Vladimir Kvachkov
Russia- Early Life and Education
- Military Career
- Post-Military Career
- Accusation and Trial
- Awards and Personal Life
Early Life and Education
Vladimir Vasilyevich Kvachkov was born on August 5, 1948, in the Kraskino village of the Khasansky district in the Primorsky Krai. In 1959, he entered the Far Eastern Suvorov Military School (according to other sources, the Ussuriysk SVU). In 1966, he enrolled in the Kiev Higher Combined Arms School (KVOKU), graduating in 1970.
Military Career
Upon graduation, Kvachkov was assigned to a special operations brigade in Pskov, where he served as a group commander and platoon commander. He later served in a special forces brigade in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) and then in units of the Trans-Baikal Military District. In 1981, Kvachkov graduated with honors from the Frunze Military Academy and assumed a position as a senior officer in the Intelligence Directorate of the Leningrad Military District (LenVO).
In 1983, he became commander of a special forces brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff in Afghanistan. From 1984 to 1986, Kvachkov served in the same brigade in Pskov. From 1986 to 1989, he held the post of brigade chief of staff in the GSFG and in 1989 took command of the 15th GRU Special Forces Brigade in the Turkestan Military District. He participated in combat operations in hotspots such as Azerbaijan (1990) and Tajikistan (1992).
Post-Military Career
In 1994, Kvachkov joined the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) or, according to other reports, worked in a research institution of the Ministry of Defense. In 1998, he retired from service with the rank of colonel. After his retirement, he became a senior researcher at the Center for Military-Strategic Studies of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In 1998, he defended his candidate's dissertation on the topic "Development of Forms of Combat Use of Special Reconnaissance Forces in Modern Conditions."
Accusation and Trial
On March 19, 2005, Kvachkov was detained on suspicion of involvement in the assassination attempt on the head of the Russian United Energy Systems (RAO "UES"), Anatoly Chubais. The attempted assassination took place on March 17 of the same year: a guided mine exploded near Chubais's official car, and the car of Chubais' bodyguard was attacked by gunfire. During a second search, explosives were discovered at Kvachkov's home and dacha. Kvachkov refused to testify in the case. Kvachkov's son, Alexander, and a certain Mrs. Zhitnykh (or, according to other sources, Pazhetnykh), an acquaintance of the Kvachkov family, were declared wanted by the police.
As part of the investigation into the case, two more former special forces soldiers, Alexander Naydenov and Robert Yashin, were subsequently detained. After their arrest, the media reported that the primary version of the assassination attempt became a conspiracy on ideological grounds. The investigation suggested that the former military personnel had conspired with Kvachkov's son, Alexander, and a certain Mironov (according to some media, this was Ivan Mironov, the son of the former Minister of Press and Information of Russia, Boris Mironov). The suspects' lawyers stated that there was no direct evidence of Kvachkov's involvement in the attempted assassination.
In 2005, Kvachkov, who was under investigation at the time, was registered as a candidate for deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. He lost the election. During his election campaign, the media reported that in pre-trial detention, Kvachkov had become acquainted with the former head of the Yukos oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
In February 2006, the electoral commission of the Medvedkovsky District No. 196 of Moscow refused to register Kvachkov as a candidate for deputy of the State Duma. In protest against this decision of the Central Election Commission, Kvachkov went on a hunger strike (two of his accomplices, Yashin and Naydenov, joined the action). In the spring of 2006, the case of the attempted assassination of the head of RAO "UES" was referred to court. The preliminary hearings in the case were completed in October 2006.
On December 11, 2006, Ivan Mironov was detained on charges of involvement in the attempted assassination (two days later, the court issued a warrant for his arrest). On February 21, 2007, the head of Kvachkov's election headquarters, Tatyana Mironova (Ivan Mironov's mother), read a statement from the key witness, Karvatko, at a press conference in Moscow. According to her, the witness admitted that he had given testimony under torture during the preliminary investigation. On the same day, the lawyers for the defendants in the case of the attempt on the life of the head of RAO UES once again declared numerous violations of the law during the trial and stressed that none of the motions they had filed had been granted.
Awards and Personal Life
Kvachkov has received a number of state awards, including the Order of the Red Star and the Order of Courage. The press also reported that after retiring, Kvachkov received an order for an operation in Chechnya.
Kvachkov is married for the second time. He has two daughters (Anna and Elena) and two sons (Alexander and Kirill).
