Vladimir Kvachkov

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Kvachkov on the cover of his book Dangerous by his Loyalty to Russia, 2006

Vladimir Vasilievich Kvachkov (Russian: Владимир Васильевич Квачков; born 5 August 1948) is a colonel of Russian Military Intelligence service GRU, author and politician. He get prominence after he was arrested and charged with an attempt to murder Russian politician and businessman Anatoly Chubais. After three years of imprisonment he was acquitted by the court on 5 June 2008 ^[1].

[edit] Biography

Kvachkov was born to a family of a military officer in the urban-type settlement of Kraskino in Khasansky district, Primorsky Krai, Russia. he spent his childhood in the town of Ussuriysk there his father was transferred soon afterwards^[2]^[3].

He graduated a Suvorov Military School in 1966 and a Higher Military School in Kiev in 1970^[2]^[3]. Kvachkov started his military service as a commander of a Spetsnaz platoon stationed in Pskov. Later he served in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and Transbaikal Military District^[2].

In 1978-1981 Kvachkov studied at the Frunze_Military_Academy that he graduated with distinctions^[2]. He studied with the same group as Pavel Popovskikh, a military officer later charged and acquitted by court with the contract killing of journalist Dmitry Kholodov^[4].

In 1981 Kvachkov served in Leningrad Military District. In 1983 he was transferred to Afghanistan to lead a brigade of Spetznaz GRU during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The same year he was shell-shocked and had to undergo long medical treatment^[4].

In 1984-1986 Kvachkov served in Pskov, in 1986-1989 he was the Chief of the Staff of a brigade in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. In 1989 he becam the commander of the 15th GRU Spetznaz brigade located in the Turkestan Military District (since 1992 in Uzbekistan). He took part in military conflicts in Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh War, 1990) and in Tajikistan (Civil war in Tajikistan, 1992)^[4]^[2].

In the beginning of 1990ies Kvachkov was a military consultant of the movie Black Shark devoted to Black Shark helicopter pilots and Spetznaz GRU. In the movie he also played a second plane role of a Spetznaz Colonel^[4]^[2].

In 1994-1999 Kvachkov worked in GRU. In 1997 Kvachkov and Popovskikh (at that time the Chief of Military Intelligence of the Russian Airborne Troops) organized a scientific conference Special Operations and the Need to create the Special Forces branch of the Russian Army (Специальные операции и необходимость создания сил (войск) специального назначения в Вооруженных Силах Российской Федерации). Kvachkov and Popovskikh advocated making spetznaz a arm of service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The reform they proposed was not accepted^[4].

In 1998 Kvachkov retired from the active military service with a range of a colonel. He started to work as a Senior Researcher (старший научный сотрудник) of the Center for the Miltary Strategic Research ar Russian Ministry for Defense (Центра военно-стратегических исследований Минобороны РФ). He worked on the theory and practice of the modern guerrilla war. The same year he received the Kandidat nauk (equivalent to Ph.D) for his dissertation "Развитие форм боевого применения сил и средств специальной разведки в современных условиях" ('Using forces and methods of special intelligence in the modern time). He also prepared a Doktor nauk dissertation also devoted to special forces^[4].

Rossiyskaya Gazeta asserts that during the 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Kvachkov presented Slobodan Milošević with his plan of an "alternative war". Milošević praised the plan but decided not to escalate the conflict^[3]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta also asserted that Kvachkov was the author of the plan to mine the corridor which Chechen fighters led by Shamil Basayev used to break from the siege of Grozny during the Second Chechen War. He received an order for the plan^[4].

On 19 March 2005 Kvachkov was arrested on charges that he was complicit in the attempt to assassinate the head of the Unified Energy System and politician Anatoly Chubais. The attempt took part to days earlier on 17 March. The armored car carrying Chubais was damaged by a remotely controlled Improvised explosive device. The damaged car was able to continue moving without stopping while the second car carrying Chubais's bodyguards was shot upon. Allegedly the assassins left the scene in the green Saab car registered to Kvachkov. While the first search of Kvachkov's home found nothing of interest the second search found explosives in Kvachkov's home and dacha.^[4].