Soviet air defence chief who ordered the KAL 007 shootdown
On 1 September 1983, Far Eastern Military District commander Tretyak received the order from the General Staff to 'destroy' the intruding airliner and passed it down the chain of command without hesitation.
A Soviet Army General (1976) and Hero of the Soviet Union (1945) who commanded a regiment at age 21 during the Great Patriotic War. After serving as commander of the Belorussian Military District (1967–1976) and the Far Eastern Military District (1976–1984), he became Deputy Minister of Defence (1986–1991) and Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Defence Forces (1987–1991). On 1 September 1983, as commander of the Far Eastern Military District, he relayed the order from the General Staff to destroy Korean Air Lines Flight 007 after it entered Soviet airspace, resulting in the deaths of all 269 people on board. Also named a Hero of Socialist Labour (1982), he embodied the arc of the late Soviet military elite and was dismissed immediately after the August 1991 coup attempt.
Career Timeline
- 1941–1945Great Patriotic War: platoon, company, battalion commander, 29th Guards Rifle Division; CO, 93rd Guards Rifle Regiment
- 1956–1957Commander, 26th Guards Rifle Division
- 1960–1964Chief of Staff & First Deputy Commander, 3rd Combined Arms Army, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
- 1964–1967Commander, 4th Army, Transcaucasian Military District
- 1967–1976Commander, Belorussian Military District
- 1976–1984Commander, Far Eastern Military District
- 1984–1986Commander-in-Chief, Far East High Command
- 1986–1987Deputy Minister of Defence & Chief Inspector, USSR Ministry of Defence
- 1987–1991Deputy Minister of Defence & Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Air Defence Forces