period, 263 types of engineering ammunition, engineering vehicles and electronic equipment were adopted and supplied, which significantly increased the combat readiness of the troops. For the development and introduction of new systems of engineering weapons into the troops and their testing in combat situations in 1981, Marshal of the Engineering Troops Sergei Aganov was awarded the USSR State Prize.
In the 80s, Sergei Aganov, risking his life, often visited Afghanistan. Here the engineering troops under his leadership had to solve complex problems during combat operations. Thanks to his efforts and introduced technical innovations, it was possible to save many lives of Soviet soldiers.
Let me give you an interesting fact. In December 1985, the head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense, Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov, contributed to the appointment of Lieutenant General Stepan Khorenovich Arakelyan as chief of staff - first deputy chief of the USSR engineering troops. Of course, not because he was an Armenian, but because he was a talented military leader who went through Afghanistan and later Chernobyl. Arakelyan held this post until February 1988. And in 1990 he was awarded the rank of Colonel General of the Engineering Troops. Thus, in 1985 - 1987, two Armenians stood at the head of the Soviet engineering troops - Aganov and Arakelyan.
The famous Soviet and Armenian commander Norat Grigoryevich Ter-Grigoryants, who knew him well, shared his memories of Marshal Aganov with me. They often met both in Afghanistan and later, and communicated closely. Since 1980, with the rank of Major General, Ter-Grigoryants headed the operational group of the Turkestan Military District in Afghanistan. From mid-1981 to the end of 1983, he was chief of staff of the 40th Army. At the end of 1983, he was appointed to the post of Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and he was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general.
Norat Ter-Grigoryants remembers Sergei Aganov very warmly. He remembered him as a kind of wise elder. According to him, he was an intelligent, kind, decent, disciplined, respected person. Aganov was very easy to communicate with; you could always consult him and get practical advice. He perfectly established engineering support for the ground forces. According to the memoirs of Ter-Grigoryants, Aganov was highly valued and highly regarded by the USSR Ministers of Defense Andrei Antonovich Grechko, Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov and Sergei Leonidovich Sokolov. .
A special page in the life of Sergei Aganov is Chernobyl. He made a great contribution to the organization and implementation of measures to eliminate the consequences of the terrible explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986. Already on May 2, he was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident with a group of his officers and on the spot led the work of the created operational group of engineering troops. Aganov led the solution of many priority tasks to ensure access to the nuclear reactor and the creation of the sarcophagus. At that time, many did not yet realize the scale of the disaster and did not understand the terrible consequences of the disaster. But Sergei Khristoforovich knew everything perfectly well. He acted bravely, risking his own life and his own health.
Under the leadership of Marshal Aganov, a group of engineering units of 26 battalions with a total number of 8 thousand people, having more than 900 units of special engineering equipment, completed a huge amount of tasks to decontaminate the area, build dams and dams in the area of the 4th power unit in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone. In 1986, Sergei Khristoforovich made a great contribution to the organization and implementation of measures to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. It was he who developed and implemented the most successful projects that helped minimize the horrific consequences of the explosion at the station. And it is to him that many city residents and liquidators owe their lives. For his heroism and courage, Sergei Aganov was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Of course, his stay in Chernobyl was not in vain for him either. But still, after that he lived for another 10 years. Since March 1987, Sergei Aganov was in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since 1992, he was retired and lived in Moscow. In his declining years, Aganov visited Armenia and helped in organizing the work of the engineering troops, in the creation of defense structures, and the construction of roads and bridges. On February 1, 1996, Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov died. He was buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow. A beautiful monument to the famous commander in a marshal's jacket with all the awards was erected at the grave.
For services to the Motherland, Marshal Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree, two Orders of the Red Star, the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces" 3rd degree. , many medals of the USSR, as well as orders and medals of foreign countries.
In 2012, Kliment Harutyunyan’s book “Marshal of the Engineering Troops Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov” was published in Yerevan. And on December 12, 2017, a postage stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous marshal went into circulation in Armenia with a circulation of 40,000. In Moscow, in the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, a memorial plaque with a portrait of the marshal was installed, recalling that from 1975 to 1987, during the period of greatest military power of the USSR, the country's engineering troops were headed by Aganov.
