| Sergey Akhromeyev | |
|---|---|
Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey F. Akhromeyev during his visit to the United States in 1988 |
|
| Born | 1923 Vindrey village, Torbeyevsky District, Mordovia, Soviet Union |
| Died | 1991 (aged 68) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union |
| Years of service | 1940-1991 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union |
| Commands held | Soviet General Staff, Far Eastern Military District |
| Battles/wars | World War II Soviet Afghan War |
| Awards | Order of Lenin (4) Order of the October Revolution Order of the Patriotic War Order of the Red Banner (2) Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces Order of Sukhe Bator (Mongolia) |
Sergey Fyodorovich Akhromeyev (Russian: Серге́й Фёдорович Ахроме́ев; May 5, 1923 – August 24, 1991) was a soviet military figure, Hero of the Soviet Union (1982), Marshal of the Soviet Union (1983).
Akhromeyev was a Naval Infantry junior officer during the German-Soviet War, serving with distinction on the Leningrad front. At one point he was ordered to guard and hold a road on which the German Army would be trying to advance. Despite a bloody battle, he was able to accomplish the task. Relating the story during a meal with Secretary of State George Shultz and Ambassador Ken Adelman in Reykjavik during the first Reagan Administration, Akhromeyev told Shultz that his accomplishment was not only a great sign of his patriotism, as Shultz suggested, but also was because had he abandoned the road, Stalin would have had him shot.[1]
In 1984-1988, Akhromeyev was Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces. In that capacity he was heavily involved in the talks which brought an end to the Cold War. However, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with Mikhail Gorbachev's approach to the reforms of the military, and resigned that position.
The cause of his resignation was Gorbachev's insistence on dismantling the newest and most accurate ballistic missile in the Soviet Army — the SS-23 Spider under the tenets of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
In March 1990, he was made Advisor to the President of the USSR on military affairs.
During the August Coup of 1991, Akhromeyev returned from a vacation in Sochi to offer his assistance to the coup leaders. Although he was never implicated in the coup, after its failure Akhromeyev committed suicide[2] in his Kremlin office, hanging himself with a length of curtain cord. In addition to personal messages to his family, he left a note explaining that he could not continue living when the institutions to which he had devoted his life were disintegrating.
Shortly after his death, his grave was vandalized and his corpse stripped of the uniform in which it had been buried. The culprits were never found, and it is uncertain whether it was an act of pure desecration or if the grave-robbers hoped to sell the stolen uniform or its adornments for profit.
Admiral William Crowe, former United States chief of staff and later the ambassador to the United Kingdom knew Marshal Akhromeyev[2] and once called him a communist, a patriot, and a friend in that order.