Today, General Viktor Bondarev is the commander-in-chief of the Russian aerospace forces. It is difficult to overestimate the merits of this man, who repeatedly risked his life to defend his homeland. His exploits are evidenced by many awards and medals received from the hands of the president himself. And yet, what do we know about the life of Viktor Bondarev? How did he become a military man? In what battles did the aviator participate? And who is he today?
Victor Bondarev: early years and education
Victor was born on December 7, 1959. This happened in the small village of Novobogoroditsky, in the Petropavlovsk district, Voronezh region. From a young age, he dreamed of conquering the sky and did not see himself as anything other than a pilot.
That is why Viktor Bondarev immediately after graduating from school went to the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. In 1981, he successfully completed his studies, after which he went to serve at the Barnaul Higher Aviation School. Here he worked as an instructor pilot until 1989.
In 1989, he began taking courses at the Air Force Academy. Gagarin. Thanks to this training, in 1992, Viktor Bondarev became a squadron commander, as well as a part-time senior navigator at the Borisoglebsk Flight Training Center. In the period from 2002 to 2004, the great pilot was studying at the academy at the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Military career
From 1996 to 2000, Viktor Bondarev commanded the 889th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment in the 105th Mixed Aviation Division of the 16th Air Defense and Air Force Army. At that time, part of them was located near Buturlinovka, in the Voronezh region. In 2000, he was promoted to deputy commander, and in 2004 he became commander in the same aviation division.
In 2006, Viktor Bondarev became deputy commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army in Novosibirsk. And two years later he was appointed to the post of commander of this formation. In 2009, Bondarev became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force. In June 2011, he will be promoted to the position of Chief of the General Staff and 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. On May 6, 2012, Viktor Bondarev becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force.
Participation in military operations
In the past, Bondarev was a participant in hostilities in the North Caucasus. If we consider the First Chechen War, then during its period the aviator flew about 100 combat missions. But during the Second, this number more than tripled.
In particular, in December 1994, near the village of Shatoy, the Dudayevites shot down a Russian plane. Under a hail of bullets, the pilot was still able to eject, but found himself surrounded by the enemy. Having learned about this, Viktor Bondarev decided on a heroic act: he independently disabled the anti-aircraft installations of the Dudayevites and covered the position of his fighter until a rescue helicopter arrived for him. For his heroism and courage, the President of Russia awarded Viktor Bondarev the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
Great aviator today
Despite his age, Bondarev still skillfully pilots planes. In particular, it was he who drove the TU-160 at the military parade in honor of May 9 in 2015.
And already in August 2015, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to the great aviator, this position became one of the greatest victories of his life. And in March 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Bondarev another incredible gift. The head of state handed over to the great aviator the Battle Banner of his troops, which symbolizes the country's deep trust and respect for the merits of Viktor Bondarev.
Since November 2017, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Viktor Bondarev, was dismissed from his post and left the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces. By decision of the President of the Russian Federation, he will take the position of senator and will represent the interests of the Kirov region in the Federation Council.
Biography
Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev born in 1959. Its homeland is the village of Novobogoroditskoye, located near Voronezh. In 1977, he graduated from the village high school. He spent his entire childhood listening to the sounds of airplanes flying overhead. He could no longer think of any other profession. The future head of the Aerospace Forces Bondarev had a burning desire to become a pilot and after graduating from school he dreamed only of a flight school.
From 1977 to 1981, he was a cadet at the Borisoglebsk Flight School named after Chkalov. From the first year he already began to fly an airplane and continued his studies with good results.
In 1981, he served on assignment in Barnaul at the Higher Military Aviation School, where he served until 1989 and served as a flight commander. He was involved in instructor work and does not regret it at all. He treated his work with interest. The future commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) Viktor Bondarev knows perfectly well how to train a pilot so that he becomes a good specialist.
