The airborne commander who held the coup's key and handed it to Yeltsin
'With a single airborne regiment I could restore order in two hours': Grachev's boast on the eve of the First Chechen War proved the prelude to disaster.
Pavel Grachev was an airborne general who earned the Hero of the Soviet Union title in Afghanistan for achieving objectives with minimal losses, rising to command all Soviet Airborne Forces in December 1990. On the first day of the August 1991 coup he obeyed Defence Minister Yazov's order and brought the 106th Guards Airborne Division into Moscow, but the next day he opposed the planned storming of the White House, switched his allegiance to Yeltsin, and sent troops to defend the parliament: the pivot that broke the coup's military spine. After the Soviet collapse he became Russia's first defence minister, backed Yeltsin during the 1993 constitutional crisis, and presided over the disastrous First Chechen War, leaving office in 1996 amid corruption allegations and the derisive nickname 'Pasha-Mercedes.'
Career Timeline
- 1965–1969Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School (gold medal)
- 1981–1983, 1985–1988Afghanistan: 345th Regt → 103rd Guards Airborne Div
- 1988Awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
- 1990.12–1991.08Commander, Soviet Airborne Forces
- 1991.08–1992First Deputy Minister of Defence, USSR
- 1992.05–1996.06Minister of Defence, Russian Federation
- 1997–2007Military adviser, Rosvooruzhenie / Rosoboronexport
Related historical events
- 1991The Novo-Ogaryovo Process and the New Union TreatyThe airborne commander who held back the assaultAs airborne forces commander, moved troops into Moscow on Yazov's order on 18 August, but effectively refused to execute the White House assault on the night of 20 August, and had his deputy Lebed secretly warn Yeltsin's side of the attack time.
- 1991The August Coup and the Collapse of the USSRAirborne commander who played both sidesAs airborne forces commander he cooperated with the GKChP while secretly informing the White House defenders, via Lebed, that the assault was planned for 2am on 21 August.