General Shpak told how they tried to reduce the Airborne Forces and how they defended

On the eve of the anniversary, “MK” contacted the general and found out why he is considered the commander who managed to save the Airborne Forces, and how he sees the appearance of the “blue berets” in the future.

The conversation with Georgy Ivanovich took place when he was in Samara. September 4, on the birthday of his son, Georgy Ivanovich always comes to this city …

Son Oleg was born in the “landing capital” – Ryazan, studied in those “cities and villages” where the military fate of his paratrooper father threw – Belarus, the Baltic states, Moldova … He followed in his father’s footsteps, graduating in 1993 from the Ryazan Higher Airborne school and becoming the commander of an airborne platoon in the Ulyanovsk 104th Airborne Division.

In March 1995, Airborne Forces lieutenant Oleg Shpak died in Chechnya. He was buried in Samara, where his family then lived.

They say how one day an unfamiliar woman approached Oleg’s mother Alla Grigoryevna in the cemetery and asked:

– Is your son?

“Yes,” the woman replied.

How did you let him go there? – the stranger complained.

– And what, it was necessary to send yours?

The woman, looking down, silently walked away.

… But Oleg Shpak, indeed, could not get into the war. When in January 1995 his military unit was sent to the combat zone, Oleg was in the Burdenko hospital with a stomach ulcer and a torn ligament in his leg. The sores gave him a perfectly legitimate reason to stay. But having learned that his colleagues were going to war, he was discharged from the hospital ahead of schedule. The father – at that time the commander of the Airborne Forces – did not hold or hide his son.

In March, when they were waiting for Oleg from a business trip home – he should have already left Khankala – they reported the death …

A lot of absurd accidents happen in war. The plane was delayed first. Then it turned out that it was necessary to escort a convoy with a peacekeeping mission, which, over the loudspeaker, persuaded the militants to stop firing. Oleg volunteered to help.

He was driving the first BMD airborne combat vehicle that accompanied the convoy, and during the crossing over the Argun River – the bank there was littered with anti-tank mines – his car was blown up. There was an explosion, the ammunition on board detonated, Oleg was torn off both legs, he died on the spot from loss of blood.

For the courage and courage shown by the Guards, Lieutenant of the Airborne Forces Oleg Shpak was awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).

Together with his family, his younger sister Elena, who was a medical student at that time, was deeply worried about the death of her brother. After the tragedy, she transferred to a military university, and today she is already a military surgeon, colonel of the medical service. Elena’s husband is a paratrooper officer. They named their son Oleg – in honor of the deceased Oleg Shpak.

***

Despite his age, the ex-commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Georgy Shpak is cheerful, always aware of what is happening in his native troops. He is the chief military inspector of the Airborne Forces and closely monitors the actions of the paratroopers in the NVO zone. We talk with him about what is familiar and close.

– Georgy Ivanovich, in different periods of the existence of the Airborne Forces, these troops have repeatedly tried to reform. Reforms were conceived differently. Not always helpful. Yes, and the reformers were of different kinds. Now sometimes you can hear from the military that you are called a general who managed to save the Airborne Forces. Tell me why?

– You yourself partially answered this question. I think because I was a commander and knew the situation in the state, especially at the top, where at that time our famous president, who liked to take a drink, was in charge.

Do you mean Yeltsin?

– Certainly. His entourage, despite certain messages from the military elite – not to touch the Airborne Forces – on the sly still tried to turn their affairs around. My “scouts” learned that a document was being prepared on a sharp reduction in the Airborne Forces.

– Then how could the airborne forces be destroyed?

– The “reformers” wanted these to be not troops, but only a corps with headquarters in the city of Tula. Can you imagine? They even read me a ready-made copy of the presidential decree. Of course, I almost fainted and, naturally, I began to take all possible countermeasures in order to somehow suspend this decision.

We held a whole meeting with like-minded commanders, inventing and planning how we should act.

First, we decided to bring this information to people through the media. And here we were helped by the grandson of the legendary commander of the Airborne Forces Vasily Filippovich Margelov – Mikhail.

Under Vasily Margelov, the Airborne Forces became an independent branch of the military and one of the most combat-ready military units in the world. Therefore, the abbreviation “VDV” is often still deciphered as “Uncle Vasya’s Troops.” The grandson of Vasily Filippovich – Mikhail – then had colossal connections in the press. We have tried to use them. However, this was not enough.

They remembered that one of Yeltsin’s assistants was Yuri Mikhailovich Baturin. A very knowledgeable and decent person. Remember, then he became an astronaut, flew into space on the Soyuz spacecraft? And in 1996 he was appointed Secretary of the Russian Defense Council.

We turned to him. He took an active part in resolving this issue. With our help, he prepared a document for the president, arguing that the Airborne Forces are the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and therefore their reduction and other actions “are inappropriate in connection with the current international situation.”