In 1989, he was sent to study at the Gagarin Flight Academy and became a graduate in 1992. Since 1992, he continued to serve as part of the Borisoglebsk training center, where pilots were trained. He became a mentor at the educational institution where he himself learned to fly. He served in this position until 1996.
From 1996 to 2000, he led the 899th flight regiment, 105th flight division, located near Voronezh.
As commander in chief
Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev became Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force in 2012. Thanks to his work, the flight fleet was updated and the flight crew was trained. The aviation fleet has been updated with new helicopters and planes, which have shown themselves to be very good in Syria. Each new combat vehicle was refined and improved. Work began to repair old airfields. Airfields that were 40-50 years old received a new life.
After the creation of the Aerospace Forces, the work became even more complicated, air defense systems and space units were added. Managing this entire structure was no easy task. It was necessary to organize the work so that the combined troops could carry out combat missions. Sometimes this was not easy to do. But with the task set, the new united structure under the leadership of V.N. Bondarev. managed.
Find out: Insignia in the Russian Army and their classification
The Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces Bondarev planned to introduce flight practice starting from the 1st year of flight school, just as it was in Soviet times. Now only second-year students are allowed to fly, which, according to Bondarev, is not correct. Before being allowed to fly, the medical examination must be completed immediately, so that the cadet, if he fails to pass it, has a chance to enroll in a civilian university. Now it takes 2 years before a cadet receives final clearance to fly, but no one will give him back 2 years.
During the two years of management of the VKS Group of Companies by Bondarev, a lot of work was done to introduce new weapons. The VKS has successfully mastered new types of space reconnaissance. The latest developments were used in the Syrian company. As a result, the Russian army was replenished with new generation combat vehicles.
Why did the dismissal happen?
During his work in this post, he did a lot, but why did Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev, the commander of the Aerospace Forces, be dismissed from the ranks of the RF Armed Forces? The reason could be the tragedy that occurred in 2016, in which 92 people died. The plane on which the ensemble of Alexandrov and Doctor Lisa flew belonged to the Ministry of Defense. The investigation was not carried out at the level expected by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation. For this reason, the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces resigned.
The Commander-in-Chief in charge of the aerospace forces of the Aerospace Forces, Viktor Bondarev, has recently represented the Kirov region in the Federation Council. According to the senator, his years of military service gave him an understanding of the issues facing industrial enterprises; he understands why plant managers are puzzled and what problems need to be solved. But he was able to occupy such a post in the region due to the fact that he is a former military man with a high rank. According to the law of residence, you must live in the region for at least 5 years, but it does not apply to the former commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces.
Find out: Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin
Now Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev is in excellent physical shape, he is still able to fly an airplane. In 2015, during the victory parade in Moscow, he was the pilot of a Tu-160 that soared over Red Square.
Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev was born on December 7, 1959 in the village. Novobogoroditsky, Voronezh region.
In 1981 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots (BVVAUL, now the Borisoglebsk Aviation Training Center for Flight Training named after V.P. Chkalov, Borisoglebsk, Voronezh Region), in 1992 - the command faculty of the Air Force Academy named after Yu. A. Gagarin (Monino, Moscow region), in 2004 - Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In 1981-1989 - pilot instructor, flight commander at the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation School named after. Air Chief Marshal K. A. Vershinin.
In the 1980s, as part of a limited contingent of a group of Soviet troops, he took part in military operations in Afghanistan.
After returning from Afghanistan - senior navigator, squadron commander at BVVAUL, deputy commander of the assault aviation regiment.
From September 1996 to October 2000 - commander of the 899th Guards Assault Aviation Orsha twice Red Banner, Order of Suvorov III class. shelf named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky (Buturlinovka, Voronezh region).
In 2000-2002 - deputy commander, since 2004 - commander of the 105th mixed aviation division of the 16th Air Force and Air Defense Army (Voronezh).
In 2006 he became deputy commander, and since June 2008 - commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army (Novosibirsk).
In 2009, he was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.
From July 2011 to May 6, 2012 - Chief of the General Staff - First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.