The outstanding Soviet military leader, talented military engineer and scientist Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov more than once risked his life for the lives of other people, for the well-being of his native country. Therefore, he is remembered, loved and honored in Russia, in Armenia, and in the homeland of his ancestors in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Alexander YERKANYAN
THE FIRST SOVIET GENERALS OF ENGINEERING FORCES
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS OF THE USSR
RESOLUTION
dated June 4, 1940 No. 945
ON THE ASSIGNMENT OF MILITARY RANKS TO THE HIGHEST COMMANDING STAFF OF THE RED ARMY
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decides:
To approve the proposals of the Government Commission to assign military ranks to persons of the highest command of the Red Army, established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 7, 1940.
...
X. Assign a title LIEUTENANT GENERAL OF ENGINEERING FORCES
Gundorov Alexander Semenovich ,
Karbyshev Dmitry Mikhailovich,
...
XVIII. Assign a title MAJOR GENERAL OF ENGINEERING FORCES
Baranov Nikolay Parfenevich ,
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR
V. Molotov
Manager of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov
Moscow, Kremlin June 4, 1940 No. 945
NOVIKOV (20.11.1893 – 4.6.1970)
|
|
Awards: medals: “20 years of the Red Army”, “For the defense of Moscow”, “For the defense of the Caucasus”, “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”.
Russian.
Native of the village of Derkiny (Pochinkovsky district, Smolensk region).
1907 – graduated from the 2nd grade secondary school.
...
He served in the tsarist army for more than 2 years. Private 6zap.sapb.
In the ranks of the Red Army from April 1, 1918, he voluntarily joined the Ust-Izhora engineering detachment. Red Army soldier. Telephone operator-supervisor. Member of the RCP(b) since 1918
Participant Civil War
.
He fought against the White Poles on the Western Front (1919-20) and the Bulak-Balakhovich gangs (1920-21).
1.1920 – secretary of the military commissar 17engb 16A of the Western Front.
Awarded the Order Red Banner
RSFSR (1920).
6.1922-9.1925 – military commissar 17engb 17SD, military commissar 3SK Moscow Military District, military commissar 5ponb Voronezh Military District, military commissar 4sapb 4SK.
1930 – graduated from the VTA named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky. Military engineer.
| 10.1930 – divisional engineer of the 80th division of the Ural Military District. 2.1932 – assistant inspector at the Inspectorate of the Red Army Engineering Troops. 9.1933 – assistant to the head of the department of the UNI of the Red Army. Graduated (1936) from separate military engineering management courses under the Red Army. Military engineer 1st rank (11/26/1936). 12/1937 – chief of engineers of military unit 1459 of the Kyiv Military District. 5.1938 – district engineer of the reception apparatus of the Engineering Directorate of the Red Army. Head of the 1st Department of the UPU. Brigade commander (11/29/1939). 8.1940 – Head of the Engineering Troops Department of the Kharkov Military District. |
Headed the NIV KA commission (8.1943) for verification Leningrad KVIU named after. A.A. Zhdanova .
He did a lot of work to check the readiness of reserve, reserve and active units, on the spot trying to eliminate deficiencies and increase combat readiness. He repeatedly organized the demining of territories liberated from the enemy. Deputy NSh IV KA, Major General of Engineering Troops G.N. Yakovlev presented (15.4.1944) and awarded the order Patriotic War 1 Art. (Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated May 17, 1944).
Specialist in the field of pontoon railway bridges.
For providing assistance to the 3rd Ukrainian Front in the creation of railway bridges (1943-44) NIV Front Colonel General L.Z. Kotlyar presented (17.5.1944) and awarded the order Red Banner (Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated September 19, 1944).
For his years of service in the spacecraft he was awarded the Order Red Banner
Awarded the medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” (Act of delivery dated August 15, 1945, IV KA).
2.4.1946 – transferred to the reserve due to illness.
...
Wife Olga Ilyinichna. Children: Vladimir (1922 – ?); Ludwig (1924 – ?).
Died (4/6/1970) in Moscow.
Information sources
1. Edited by V.V. Zhigailo. School of Military Engineers. – M.: Voenizdat, 1980.
2. Award documents.
3. Belozerov V.A. A brief outline of the history of military representations of engineering troops (2nd ed.) - M.: Senate-Press, 2013.
Bryukhovetsky R.I.
Russian.
Native of Rostov-on-Don.
There is a spelling of the surname - POZDNEEV.
Career officer of the engineering troops.
...
Participant First World War
.
