Anatoly Pozdnyakov

Anatoly Pozdnyakov
Died 17 September 2001
Chechnya, Russia
Allegiance Russia
Rank General

Anatoly Pozdnyakov (died 17 September 2001) was a Russian general, alternatively identified as a Lieutenant General[1][2] and Major General,[3][4][5][6] and aide to Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin.

Death

Pozdnyakov was killed on 17 September 2001 when a surface-to-air-missile downed his Mil Mi-8 helicopter in Chechnya (see 2001 Grozny Mi-8 crash).[1] Official reports concluded that the attack on the helicopter was orchestrated by members of a Chechen terrorist group specialized in targeting high-ranking Russian military personnel.[5]

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya, however, claimed that Pozdnyakov was assassinated by members of the Russian military.[6] Pozdnyakov headed a General Staff "inspection team"[4] and, according to Politkovskaya, communicated to her in an interview shortly before his death[7] that he had been tasked by President Vladimir Putin to investigate and report on "military crimes".[2]

In A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya, Politkovskaya wrote:

This is one of Chechnya's main problems. It's not the militants' craftiness or armaments or the foreign origins of their weapons, but the betrayal by its own "defenders." Those who want the war to go on are capable of anything. For example, the total blockade of Grozny that on September 17, 2001, created all the necessary conditions for antiaircraft rocket shooting at certain generals. Shooting without witnesses.

— Anna Politkovskaya, A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya, p. 65

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Tyler, Patrick E (28 January 2002). "Russian Officers Are Killed in Helicopter Crash in Chechnya". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  2. 1 2 Politkovskaya, Anna (2003). A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya. Translated by Alexander Burry and Tatiana Tulchinsky. University of Chicago Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-226-67432-2. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Robbins, James S (1 May 2002). "What Are We Doing in Georgia?". National Review. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  4. 1 2 Cockburn, Patrick (18 September 2001). "Chechen rebels kill generals in helicopter attack". The Independent. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Chechen gang targeting generals eliminated". Gazeta.ru. 12 March 2003. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  6. 1 2 Politkovskaya, Anna (5 February 2002). "The corrosive evil of the Chechen conflict". Amina.com. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  7. ↑ Hearst, David (16 March 2002). "Russia's whistle blower". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2009.



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