On May 6, 2012, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force (replacing Colonel General Alexander Zelin in this post). On August 1, 2015, an order was signed appointing Viktor Bondarev as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces.
On September 19, 2017, the head of the Kirov region. Igor Vasiliev signed a decree vesting Colonel General Viktor Bondarev with the powers of a member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, a representative of the regional executive branch. In the Federation Council, Bondarev replaced the former representative of the region Oleg Kazakovtsev.
Honored military pilot, sniper pilot, has a total flight time of more than 3 thousand hours. He mastered several types of aviation equipment, including the Aero L-29 Delfin training aircraft, the MiG-21 fighter, the Su-25 attack aircraft and its modifications. Participated in the counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus region (flew about 400 combat missions).
Hero of the Russian Federation (2000, “for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty during the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus”). Also awarded the Order of Courage, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” III degree, medals.0SVK/SAU.
Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev(born December 7, 1959, village of Novobogoroditskoye, Voronezh region, RSFSR, USSR) - Russian military leader, Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation since August 1, 2015, Colonel General (2014). Hero of the Russian Federation (2000).
Biography
Born on December 7, 1959 in the village of Novobogoroditskoye, Petropavlovsk district, Voronezh region, RSFSR, USSR.
In 1981 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School named after V.P. Chkalov. Instructor pilot, flight commander at the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after Chief Marshal of Aviation K. A. Vershinin (1981-1989).
From 1989 to 1992 - student at the Yu. A. Gagarin Air Force Academy. After graduating from the academy, senior navigator, squadron commander at the Borisoglebsk flight training center named after V.P. Chkalov, then squadron commander, deputy commander of the assault aviation regiment. From September 1996 to October 2000 - commander of the 899th Guards Assault Aviation Orsha, twice Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Regiment named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky (Buturlinovka, Voronezh region).
From 2000 to 2002 - deputy commander, and from 2004 to 2006 - commander of the 105th mixed aviation division of the 16th Air Army (Voronezh).
On April 21, 2000, “for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty in conditions involving risk to life,” he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
From 2002 to 2004 he studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Since May 2006 - Deputy Commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army (Novosibirsk).
Since August 2009 - Commander of the 2nd Air Force and Air Defense Command.
Since August 2010 - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.
From July 2011 to May 6, 2012 - Chief of the General Staff - 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.
During the aviation part of the parade on Red Square on May 9, 2015, he piloted a Tu-160 aircraft.
In May 2016, I personally checked the reconstructed runway at the Privolzhsky military airfield. Performed a series of aerobatic maneuvers on a MiG-29 fighter: afterburner take-off, half-flip, turn, “ear”, “hill”, “barrels”, “bucket”.
On March 17, 2016, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, presented the Battle Banner of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation to the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev.
Participant of the first Chechen (more than 100 combat missions) and second Chechen (more than 300 combat missions) wars.
Since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Syria in September 2015, he has been in charge of the Aviation Group of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria.
Has a total flight time of more than 3 thousand hours. Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation. Cool qualification "pilot-sniper".
Military ranks
- Major General (2005).
- Lieutenant General (August 9, 2012).
- Colonel General (August 11, 2014).
Awards
- Hero of the Russian Federation (April 21, 2000) - for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty during the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus
- Order of Courage
- Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree
- Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree
- Zhukov Medal
- Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow"
- Jubilee medal "70 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Medal "200 years of the Ministry of Defense"
- Medal "For Military Valor" 1st class
- Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" 1st class
- Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" II degree
- Medal "For Impeccable Service" III degree
- Medal "For the Return of Crimea"
- Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation
- Military sniper pilot
The commander of the Russian group in Syria, Colonel General, will soon be appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, reports citing two sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Colonel General Surovikin will take up the duties of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces in October of this year,” the agency writes. The military department clarified that this information has already been communicated to the leadership of the Aerospace Forces.