In 1915 - served in 5sapb. Staff Captain.
For distinguished service in cases against the enemy, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna 4 tbsp. with the inscription “For bravery” (VP 11.6.1915).
Remained in Soviet Russia. He joined the ranks of the Red Army.
...
Head of the Faculty of VIA named after. V.V. Kuibysheva. Brigade commander (26.4.1940).
Major General of the Engineering Troops(Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 945 of June 4, 1940).
The Academy participated in preparing the defense of Moscow.
Together with VIA im. V.V. Kuibyshev was evacuated (10-11.1941) to the capital of Soviet Kyrgyzstan - the city of Frunze (until 12.5.1926 - Pishpek), classes began in a new place on 14.11.1941.
Head of the Department of VIA named after. V.V. Kuibysheva.
Lived at: Frunze, st. Dzerzhinsky, 50.
I became seriously ill. Sent to evacuation hospital No. 1081.
Diagnosis upon admission (August 13, 1943): influenza inflammation of the right lung, sciatica, left-sided inflammation of the sciatic nerve, meningitis.
He died (August 16, 1943) in an evacuation hospital, and was buried in a separate grave at the Fraternal Cemetery in the Pervomaisky district of Frunze (since 1991 - Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan).
|
Information sources
Bryukhovetsky R.I., Poblaguev V.A.
SUDBIN
|
|
Russian. Orthodox.
Born in the village of Zubovo, Galich district, Kostroma province. From peasants.
Graduated from the Kostroma Lower Chemical-Technical School named after. F.V. Chekhov.
Entered service (19.5.1915). Appointed (10/17/1915) as a sapper in 5zap.sapb.
12/23/1915 – graduated from the sapper class course. Corporal (7.9.1916).
10.10.1916 – sent to study at the Moscow School of Infantry Warrant Officer Training. Junior non-commissioned officer (12/5/1916).
11.2.1917 – graduated from the School in the 1st category. Issued as a warrant officer in the army infantry in the 88th zap.pt.
...
In the ranks of the Red Army from September 17, 1918.
Participant Civil War
.
17.9.1918 – head of the sapper team of the Galician Soviet regiment.
10.1918 – company commander of the Voronezh reserve regiment.
6.1919 – commander of the 40th rifle division.
10.1920 – temporary divisional engineer, divisional engineer of the 2nd Donskoy SD.
4.1922 – commander of the sapr, temporary divisional engineer of the 37th division of the North Caucasus Military District.
9.1924 – divisional engineer of the 33rd division.
8.1925 – BTA student. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1927
3.1930 – adjunct at the VTA.
4.1932 – head of the VIA Red Army department.
10.1934 – student of KUNS VVA Red Army named after. Mozhaisky.
5.1935 – Head of the Air Force Department of the Command Faculty of the VIA named after. V.V. Kuibysheva.
11.1936 – Head of the Engineering and Command Faculty of the VIA named after. V.V. Kuibysheva.
2.1937 – senior instructor of VIA named after. V.V. Kuibysheva.
1.1938 – Head of the Engineering Directorate of the Navy. Brigade commander (27.7.1938).
Awarded the anniversary medal “20 Years of the Red Army” (22.2.1938).
Major General of the Engineering Troops(Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 945 of June 4, 1940).
Participant Great Patriotic War
.
Awarded the Order Red Star(1942).
Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops (22.1.1944).
Awarded the medal “For the Defense of Moscow” (act of presentation dated 10/11/1944, Military Administration of the Navy).
For length of service in the spacecraft and the Navy, Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Navy, Admiral G.I. Levchenko presented (September 29, 1944) to the Order of Lenin, awarded the order Red Banner
(Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated November 3, 1944).
| During the war years, he skillfully led the Engineering Directorate and directed construction to improve the defense of the naval base. He widely introduced experience in the use of floating piers and equipment of berths for relocated ships. He was in all active fleets and supervised the most important work. Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Navy, Admiral G.I. Levchenko presented and awarded the order Red Banner
(Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated November 5, 1944). For length of service in the spacecraft and the Navy, Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Navy, Admiral G.I. Levchenko re-introduced (8.1.1945) and awarded the Order Lenin For exemplary performance of command tasks he was awarded the Order Nakhimov 1 tbsp.(Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated June 28, 1945). Awarded the medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” (Act of delivery dated 28.2.1946 NKVMF). 2.1949 – head of the engineering section of the Technical Research Committee. 7.1951 – Inspector General of the Engineering and Construction Service of the Navy. 4.1952 – Deputy Minister of the Navy. 9.1952 – Head of the State Administration of the Navy. 5.1953 – Head of the Engineering Directorate of the Navy. |
Since 8.1954 – retired.
