Sergey Akhromeyev

Sergey Akhromeyev

Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey F. Akhromeyev during his visit to the United States in 1988
Born (1923-05-05)May 5, 1923
Vindrey village, Torbeyevsky District, Mordovia, Soviet Union
Died August 24, 1991(1991-08-24) (aged 68)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Allegiance Soviet Union Soviet Union
Years of service 1940-1991
Rank Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commands held Soviet General Staff, Far Eastern Military District
Battles/wars World War II
Soviet–Afghan War
Awards (4)[1]
Order of the October Revolution
Order of the Patriotic War
Order of the Red Banner (2)
Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR
Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia)

Sergey Fyodorovich Akhromeyev (Russian: Серге́й Фёдорович Ахроме́ев; May 5, 1923 – August 24, 1991[2]) was a Soviet military figure, Hero of the Soviet Union (1982) and Marshal of the Soviet Union (1983).

Life

Akhromeyev was a Naval Infantry junior officer on the Eastern Front, serving with distinction during the Siege of Leningrad front. At one point he was ordered to guard and hold a road on which the German Army would be trying to advance. Despite a bloody battle, he was able to accomplish the task. Relating the story during a meal with Secretary of State George Shultz and Ambassador Ken Adelman in Reykjavik during the Reagan Administration, Akhromeyev told Shultz that his accomplishment was not only a great sign of his patriotism, as Shultz suggested, but also was because had he abandoned the road, Stalin would have had him shot.[3]

In 1984-1988, Akhromeyev was Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces. In that capacity he was heavily involved in the talks which brought an end to the Cold War. However, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with Mikhail Gorbachev's approach to reforming the military, in particular his insistence on dismantling the newest and most accurate ballistic missile in the Soviet Army — the SS-23 Spider - under the tenets of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and resigned from that position.

In March 1990, he was made Advisor to the President of the USSR on military affairs.[1]

During the August Coup of 1991, Akhromeyev returned from a vacation in Sochi to offer his assistance to the coup leaders. Although he was never implicated in the coup, after its failure Akhromeyev committed suicide[4] in his Kremlin office, hanging himself with a length of curtain cord. In addition to personal messages to his family, he left a note explaining that he could not continue living when the institutions to which he had devoted his life were disintegrating.[5]

Shortly after his death, his grave was vandalized and his corpse stripped of the uniform in which it had been buried. The culprits were never found, and it is uncertain whether it was an act of pure desecration or if the grave-robbers hoped to sell the stolen uniform or its adornments for profit.

Admiral William Crowe, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later the ambassador to the United Kingdom knew Marshal Akhromeyev[4] and once called him a communist, a patriot, and a friend in that order.

Honours and awards

Soviet awards
Foreign Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Новая и новейшая история
  2. ↑ Список депутатов Верховного Совета СССР 11 созыва
  3. ↑ CSP
  4. 1 2 Jackson, Robert L. (August 16, 1991). "Friend's Suicide Saddens Retired Adm. Crowe - Military: 'We grew to be quite close,' former Joint Chiefs chairman says of Soviet Marshal Akhromeyev.". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  5. ↑ Вечерний Тбилиси
Military offices
Preceded by
Nikolai Ogarkov		 Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union
September 1984-2 November 1988 		Succeeded by
Mikhail Moiseyev
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