For almost eighteen years, the struggle for the life of Colonel General Anatoly Aleksandrovich Romanov, seriously wounded in October 1995 near Minutka Square in Grozny, has continued. His opposition to death, which has continued all these years, cannot but arouse respect for Anatoly Alexandrovich. On September 27, 2013, General Romanov will turn 65 years old. As usual, he will meet this day in a special ward of a military hospital.
Fatal October
The fate of General Romanov is mercilessly cut by the drama into two parts of different sizes. In one of them, he is still full of a bright, strong, courageous life, which, as it seems to everyone, is just entering the time of true blossoming. Forty-seven years old. Peasant son, who had just become commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. A husband and father who found simple human happiness in his close-knit family.
In another part of life that lasts almost eighteen for long years, is a seriously wounded man with life still smoldering in him, like a candle flame. Hospital ward and white coats of doctors. An undefeated general whose consciousness has not yet returned from the war...
Since the spring of 1995, he was captured by many journalistic television cameras and cameras, when, after the dramatic assault on the Chechen capital and the displacement of militants into the mountains Russian authorities began to strengthen the peaceful order of life in the cities and villages of Chechnya. Often Romanov, without security, fearlessly entered villages where militants were still hiding. I talked with representatives of rural authorities and clergy, with residents for whom future world was not an abstract concept, but meant the return of normal life: with the aroma fresh bread, a sense of security, pensions for the elderly and education for children.
In Chechnya, which until recently lived in separatist dreams, these very things suddenly turned out to be the most scarce. It often happened that after a conversation with Romanov, the residents themselves drove out the remaining militants from the villages, and the flags of Ichkeria hanging on administrative buildings were quickly replaced by the tricolor flags of the Russian state.
In the summer of 1995, Romanov was confirmed as commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and appointed commander of the United Group of Federal Forces on the territory of the Chechen Republic. A participant in the negotiation process with the leaders of illegal armed groups, he was responsible for the development and implementation of the so-called military block of issues.
Romanov’s natural diplomatic talent, his ability to translate the most furious disputes into constructive dialogue and transform former enemies into new like-minded people through the mere power of charm made his participation in the peacemaking process unique in its own way.
But most importantly, ordinary Chechens began to trust Romanov. The further - the more. And in this sense, for the ideologists of the rebellion and Chechen separatism, as well as for those who were hiding behind them in those days, General Romanov remained a deadly figure.
This world went downhill on October 6, 1995, on the day when General Romanov, who left Khankala for Grozny to meet with Ruslan Khasbulatov, was seriously wounded. A high-explosive charge, equivalent to 30 kilograms of TNT, was remotely detonated at about 13:00, when part of the column of internal troops, including Romanov’s UAZ and several escort armored personnel carriers, had already been pulled into the tunnel near Minutka Square in Grozny.
Of those who were in Romanov's UAZ, the assistant commander, Colonel Alexander Zaslavsky, and the driver, Private Vitaly Matviychenko, immediately died. A little later, a soldier from the special forces detachment “Rus” of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, private Denis Yabrikov, who was guarding the general that day, would die from his wounds. Another two dozen people were wounded and shell-shocked.
Immediately after the explosion, the tunnel was filled with smoke. It was not immediately possible to find Romanov among the human bodies scattered by the explosion. He was identified by his belt with a general's buckle and a gold wedding ring on the right hand...
Rescue Relay
The fight for the life of General Romanov has already become worthy detailed story about the courage, patience and professional skill of those people who saved the wounded Romanov, who have been treating him all these years.
In Moscow, the first to learn about Romanov’s injury was the Minister of Internal Affairs, General Anatoly Kulikov. For him, Romanov was not only a military leader, who had recently replaced Kulikov himself as commander of the internal troops and commander of the United Group, but also a close friend.
The minister had just returned from Chechnya the day before, and on the morning of October 6 he managed to talk with Romanov on the phone, accepting his morning report.