...
On the occasion of the Victory anniversary he was awarded the Order Patriotic War 1 Art.
(6.4.1985).
Wife Maria Ivanovna (? – April 20, 1971). Son Pavel (27.6.1930 – 12.11.1999).
He died (March 31, 1990) in Moscow, and was buried at Vvedenskoye Cemetery.
Information sources
Bryukhovetsky R.I.
Awards: orders: royal: St. Stanislav 3 tbsp. (16.3.1907), St. Anna 2 tbsp. (19.3.1915), St. Vladimir 4 tbsp. (6.12.1916); Soviet: Lenin (1945), Red Banner (1944), Red Banner of Labor (1943); medals: “20 years of the Red Army” (1938), “For the defense of Leningrad”, others.
Russian.
From the nobles.
…
Entered (1899) service in Engineering school
in St. Petersburg. Junker harness.
– Graduated from Nikolaevsky Correctional Institution. Released as a second lieutenant (Art. 9.8.1900) in 21sapb.
Lieutenant 21sapb(as of 1907). For excellent and diligent service and labor incurred during hostilities, he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav 3 tbsp. (16.3.1907).
On January 1, 1909 – served in 2 East Siberian SAPB
. Staff Captain.
1911 – graduated from Nikolaev IA. Military engineer. Captain.
On January 1, 1913 – senior work producer. Commandant Fr. Nargen. Lieutenant colonel.
8/24/1917 – assistant to the fortress builder on the Primorsky Front. Colonel(1917).
In the ranks of the RKKF since 2.1918. Non-partisan.
2.1918 – member-rapporteur of the liquidation meeting of the Interdepartmental Meeting on the Affairs of the Maritime Commissariat.
9.1919 – senior foreman and head of the GMTU unit.
11.1921 – Head of the Technical Department of the Construction Work Inspectorate at the State Technical University.
6.1922 – teacher and chief leader of the International Military School.
12.1922 – adjunct, teacher at VIA RKKA.
9.1925 – teacher, senior leader of the Military Aviation Administration of the Red Army.
7.1932 – senior lecturer, head of the department of military aviation of the Red Army (from 9.1935 – named after V.V. Kuibyshev). Brigengineer (17.2.1936).
Doctor of Technical Sciences.
Awarded the anniversary medal “20 Years of the Red Army” (22.2.1938).
 | The Committee for Higher School Affairs awarded the academic title professors (1938). Major General of the Engineering Troops(Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 945 of June 4, 1940). |
Lieutenant General of the Navy Engineering Troops (25.9.1944).
Conducted active research and literary work, took part in solving practical problems. For length of service in the spacecraft and the Navy (as of 11.1944 - 26 years 8 months) as the head of the VITU of the Navy, Major General of the Engineering Troops F.Ya. Bugrov presented (11.9.1944) to the Order of Lenin, awarded the order Red Banner
(Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated November 3, 1944).
He took a constant part in solving practical problems of engineering preparation of the maritime borders of the USSR. For length of service in the spacecraft and the Navy (as of 11.1944 - 26 years 8 months) as the head of the VITU of the Navy, Major General of the Engineering Troops F.Ya. Bugrov presented (12/22/1944) and awarded the order Lenin(Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated February 21, 1945).
Awarded the medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” (Act of delivery dated August 9, 1945, VITU Navy).
...
In 1950 – head of the department of coastal fortification at VITKU.
Second lieutenant (as of 10/14/1914).
Transferred (11/4/1914) to 265 Vyshnevolotsky PP 67PD.
The division guarded the Baltic coast (until 11.1914), and then, as part of the 35AK, participated in the retreat (1915) from Poland, in the Naroch offensive (1916) and in the offensive Skrobovsky battles (7.1916) near Baranovichi.
Staff Captain(as of 1916).
Awarded the Order of St. Stanislav 2 tbsp. with swords (VP 2.11.1916).
1.1918 – 265 Vyshnevolotsky PP voluntarily transferred in full force to the new 2nd division of the People's Socialist Guard.
...
