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Pavel Grachev

Pavel Grachev
Павел Грачёв
Evstafiev-pavel-grachev-1994w.jpg
Grachev speaking at the State Duma in 1994.
(Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev)
Minister of Defence
In office
18 May 1992 – 17 July 1996
President Boris Yeltsin
Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin
Yegor Gaidar (acting)
Viktor Chernomyrdin
Preceded by Boris Yeltsin (acting)
Succeeded by Mikhail Kolesnikov (acting)
Personal details
Born (1948-01-01)1 January 1948
Rvy, Tula Oblast, RSFSR, USSR
Died 23 September 2012(2012-09-23) (aged 64)
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Awards Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (2)
Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Star
Order for Personal Courage
Order of the Badge of Honor
Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR
Military service
Allegiance  Soviet Union
 Russia
Service/branch Russian Airborne Troops
Years of service 1965–1996
Rank General of the Army
Commands Soviet Airborne Troops
Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Battles/wars Soviet War in Afghanistan
First Chechen War

Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev (Russian: Па́вел Серге́евич Грачё́в; 1 January 1948 – 23 September 2012), sometimes transliterated as Grachov, was a Russian Army General and the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation from 1992 to 1996; in 1988 he was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union gold star. As Defence Minister, Grachev gained notoriety because of his military incompetence displayed during the First Chechen War and the persistent allegations of involvement in enormous corruption scandals.

Grachev, born in 1948 in Tula Oblast, RSFSR, joined the Soviet Army's airborne troops in 1965 and finished the Ryazan Airborne Military Command School. In 1972, he joined the Soviet Communist Party. After commanding parachute platoons, companies and battalions in the 1970s, he attended the Frunze Military Academy and the General Staff Academy, graduating in 1981. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Grachev commanded the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment from 1982 to 1983, and was in command of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division in Afghanistan in the last years of the Soviet involvement from 1985 to 1988.


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