He took this paper to Yeltsin for signature. I don’t know if the president was watching it, studying it, or just waved it along with the others, but somehow at two o’clock in the morning the phone rang.

I pick up the phone, at the other end of the wire Baturin: “Georgy Ivanovich, I’m reporting …” And he reads me a document in which, as we wrote, it says almost word for word: the Airborne Forces are the reserve of the Supreme, their reduction is inappropriate. Signature – Yeltsin.

– After that, you didn’t have anything for such a “maneuver”?

– Well, how! Both the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff began calling me in turn, shouting: did you create everything?! Of course, I pretended to be a fool, they say: but how am I? Can I command Yeltsin? I do not have such authority.

– Could they themselves turn to Yeltsin and persuade him to change his mind?

– No. I firmly knew that no one would dare to go to him and dispute his signature.

– Why do you think the decision to reduce the Airborne Forces, which is politically and militarily beneficial to a potential adversary, was pushed by our military leadership itself? Can this be called betrayal?

– No … You see, what’s the matter, the minister and the chief of the General Staff were under very strong pressure on the need to reduce the Armed Forces. And the army at that time had already been reduced to a breathtaking state. There was nothing to cut.

– And who pressured them?

– Basically, they were strangled and demanded reductions, let’s say, by political leaders of the liberal persuasion, oriented to the West. They just cut the budget. And then they sequestered the budget. The Airborne Forces held out the longest, remaining practically the only troops that had not yet been reached. But then our turn came.

The number of airborne troops at that time was 36 thousand people. At the top, they were going to cut them by about half, regardless of the complexity of the political situation and everything else.

– But still, why did neither the Minister of Defense nor the leadership of the General Staff try to defend you?

It is very difficult to blame them for this. These were decent people, but they were forced to go down this slippery path, as they were crushed by politicians. So they had to use such a non-standard method of leadership.

– Later, during the leadership of the military department of Mr. Serdyukov, the Airborne Forces were again going to thoroughly reform and again the paratroopers managed to hold out the longest.

– That’s right. Then the “reformers” also attempted on the Airborne Forces. But you see, at that moment our society was already more mature. It correctly assessed what was happening and could happen.

When conflicts are brewing in a multinational state, when our closest neighbors, like, say, Azerbaijan and Armenia, are at enmity, then rapid reaction forces are needed in the form of troops such as the Airborne Forces.

– On the other hand, the army is not a hardened mechanism. She needs reform. The question is what?

The Airborne Forces in the light of recent conflicts are also undergoing changes. For example, now it is already difficult to imagine a massive airdrop simultaneously from several Il-76 transporters, which we observed until recently at various military exercises. In Ukraine, this would lead to huge losses of people and equipment from saturated air defense.

At the same time, the Airborne Forces in the NVO zone are valiantly fighting, already solving other tasks. Does this mean that these troops are changing their appearance in the conditions of a modern military conflict?

– I agree that today there is no expediency to use the Airborne Forces in full force as an airborne assault force. And we will not find such a number of aircraft for this. Compared to Soviet times, their fleet has been significantly reduced.

But at the same time, do not forget that the Airborne Forces are morale, resilience, courage … These are highly trained specialists in their field. Their professionalism stimulates not only the Airborne Forces. He stimulates all the Armed Forces, being an example to follow.

Today, the Airborne Forces are able to solve both infantry tasks and strategic landing tasks, as it was recently in Kazakhstan when protecting the constitutional order. And this, mind you, quite recently, in January 2022.

The military personnel of the Airborne Forces are an example of professional training, moral stamina, courage, and devotion to the country. And I know that the state has not yet adopted, but a decision is being prepared to increase the composition and strength of the Airborne Forces. I think this is a very correct decision.

– What, in your opinion, will be the appearance of the new Airborne Forces?

– I don’t think it should be fundamentally new. I think we need to improve what we have now, taking into account new trends. For example, in terms of unmanned vehicles and so on.

So, decisions have already been made to increase and strengthen electronic warfare units in our troops, to strengthen air defense and increase its mobility. That is, measures are being taken to use today’s rich combat experience of the Northern Military District, saturating the troops with everything necessary.

We have enough smart heads and very strong military institutions that are working on this. But to do something fundamentally new, I think, is inappropriate.

Yes, some of the paratroopers should be ready to land by landing, and some by parachute. Some part of the Airborne Forces should be ready to carry out infantry tasks, as they do today, providing power, for example, to tank and motorized rifle units and formations, covering their flanks.

– Yes, all experts note that various new methods of using airborne units appear during the NWO.

– And, naturally, equipment and weapons must be adapted to these methods. But the creation of some kind of special, new troops, equipped with some kind of special weapons, is not foreseen today.

Another thing, I repeat, the development of unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics, electronic warfare and air defense systems in these troops is something that should update and make the appearance of today’s Airborne Forces more modern.