In the ranks of the Red Army from March 24, 1919. Non-partisan.
Participant Civil War .
...
Brigade commander
Awarded the anniversary medal “20 years of the Red Army” (22/2/1938).
Major General of the Engineering Troops(Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 945 of June 4, 1940).
9.1941 – head of the engineering service of the Kharkov garrison (Kharkov Military District).
On September 16, 1941, according to the plan approved by the State Defense Committee of the USSR, the evacuation of enterprises and the population of Kharkov and the Kharkov region began.
At the end of 9.1941, the State Defense Committee of the USSR decided to carry out, in the event of a retreat in Kharkov and the region, a number of special measures to disable industrial and food enterprises, railway and communication centers, bridges, communications, power plants and other important municipal facilities by explosion, arson and mining. In addition to Kharkov, similar measures during the entire period of the Great Patriotic War were applied only to Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv.
Participant Great Patriotic War .
He fought on the Southwestern Front.
Skillfully organized the preparation of fortifications in Kharkov. At the height of the fighting (10/24/1941) he was at the command post, having learned that one of the bridges had not been destroyed, he immediately went to the front line to establish the causes and take action. He came under fire from machine gunners, the car was destroyed, but he achieved the task. He returned to the checkpoint and continued working. Awarded the Order Red Banner (Project No. 4/n dated November 9, 1941, Southwestern Front). The award sheet was signed (11/4/1941) by the commander of 6A, Major General R.Ya. Malinovsky and member of the Military Council, brigade commissar I.I. Larin.
From 11.1941 - was a teacher at the Military Economic Academy (Tashkent), transferred (1942) to Kalinin to the base of the former Kalinin Military Chemical School and renamed the Military Academy of Logistics and Supply (Prospect of the People's Commissar of Defense dated 11.9.1942 G.).
Senior Lecturer at the Department of General Tactics and Military Logistics.
The complexity and strain of wartime service that the 57-year-old general faced could have had a negative impact on his health.
Died in January 1944
Information sources
Bryukhovetsky R.I., Nastenko S.S.
Lieutenant General, Deputy Director of the Russia-NATO Center for Social Adaptation of Military Personnel
Born on February 14, 1947 in the village of Susat, Rostov region, Semikarakorsky district, on the Lower Don. Father - Antonenko Georgy Ivanovich (1910–1985), worker. Mother - Antonenko (Popova) Maria Kirillovna (born 1921). Wife – Nadezhda Mikhailovna (Kucheryavenko). Daughter – Svetlana (born 1970). Son - Nikolai (born 1974). Granddaughter - Maria. Grandchildren: Maxim, Dmitry, Ilya.
Nikolai was born immediately after his brother Peter - they are twins. Soon another sister and younger brother appeared in the family. Nikolai Georgievich’s memories of the early years of his life fit into one phrase: “childhood was very difficult.” The Antonenko family fully recognized the devastation and famine of the post-war years on the Don.
Nikolai’s father went to the front as a volunteer and fought from the first to the last day of the Great Patriotic War. He was an ordinary sapper, went on reconnaissance missions, and took part in the assault on Koenigsberg during the large-scale East Prussian operation of Soviet troops. He returned home as a sergeant, although wounded, but safe and almost unharmed, which was not a common occurrence for sappers. And then he worked in a forge until the end of his life.
Kolya often helped his father, and he revealed to him the secrets of working with metal, which would be useful for a future military engineer. Nikolai was not successful in height, but, as people say, he was small but brave: among the children he was always a leader, he did not want to give in to anyone or anything. He knew how to stand up for himself, and his uncle, Vladimir Kirillovich Popov, taught his nephew some tricks. In 1954, Nikolai was sent to elementary school. Then there was an eight-year school, and I graduated with excellent grades. In the 9th and 10th grades, Nikolai studied, already working on a state farm, at an evening school in the regional center - the city of Semikarakorsk. During this period, he was full of unstoppable energy, expectations and optimism. He participates in the school Komsomol organization and is actively involved in sports: he plays volleyball, football, and goes to the equestrian and shooting sections.
In 1964, Nikolai received a matriculation certificate and seriously thought about choosing a path in life. The parents believed that Nikolai’s brother, Peter, who showed a military streak, would go to military school, and Nikolai would go to college. Peter, however, did not want to become a military man. “Then I will be a military man,” Nikolai decided. That same year, the entire village accompanied him to the Tyumen Military Engineering School (now the Tyumen branch of the Moscow Military Engineering University). Like his father, he wanted to be a sapper.