Rumors that the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, will soon leave his post have been circulating in the media for a long time. Under this military leader, the flight accident rate in domestic military aviation has sharply increased, sources among military personnel told Gazeta.Ru. According to the publication's interlocutors,
the number of plane crashes in other years simply went off scale, which gave Russian military aviators the basis to call the most “bloody” commander-in-chief in recent years.
Previously, some publications considered possible candidates to be proposed for the vacant position of commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces. Among them were the chairman of the scientific and technical council, Lieutenant General Igor, and the commander of the Space Forces, Colonel General Alexander Golovko.
Colonel General Surovikin was considered the least possible candidate to fill the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces. At the same time, the main obstacle to the general’s promotion to this high post was supposedly his combined-arms origin.
However, Gazeta.Ru’s sources, who are well acquainted with the situation, assessed Lieutenant General Makushev’s chances of being appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces as practically zero. For all his considerable positive merits, Makushev frankly does not qualify for this high position. This military leader simply does not have the necessary leadership qualities, say experts who are well acquainted with the general.
Inconvenient candidate
A significant part of the generals and officers of the Aerospace Forces took a breath with great relief when they learned that the appointment of a colonel general would not take place. And the officers and generals of the Aerospace Forces have every reason to judge this way.
In particular, in 2001, representatives of the Space Forces headed the Aerospace Defense Forces. Never before had they had anything to do with these troops and did not understand them deeply.
This branch of the military was completely unfamiliar and alien to them. Therefore, the decisions of representatives of the Space Forces, when they headed formations unusual for them, were, to put it mildly, controversial.
For example, they diverted the lion's share of financial resources from the accounts of VKO, and Gazeta.Ru talked about this earlier, to create the so-called Hardware and Software Complex for Aerospace Defense (PAK VKO). Outwardly, it looks very impressive - displays, screens, illumination from numerous light bulbs and scoreboards, but from a combat point of view, its effectiveness, if not zero, is in any case doubtful.
Today, the Space Forces include the 15th Army of the Aerospace Special Purpose Forces, consisting of the Main Center for Space Situation Intelligence (GC RKO), the 153rd Main Test Space Center named after G.S. Titov (GICC) in the city of Krasnoznamensk, the 1st State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense in Plesetsk, the Main Missile Attack Warning Center (MC PRN), as well as the 28th Arsenal in Tambov.
All command posts in this branch of the military are occupied by “cosmonauts,” that is, people from the GICC. Specialists of the missile attack warning system and other structural units of the Space Forces, in the best case scenario, in this state of affairs, can only rise to the rank of colonel. All other paths are closed to them. In many ways, a similar picture emerged due to the personal preferences of the leadership of this branch of the military.
So if the “cosmonauts” were at the head of the Aerospace Forces, they would instantly turn the entire budget of the Aerospace Forces in their favor and place their people in all key positions, as is currently the case in the 15th Special Purpose Aerospace Forces Army.
All other types of troops (forces) of the Aerospace Forces would find themselves in the position of poor relatives. And, it must be said frankly, such a picture would be typical for any other specialist general nominated for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, and not only a representative of the Space Forces.
Compromise figure
Some publications have reported that military pilots will perceive the appointment of Colonel General Sergei Surovikin to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces with irritation. However, currently in the Aerospace Forces one can count up to nine branches of troops and seventeen types of support.
Without any exaggeration, today this is a clearly defined interspecific combined arms structure.
As Gazeta.Ru previously said, the components of the Aerospace Forces are very different organisms. The competencies of an individual commander-in-chief (even a native of the military branches of the Aerospace Forces) with extensive service experience and a broad outlook under the existing order of things will in many cases be frankly lacking. The pilot will be little familiar with the organization of air defense and will be completely unfamiliar with the missile and space defense forces. The pilot will also feel awkward, for example, at the Main Test Space Center. A person coming from an air defense background will clearly feel uncomfortable in parts of bomber aviation, and even more so in long-range aviation. And the commander-in-chief of the “cosmonauts” will be completely lost in the issues and problems of aviation and air defense and missile defense troops.