The helicopter flight commander (who is also the commander of the Mi-8 helicopter crew), Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Karamyshev (lives in Khabarovsk), was not supposed to fly anywhere that day: it was his birthday, free from combat work. But war is war. According to its laws, the crew - in addition to the commander, included captain Andrei Zhezlov (lives in Kostroma) and on-board technician, senior lieutenant Alexander Gorodov (lives in Chita) - still had to fly to the Severny airfield. They had already requested permission for a return flight, when the command came to drop into “the meadow” - that was the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs helipad in Khankala. They explained: “There are eighteen “three hundred” (seriously wounded) there.
There were indeed wounded. On a stretcher. Everything is covered in blood and torn camouflage. The duty officer at the aviation command post, silently smoking a cigarette and not really explaining anything, finally made a strange reservation: they say, now the commander will fly with you.
The pilot knew the commander of the United Group Romanov well. He respected him for not acting like a master in front of his subordinates. For intelligence. For the fact that forty-seven-year-old Romanov could spin the sun on the horizontal bar, wearing a heavy soldier’s body armor for the load.
He expected to see a fit, tall general with his assistants now, wondering to himself at the suppressed nervousness of the people around him. He did not immediately realize that Romanov himself was wounded, who, along with other victims, should have been immediately evacuated to the Vladikavkaz military hospital.
Concentrating, Karamyshev figured that the most shortcut, which takes 17 minutes of flight, is the road through Bamut, which is shelling helicopters. A guaranteed safe route would have taken them almost twice as long.
We were in a hurry. We passed Grozny. The G8 was moving ten meters above the ground at a speed of 315-320 kilometers per hour, significantly exceeding the permitted speed. So they jumped out into an open field. Out of the corner of his eye, Karamyshev saw someone’s blurry silhouette suddenly rise from the arable land and soar upward like a candle. I managed to make a maneuver and almost jumped over the eagle flying to intercept it, like an anti-aircraft missile. A powerful blow shook the fuselage. The bird crashed into the taxi headlight with all its might, turning it around and spattering the bottom of the helicopter with eagle blood. This was discovered later, surprised at their own luck: if there had been a frontal impact or a bird hitting the engine, the helicopter could simply have crashed.
Near Bamut, 152-mm self-propelled artillery units fired with all their remarkable force. There was a planned shelling in the squares, and the “eight” had to scour between the plumes of explosions so as not to fall under a flying shell or its fragments.
Karamyshev landed at the airfield on the move. I also looked at my watch - we got there in exactly a quarter of an hour. The wounded were handed over to local doctors. And all they could do was shake their heads: “Another ten minutes, and there would be no need to rush...”
Lieutenant Colonel Karamyshev, who was flying the helicopter, could not know what was happening in flight behind him, in the landing compartment of the helicopter. The medical team on board formed spontaneously even at the moment of loading the wounded.
Lieutenant of the medical service Dmitry Davydov, who had just graduated from the military medical faculty, boarded a helicopter to accompany the wounded soldiers of the Rus special forces detachment, whose chief of medicine he was on this first trip to the war. Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Evgeniy Kirichenko and nurse Warrant Officer Irina Burmistrova volunteered to board the helicopter.
Among the wounded, Davydov immediately recognized Denis Yabrikov. He was on Romanov’s bodyguard and together with him ended up at the epicenter of the explosion. Denis was still alive, his face was bandaged, but to Davydov’s question “How are you?” He moved his lips quite cheerfully: “Fine.” (Denis Yabrikov will die later, already in the Vladikavkaz garrison hospital, from wounds incompatible with life.)
The condition of two more wounded - a soldier in a gray police uniform and an officer in camouflage - seemed equally serious, if not worse. The officer’s blood pressure was generally “zero.” Only after handing over the wounded alive to the local doctors did they hear from the helicopter crew who had just been delivered to Vladikavkaz and who was wearing an officer’s camouflage torn by the explosion and bloody...
The decision to send the Scalpel military hospital aircraft to Vladikavkaz was made almost instantly. The chief anesthesiologist of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N.N. Burdenko, Honored Doctor of Russia, Colonel of the Medical Service Mikhail Rudenko received after returning from another operation.