Passed the entrance exams successfully. True, at the credentials commission the head of the school, Major General B.V. Zatylkin doubted whether Nikolai would be able to serve in the engineering troops. In those days, military engineers needed strength in the literal sense of the word. The troops did not have the current military engineering equipment with automated control systems. In order to deploy, say, a pontoon bridge, remarkable physical strength was required. But everything worked out, and Nikolai became a cadet. Studying was easy for him, he became the school's boxing champion, so the question of his physical readiness for his future profession was removed. A year later, Nikolai was appointed commander of the training department. This was an exception to the rule, recognition by the command and fellow students of his authority: at the school, they usually appointed not yesterday’s schoolchildren to this position, but guys who had already served in military service, and there were many of them among the cadets.
He graduated from college with honors in 1967. Taking advantage of his right to choose his future place of service as an excellent student, Nikolai decides to go serve in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. True, instead of the GDR he ended up in Novocherkassk - again at his own request: a vacancy suddenly opened up there, and he asked to be sent there, since he wanted to be closer to his native places. Lieutenant Antonenko is appointed platoon commander in an engineer battalion stationed in Novocherkassk, the former capital of the Don Cossacks. The first order of the command was the construction of a checkpoint. A sapper, and in the civilian specialty that the school gave him - a construction technician, he coped with the task successfully: he developed his own project, organized construction. The structure he erected still stands today.
It was then that Nikolai Georgievich adopted this motto - do not repeat yourself and carry out instructions as best as possible. During this period, he met officers from the special forces unit of the Airborne Forces, also stationed in Novocherkassk. The young officer attracted the attention of the command of the paratroopers with his special and physical training, and soon Nikolai was offered to change his place of service. Three months later, an order came from the commander of the North Caucasus Military District (NCMD) to transfer to a new duty station.
N.G. Antonenko was appointed to the position of special training instructor - assistant unit commander. The service was not easy, but interesting. His responsibilities included training officers and non-commissioned officers in mine explosives, providing units with weapons and ammunition and storing them. There were parachute jumps, forced marches to a distance of 300 kilometers, a situation that required making immediate and independent decisions, which was very useful for Officer Antonenko in the future.
In 1968, Nikolai Antonenko was offered an equivalent position in the Southern Group of Forces stationed in Hungary (1968-1973). The years of service there were for Nikolai Georgievich a time of serious maturity. Recognition of his business and human qualities was the election of the unit as secretary of the party organization. Meetings with Hungarian brothers in arms, representatives of local party and government bodies required him to exercise political restraint and the ability to properly build relationships with the population of a friendly country. It was a useful experience for the future military leader.
In 1973, senior lieutenant Nikolai Antonenko received a new assignment and went to a military unit stationed in Volgograd. The part was cropped, that is, apart from weapons and a few officers, there was nothing here, as well as solid combat training. Patience did not last long, and in the same year he achieved assignment to a new duty station.
Nikolai Antonenko was appointed to the post of commander of a transport and landing company in a unit in Novocherkassk, where he began his officer career. He got into the swing of things quickly. A year after his appointment, he received from the hands of the first secretary of the Rostov regional committee of the CPSU I.A. Bondarenko received a pennant as the commander of the best company in the North Caucasian Military District. And in 1975 - a new promotion: he became the chief of staff of the pontoon-bridge battalion, which, in its structure and saturation of equipment, was, in fact, a regiment. The battalion officers almost annually deployed units and units to wartime levels, and this meant calling up thousands of reservists from civilian life. The battalion planned and conducted exercises, which, as an extraordinary event in the life of the troops, the district command always paid special attention to. The chief of staff was constantly in sight of the leadership of the North Caucasus Military District, which stimulated his zeal in service.