Therefore, the appointment of a combined arms general as the head of such a complex branch of the Armed Forces, such as the Aerospace Forces today, is quite possibly the only possible way out of the current situation.
The strength of combined arms commanders is precisely that they consider all branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces exclusively through the prism of the effective implementation of assigned combat and operational missions. They don't have any personal preferences. They cannot “breathe unevenly”, for example, to artillerymen, motorists, specialists in electronic warfare or radiation, chemical and biological protection - for them everyone is family, everyone is their own, everyone is the same and equally close and are ultimately intended for only one thing - joint efforts achieve success in armed confrontation.
In particular, at one time the country's air defense forces, consisting of fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile and radio technical troops, were for a long time led by combined arms commanders - Marshals Sergei Biryuzov and Pavel Batitsky, Army General Ivan Tretyak. And these were, frankly speaking, the best times for the Air Defense Forces.
In particular, when the Air Defense Forces were headed by Army General Tretyak, he immediately ordered a report to him on how certain types of troops were financed and what their contribution was in solving assigned tasks in peacetime and wartime. And I immediately discovered a lot of distortions and inconsistencies. Then the combined arms commander Tretyak balanced the allocation of the necessary funds,
Moreover, he proceeded not from personal preferences, but exclusively from the interests of the business and the contribution of each structural unit to the overall success.
Tretyak had a neutral attitude towards all branches of the military and straightened out all the excesses and absurdities that were made by his aviator predecessors. He was concerned with only one thing - the unconditional fulfillment of the combat and operational tasks assigned to the branch of the Armed Forces.
Tretyak was very attentive to military science and the development of the Air Defense Forces. After him, the commanders-in-chief of the Air Defense Forces, Air Force or Aerospace Forces, if they remembered science, it was only when the question arose about their personal well-being or the fate of the branch of the Armed Forces.
As for the pilots at the head of the Air Force (VKS), the last strong and authoritative Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force seems to have been Air Chief Marshal Pavel Kutakhov. After him, no figures of equal size appeared in the Air Force (VKS). So aviators should not be offended by the appointment of a combined arms commander. Over the past 25 years, no pilot has emerged as a commander-in-chief comparable in quality and merit to Kutakhov.
Tasks and powers
The new commander-in-chief faces ambitious tasks. By and large, at present the Aerospace Forces are - and Gazeta.Ru talked about this earlier - a hodgepodge that has no signs of a strict system. This semi-finished product, born in an atmosphere of fierce debate and to some extent a compromise between all participants in the discussion, is still very far from perfection and effective combat use for its intended purpose.
To begin with, it is probably necessary to clarify the functions of the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces in peacetime and wartime. Before Sergei Surovikin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces actually controlled only the Long-Range (DA) and Military Transport (VTA) aviation of the Aerospace Forces. The operational formations of the Armed Forces (Army Air Force and Air Defense) were not subordinate to him. If we take into account that, in addition, the DA and the VTA act according to the plans of the General Staff, then here too the capabilities of the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces were very limited. In addition, it controls the launch of spacecraft. Missile attack warning and space control systems operate virtually autonomously. The Commander-in-Chief currently cannot order weapons for a branch of the Armed Forces.
So, to begin with, the new commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces needs to understand his powers, functions and capabilities. Real combat experience will greatly help General Surovikin.
People who have been in war have a completely different attitude to many issues. His age also plays in the general’s favor—General Surovikin is only 50 years old.
According to Gazeta.Ru, the appointment of a new commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces is far from the last in a series of such reshuffles. In the near future, it is quite possible that a new Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces will be appointed. In many ways, such appointments are due to the fact that a significant number of senior officers of the Armed Forces are at an age close to the maximum age for active military service. So a wave of reshuffles and promotions in the branches of the Armed Forces and the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense is simply inevitable.
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