Vladislav Achalov, backed coups as Soviet general, 65

June 24, 2011|Associated Press

VLADISLAV ACHALOV (associated press/file…)

MOSCOW — Vladislav Achalov, a former Soviet general who supported two botched anti-Kremlin coups and recently organized a protest against the government’s military reform, has died.

He was 65.

Colonel Alexander Cherednik, Airborne Forces spokesman, said Mr. Achalov died at a Moscow hospital yesterday.

Mr. Achalov, a onetime commander of Soviet Airborne Forces, led a union of veteran paratroopers.

Mr. Achalov supported the 1991 hard-line coup that briefly ousted President Mikhail Gorbachev, but he did not face trial.

In October 1993, he played an active role in a rebellion against President Boris Yeltsin and spent several months in custody before being released under amnesty.

Last November, he helped organize a protest against the government’s military reform that drew fears of military mutiny.

The rally was organized by Mr. Achalov’s union of paratroopers, who are considered the most professional and proud branch of the Russian military.

But members of other military branches also took part, as well as monarchists, nationalists, and hard-line Orthodox Christians.

Under Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov’s reforms, as many as 200,000 military officers have lost their jobs, and nine out of every 10 army units have been disbanded.

The reforms have been strongly backed by the Kremlin but have angered many officers and military veterans who see them as destroying Russia’s armed forces.

Mr. Achalov stopped short of criticizing the Kremlin and rejected talk of a possible military coup before November’s protest, but he insisted Serdyukov must step down.