In 1977, Nikolai Antonenko, who graduated from a secondary military educational institution with honors, having passed only one exam according to the existing situation, but with excellent marks, entered the Moscow Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibysheva. He becomes the best student on the course, is the first to pass all tests and exams with excellent marks, and is appointed commander of the training group. He graduated from the Academy with honors and in 1981 received an appointment to the Carpathian Military District (PrikVO) as deputy commander of an engineer regiment stationed in the city of Sambir (Ukraine). Two years later he became the commander of this unit, at the same time the head of the Sambir garrison, and was elected as a deputy of the city council and a member of the city party committee. At this time, the unit was constructing a number of serious objects of military-operational significance, including a buried command post for the military leadership of the Warsaw Pact, building tank routes for escorting columns from Rivne to the Lviv training center and a very difficult road in the Carpathians. The last task was not an easy one, since the track was constantly washed away by rain. Antonenko understood everything in detail and consulted with local residents. A solution was found, and after the work was completed, the equipment could walk along the road at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. For success in combat and political training - this wording was then used in the Soviet army lexicon - the regiment was awarded the Challenge Red Banner of the Military Council of the District.
After the decision of the CPSU Central Committee to “provide international assistance to the Afghan people” and the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the preparation of the corresponding military contingent was underway. In 1985, Lieutenant Colonel Antonenko, after a tough selection and conversations with high officials, was appointed commander of the 45th separate brigade engineer regiment stationed near the Afghan city of Charikar.
Within a week, the new commander led his regiment on its first combat operation. Of course, it was not easy: it was necessary to understand the operational situation, understand the role and place of the regiment in the grouping of troops, understand the tasks, and know where to expect trouble. Having figured it out, Nikolai Antonenko no longer experienced great difficulties in organizing subsequent military operations. There was only one problem - the ubiquitous dust and mosquitoes. The regiment carried out combat operations throughout almost the entire territory of Afghanistan. Tasks: guiding combat columns, clearing mines and mining areas - each more difficult than the other, and there are twelve of them in total.
The regiment commander, seemingly devoid of any fear, was always ahead of his subordinates, contrary to statutory requirements. The main thing for him was human life. Losses among the regiment's personnel were the smallest throughout the 40th Army. N.G. Antonenko introduced the practice of modeling actions before going on a combat mission: a layout of the terrain was created, and each participant in the upcoming combat operation spoke out his future actions, applying it to the terrain. The soldiers and sergeants, not to mention the officers, knew their maneuver in such a way that they surprised the army command, who came to the regiment with inspections. Some of them, as a rule, took first places in all respects, and the personnel deservedly received orders, award watches, and certificates. The regiment receives the challenge Red Banner of the Military Council of the Turkestan Military District (TurkVO), and the regiment commander receives the rank of “Colonel”. The real commander, a faithful comrade in arms during these Afghan fiery years, was and remains in the memory of Nikolai Georgievich, the head of the engineering troops, Lieutenant General Valentin Methodievich Yaremchuk.
In 1987, after two years of hostilities, they had to return to the territory of the USSR. Commander of the TurkVO Colonel General N.I. Popov had long noticed a well-trained officer and suggested to Colonel N.G. Antonenko received an unprecedented promotion by army standards - the position of chief of staff of the district engineering troops. In the new place, Antonenko is engaged in the liquidation of warehouses of Soviet troops on the territory of Afghanistan in the Hairatan region, removes the bridge across the Amu Darya River in the Ayvaj region from the Afghan side - this was a complex engineering operation, builds bridges and crossings on the Pyanj River. During the same period, he organized the construction of platoon and company strong points and battalion defense areas along the state border in the area of responsibility of the Turkestan Military District, which by 1988 merged with the Central Asian Military District (SAVO). In 1989, Colonel General N.I. Popov is appointed commander-in-chief of the Southern Strategic Direction. He suggests N.G. Antonenko, the position of chief of engineering troops at headquarters. But the promising officer asks to be released to study at the Academy of the General Staff, receives consent and becomes its student.
After graduating from the academy in 1991, N.G. Antonenko was appointed head of the engineering troops of the Baltic Military District (BMD), which was then commanded by Colonel General F.M. Kuzmin, and the head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense was Colonel General V.P. Kuznetsov, who knew N.G. well. Antonenko on joint service in the PrikVO. I arrived at my new duty station from vacation ten days ahead of schedule, and it was then that the sad events of August 1991 for the Soviet Union took place. The new chief of the district's engineering troops had to deal not with the combat and political training of his subordinates, but with the withdrawal of troops from the territory of the Baltic republics.