He was called by the head of the hospital, Major General Vyacheslav Klyuzhev. Rudenko just asked Klyuzhev how many minutes he had left...
“Twenty,” answered the head of the hospital, and Rudenko sighed with relief in response: his suitcases with necessary equipment, medicines and materials that could be useful in any situation complicated by circumstances were always collected ahead of time.
Soon the entire team of military doctors at the Military Hospital named after. N.N. Burdenko, consisting of Mikhail Ivanovich Rudenko, Sergei Nilovich Alekseev, Grigory Borisovich Tsekhanovsky, Vladimir Borisovich Gorbulenko and Igor Borisovich Maximov, hastily loaded into the car, was already heading towards the Chkalov airfield near Moscow.
Upon arrival in Vladikavkaz, it turned out that Romanov had very severe intra-abdominal bleeding caused by a ruptured liver. Having quickly changed clothes, Rudenko went to the operating room...
We must pay tribute medical personnel Vladikavkaz garrison hospital, headed by Colonel Rudolf Nikolaevich An. Everything possible was done there to save the wounded. But the nature of Romanov’s injuries and his condition required the immediate evacuation of the wounded man to Moscow.
General Romanov ended up in the intensive care unit of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Burdenko.
In principle, he was killed,” Major General Vyacheslav Klyuzhev would later say about Anatoly Romanov.
However, he will immediately add: “He would have been killed if, from the first minute of his rescue, he had not found himself in the hands of professionals of the highest class...”
The fight continues
Despite the severity of the wound, this eighteen-year struggle for the general’s life does not stop to this day - for doctors, for his wife Larisa and daughter Victoria, for close comrades.
It is possible that Romanov would not have lived a day without Larisa Romanova, his wife, next to him. Love is not called a feat while it lives for pleasure, but any feat becomes possible if it is driven by true love.
For the last four years, General Anatoly Romanov has been in the Central Hospital of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, located in Balashikha near Moscow. Nurses from the internal troops are next to him around the clock. Over the years, many of them have changed, but each of them has invested a considerable share of work, supporting the life of the wounded general in efforts that lasted day and night.
After the reconstruction of the hospital here, through the care of the current Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Army General Nikolai Rogozhkin, a special block for Romanov was equipped in one of the buildings. He often sits in his wheelchair near the window opening, and it is difficult to tell what is in his soul.
Shortly before his injury, General Romanov, without any pathos, told his colleagues: “Each of us is ready to carry out a combat mission, even if it costs him his life. Nobody wants to die, but if necessary...” he fell silent without finishing his sentence.
The important thing is not that at that moment he did not yet know his fate. The important thing is that together we were ready to go to the end. And, having set off on the journey with Romanov, we never regretted it.
It was Anatoly Romanov, back in 1995, who was one of the first to begin the negotiation process on the disarmament of illegal gangs in Chechnya. Then the general took a big risk. And this risk almost cost him his life. For 23 years after the assassination attempt, Romanov has been chained to wheelchair. The First Deputy Director of the Russian Guard conveyed congratulations from the President of Russia to the Colonel General.
A symbol of endless courage and perseverance. Hero of Russia, Colonel General Anatoly Romanov. Today his family, friends and comrades congratulate him. For 23 years after the tragedy, his wife Larisa Romanova has not left his side for a minute. Dozens of operations, a complex rehabilitation course - always nearby. They learned to understand each other again. They communicate with their eyes. They say about them: one feat for two.
“When innocent people die before your eyes, you yourself sometimes don’t know what qualities are hidden in you, in your character and in your behavior. What he saw hurt him, he worried about every soldier, for everyone,” says Larisa Romanova.
In October 1995, General Romanov's car was blown up in Grozny on Minutka Square. Severe traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, concussion. There was almost no chance of survival.
“He knew that once he swore allegiance to his Fatherland, he would be faithful to it to the end, he was moving towards this; he immediately said that he would be a general while still a cadet. Loving husband“, a wonderful father, well, now he’s already a grandfather, my beloved,” the Hero’s wife continues.
A brilliant career. From platoon commander to commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Goroy stood for his soldiers, who called him a soldier's general. For humanity.
