Migel Krasnov Brigadier General of the Chilean Army, second cousin of the Ataman of the All-Great Don Army P. N. Krasnov. Date of Birth: 15.02.1946 Country: Chile

Biography of Miguel Krasnov

Miguel Krasnov, a brigadier general in the Chilean army, is the great-grandson of Ataman P.N. Krasnov, the leader of the Great Don Army. He was born in Tyrol, in the family of Major General Semen Nikolaevich Krasnov, who led the personal convoy of General Wrangel in 1920 and served as the Chief of Staff of the Main Administration of Cossack Forces in the Wehrmacht in 1944-45.

Krasnov's father, uncle, great-grandfather, and grandfather on his mother's side were extradited to the Soviet Union and executed. However, his mother, Dina Marchenko, managed to escape from a displaced persons camp and resettle in Chile in 1948 using forged documents.

In 1963, Miguel Krasnov enrolled in a military school and graduated in 1967 with the rank of infantry lieutenant. He played a role in the coup on September 11, 1973, which overthrew the Allende government, and took part in the executions at the Santiago Stadium. In 1974, he completed a training course at an American military school in Panama, where he ranked first among 65 officers. He was then assigned to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) and led interrogations and torture in the "Villa Grimaldi" prison, allegedly being the only one among the executioners who did not conceal his face with a mask. In 1975, he commanded a battalion in the 1st Mountain Division, which fought against pro-communist terrorist groups in the Andes. In November of that year, he was awarded the highest national medal, the "Medal for Courage," which had not been awarded for 100 years, for the defeat of the "Revolutionary Coordinating Junta of the South" and the elimination of its leader, Miguel Enriques.

In 1980, Krasnov graduated from the Military Academy with the rank of major. After that, he served as the commander of a cadet battalion at the Military School and as a lecturer at the Military Academy, where he taught courses on "Tactics and Operations" and "Information Theory." From 1982, he served in the General Staff of the Army. After completing the General Staff courses in Brazil, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to the Staff of the 5th Division. From February 1986, he served in the General Staff, and at the end of the same year, he became the deputy director of the Military School and the commander of the 8th Infantry Regiment. As of August 1, 1989, he held the rank of colonel and served as the garrison commander in Temuco. From February 1994, he served as the chief of staff of the 4th Division, and from 1995, he was promoted to brigadier general. He was awarded the Military Star of the Chilean Armed Forces, the Great Star for military merits, and the Star of Glory for merits to the General Staff. In 2000, with the arrival of the leftist government, he retired from the military and took up the position of director of a hotel-sanatorium complex for military personnel. In the summer of 2001, he was arrested and brought to trial on charges of involvement in torture and killings at the stadium in September 1973, crimes against humanity committed during his service in the DINA (including involvement in torture at the "Villa Grimaldi" prison and the abduction of Chilean and foreign citizens), as well as organizing the assassination of trade union leader Tucapel Jimenez in 1982. Simultaneously, France accused him of torturing a French citizen named Alphonse Chanfro in 1974, who was a member of the M.I.R. terrorist group. In 2002, Krasnov was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In December 2006, he was additionally sentenced to five years and one day in prison for his involvement in the abduction of engineer Eugenio Montti Cordero and Carmen Diaz Darricarriere, members of M.I.R. who were arrested by DINA and killed in Villa Grimaldi in 1975.