The withdrawal of troops was carried out in difficult political conditions, often at gunpoint from local nationalists. Despite this, Major General N.G. Antonenko successfully organizes everything and receives the required documents for the withdrawal of troops, equipment and weapons from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. We managed to remove everything down to the last bolt. Under the strictest control, nothing was lost or stolen, which often happened in such an environment. Nikolai Georgievich was one of the authors of the scheme under which all officers returning to Russia received housing. After a successful operation, N.G. Antonenko is offered the post of deputy chief of engineering troops of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In Moscow, he was placed at the disposal of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the RF Ministry of Defense. General Antonenko is included in the operational group of the General Staff, created to organize the entry of troops into the Chechen Republic, whose leadership has taken the path of separatism. He is directly involved in the preparation of the operation and controls the transfer of troops by rail. He was in the operational group until January 1995, after which he was appointed deputy chief of the engineering troops of the RF Ministry of Defense for armaments. The nature of Nikolai Georgievich’s work is changing dramatically: now he is involved in the development of new equipment, its testing, adoption, procurement and organization of operation and repair. But, as always, he is drawn to live work, and when the opportunity arose, he began to supervise the combat training of engineering troops. The general inspects troops and heads state examination commissions in specialized schools and academies. A real test of maturity, courage and skill was the task assigned to the engineering troops by the Chief of the General Staff to build the South Caucasian road along the Main Caucasian ridge. The organizer and immediate supervisor of the construction was General N.G. Antonenko. He himself went to engineering reconnaissance; 94 kilometers of road surface were built without preliminary preparation or design in three months. The troops called this road “Antonenko road.”
The general will have another armed conflict on his combat record - the events in Transnistria. He will directly organize the withdrawal of troops and equipment from the unrecognized republic of Transnistria. During this period, he became closely acquainted with its president I.N. Smirnov. Only the accumulated experience of dealing with difficult and inconvenient opponents and negotiators allowed him to convince the parties involved in the conflict to allow Russia to export equipment in the volumes that it planned. At this time, Nikolai Georgievich was awarded the military rank of “lieutenant general”.
N.G. Antonenko retired from the Armed Forces in May 2002. His former boss, who once commanded the Northwestern Group of Forces, Colonel General L.S. Mayorov, who headed the Russia-NATO Center for Social Adaptation of Military Personnel, created in the same year in Moscow through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and NATO, invited him to be his assistant, and then his deputy. Since then N.G. Antonenko works in this position. Makes a significant and concrete contribution to the social protection of military personnel, citizens discharged from military service, and members of their families. The center provides consulting support, if necessary, gives discharged military personnel the opportunity to undergo professional retraining, and assists them in finding employment. Branches of the Center operate in six cities of Russia. N.G. Antonenko organizes their work, establishes business relationships, seeks a common language and mutual understanding with the management structures of the North Atlantic bloc. In particular, with the NATO Directorate of Economic Defense and Security Affairs, the Information Office and the NATO Military Liaison Mission in Moscow. In the interests of Russian military personnel discharged from the army, he seeks increased funding for the work of the Center through the North Atlantic Alliance.
Lieutenant General N.G. Antonenko was awarded the Order of the Red Star, Courage, “For Military Merit”, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” III degree, medals, as well as the Imperial Military Order of the I degree of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the Head of the Russian Imperial House of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, the Afghan Order of the Red Banner, the Order “For Service to Russia” of the Federation of the Cossack Union, the Order of the Moscow Committee of War Veterans and Military Personnel of the Moscow House of War Veterans and Armed Forces, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, 1st degree, of the Academy of Security, Defense and Law Enforcement. His merits were recognized with the medals “For Strengthening the Military Community”, “300 Years of Engineering Troops”, the badge of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation “For Demining”, the badge of the commander of the North Caucasus Military District “For Service in the Caucasus”, the badge of the railway troops “For Excellent Military Service”, the badge “Instructor” -parachutist" (171 jumps).
For a long time N.G. Antonenko provides active assistance to the Cossack movement. He was appointed chief of the Don Emperor Alexander III cadet corps. His meetings with cadets carry a great educational charge, planting in them the sprouts of spirituality and patriotism. At the suggestion of Nikolai Georgievich, a cash prize was established for the best cadets in academics and discipline. He is also a member of the “Rostovites” community in Moscow, where he is responsible for organizing work with fellow countrymen from law enforcement agencies, military personnel, war, labor and military service veterans.
Hobbies of N.G. Antonenko: Russian billiards, fishing, hunting. He loves books from the series “The Lives of Remarkable People”, highlighting from them the book by A. Manfred “Napoleon Bonaparte”.