“He, being a commander, received one of the last samples of body armor. Determining the task for one of the special forces detachments to carry out a combat operation, having seen the bulletproof vest on the commander of the special forces detachment that was less comfortable, less convenient, less protecting him, he took off his bulletproof vest and gave it to the officer who was supposed to go to the front line,” recalls Larisa Romanova.
Not indifferent to other people's grief. Anatoly Romanov always appeared where his help was needed. During the Chechen campaign he was away from home for months. All special operations that were carried out under his command were planned with special care. It was in Chechnya that Romanov’s diplomatic talent was revealed. Conducted negotiations with the leaders of gangs. They said about him: he could take cities without a fight.
Today Anatoly Romanov continues his rehabilitation course. Every year in his honor the Russian National Guard holds a combat sambo tournament. A book is about to be published - the story of his life. On the eve of the anniversary in Saratov, at the military school, where Anatoly Alexandrovich was first one of the best cadets and then officers, a monument was unveiled. The Hero of Russia is called the Undefeated here.
In a military hospital, it is expensive for the budget. A journalist spoke about this in the “Let Them Talk” program on Channel One.
The journalist’s words were confirmed by the general’s wife Larisa Romanova. The woman also reported the transfer of the general from the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N. N. Burdenko to the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Internal Troops in Balashikha near Moscow.
This occurred after 13 years of treatment, but the reasons for the sudden transfer were not reported.
On September 27, the Colonel General turned 70 years old. The broadcast of the “Let Them Talk” program was dedicated to this event, where colleagues of Anatoly Romanov and his wife came. On the general's birthday, events were held throughout the country. holiday events and promotions dedicated to his anniversary. Biographical films and videos were shown on central channels, and in Chelyabinsk there was even a festive flash mob in his honor - employees of the Russian Guard walked through central street South Ural capital, accompanied by a military band.
“We visited the hospital where General Romanov is undergoing rehabilitation and personally congratulated him. We wished you good health. For us, General Romanov is an example of incredible courage and selfless service to the Motherland. We will always focus on him,” said the first deputy director Federal service troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, Colonel General.
As a congratulatory gift, the command of the Russian Guard also presented a book dedicated to Colonel General Anatoly Romanov.
A book called “The Standard Bearer” was written by Andrei Edokov - it is based on the memoirs of Romanov’s colleagues. According to them, the general became one of the most prominent participants in the peacekeeping process in Chechnya in the summer and autumn of 1995.
In addition, the command of the Russian Guard promised to give Romanov one of the most advanced wheelchairs with insurance.
The website of the Russian Guard also reports that Romanov was also congratulated by Russian President Vladimir.
“You always coped with the assigned tasks with honor, in the most difficult, emergency situations - you demonstrated a strong, strong-willed character, and a readiness to help. Your heroic biography is a bright page in the military chronicle of Russia,” he wrote in congratulatory letter Putin.
On July 19, 1995, Romanov was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia - commander of the United Group of Federal Forces in Chechnya. On October 6 of the same year, an attempt was made on his life: a radio-controlled land mine was placed under his car, as a result of which the car was blown to pieces. Everyone in the car with the general died.
Nobody even believed that Romanov would survive after this - the wounded general was identified only thanks to his unique sword belt. During the explosion, the serviceman suffered a fracture of the base of his skull and fell into a coma for 18 days. A month after the assassination attempt, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia and the rank of colonel general.
Romanov was cared for for 13 years by doctors at the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital. To treat it, even such radical and innovative methods as the use of stem cells were undertaken, but this did not produce much results. According to the general’s wife, Anatoly understands everything, expresses his emotions, but cannot speak and communicates with the help of his hands and eye movements.
“We usually walk with him every day. And then the weather turned bad, I came to him, and he sat scowling, upset by the cold weather, and didn’t want me to take him outside,” says his wife Larisa.
According to her, Romanov still lives with many fragments in his body, since it is impossible to find out where exactly they are located - he cannot be scheduled for a tomography.
Despite the fact that she has not left her husband’s bedside for so many years, Larisa Romanova admitted that she does not consider this heroism.
“What would you do if this happened to your loved one? Would you really quit? We lived together for 47 years,” says the woman.
Anatoly Alexandrovich Romanov – Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Russian Federation– Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General.
Born on September 27, 1948 in the village of Mikhailovka, now the Ermolkinsky village council of the Belebeevsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, into a peasant family. Russian. Graduated from junior high school in native village, and in 1966 - 11 grades high school in the city of Belebey. Since 1966 he worked as a milling machine operator at the plant.
He was drafted into the Armed Forces of the USSR on October 29, 1967 by the Kirov regional military registration and enlistment office of the city of Ufa. Conscript service served in the 95th Division of Internal Troops for the protection of important government facilities and special cargo in the positions of: shooter, cadet, squad leader, deputy platoon commander, platoon commander. In 1969, senior sergeant A.A. Romanov, instead of being transferred to the reserve, wrote a report on sending him to a military school.
In 1972, he graduated with honors from the Saratov Military Command Red Banner School of Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky (since 1973 - higher). As the best graduate, he was retained at the same school, where he served as a course officer, assistant to the head of the educational department, teacher of the fire training department, and commander of a battalion of cadets.
In 1982 he graduated from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. Again he commanded a battalion at the Saratov school. Since 1984 - deputy commander, and since 1985 - commander of the 546th regiment of internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Sverdlovsk region, carrying out the task of protecting one of the strategic defense enterprises. Since 1988 - Chief of Staff of the 95th Division for the protection of important state facilities and special cargo of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (city of Zhukovsky, Moscow region).
In 1991 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff Armed Forces THE USSR. Since 1992 - commander of the 96th division of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Yekaterinburg). Since the beginning of 1993, he has been the head of the Special Units of the Internal Troops for the protection of important government facilities and special cargo of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since mid-1993 - Deputy Commander of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs - Head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
A.A. Romanov - a participant in the bloody events in September - October 1993 in Moscow, during the confrontation between the President of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, dissolved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1400 of September 21, 1993, acted on the presidential side. He repeatedly went on business trips to the North Caucasus.
Since June 1995 - Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. At the same time, he was appointed commander of the United Group of Federal Forces in the Chechen Republic. An active participant in the operation to restore constitutional order in the Chechen Republic, also known as the first Chechen war.
He could combine military precision with intelligence. Thanks to such qualities of character, the main result of his service in rebellious Chechnya was consistent movement towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict. It was during his tenure as commander that a schedule for the disarmament of the most “irreconcilable” Chechen illegal armed groups was agreed upon, and an active process of accepting weapons from the population and restoring local authorities authorities. Taking a direct part in the work of the special monitoring commission for the peaceful resolution of the crisis in Chechnya, he carried out titanic work to stop hostilities and bloodshed. Often, after a series of serious provocations on the part of the militants, only his restraint allowed him not to slide into a new round of armed confrontation.
On October 6, 1995, he was seriously wounded in a tunnel near Minutka Square in Grozny as a result of a clearly planned terrorist attack- detonation of a radio-controlled landmine.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 5, 1995, for courage and heroism shown during the performance of a special task, Lieutenant General Romanov Anatoly Alexandrovich awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with a special distinction - the Gold Star medal.
On December 28, 1995, Colonel General A.A. Romanov was relieved of his post as commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Since the time of his injury, he has been undergoing treatment: in 1995-2009 - in the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N.N. Burdenko of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, since 2009 - in the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (the city of Balashikha).
Colonel General A.A. Romanov is alive, and so is his work. His students and comrades serve in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, new generations of soldiers and officers are coming, for whom the fate of A.A. Romanov is still an example of a real military service and high human dignity.
Colonel General (07.11.1995). He was awarded the orders “For Military Merit” (December 31, 1994, No. 1), “For Personal Courage” (10/07/1993, No. 2039), the Red Star (02/19/1988, No. 3789284), and medals.
Laureate of the Russian National Olympus award (2002).
Honorary citizen of the city of Saratov (10/28/1997).