Sergei akhromeev, marshal of the ussr: biography and photos. “I can’t live when my Fatherland is dying”. The last battle of Marshal Akhromeev Humiliation after death

BUT Khromeev Sergey Fedorovich - First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, General of the Army.

Born on May 5, 1923 in the village of Vindrey, Torbeevsky district (now the Republic of Mordovia). Russian. Member of the CPSU (b) / CPSU since 1943.

In the Red Army since 1940. He graduated from one course of the Higher Naval School named after M.V. Frunze, in 1942 - the Astrakhan Infantry School, in 1945 - the Higher Officers' School of Self-Propelled Artillery of the Armored and Mechanized Forces of the Red Army, in 1952 - the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Forces named after I.V. Stalin, in 1967 - the Military Academy of the General Staff.

During the Great Patriotic War in July - December 1941 S.F. Akhromeev, as part of the joint cadet rifle battalion, took part in the battles for Leningrad.

After graduating from college in the army: from October 1942 to February 1943 he commanded a rifle platoon, then adjutant of a senior rifle battalion, assistant chief of staff of a rifle regiment, adjutant of a senior motorized rifle battalion of a tank brigade, from July 1944 he commanded a battalion of submachine gunners of a self-propelled artillery brigade. He took part in battles against the German fascist invaders on the Leningrad, Stalingrad, Southern and 4th Ukrainian fronts.

At the end of the war, since June 1945, S.F. Akhromeev deputy commander, then commander of a tank battalion. From July 1952 to August 1955 - chief of staff of a self-propelled and mechanized regiments, from September 1955 - commander of a tank regiment. Since December 1957 - deputy commander of a motorized rifle division, then chief of staff of a tank division. From December 1960, commander of a tank division in the Belorussian Military District, from April 1964, commander of a training tank division.

After graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff, from July 1967: Chief of Staff - 1st Deputy Commander of the 8th Tank Army, and from October 1968 - Commander of the 7th Tank Army. Since May 1972, Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Far Eastern Military District. From March 1974 to February 1979 - Chief of the Main Operations Directorate (GOU) - Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Since February 1979 - First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

Z and skillful coordination of troop actions in Afghanistan and a great contribution to the training and increase of the combat readiness of troops in the post-war period by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 7, 1982 to the General of the Army Akhromeev Sergei Fedorovich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

March 25, 1983 S.F. Akhromeev was awarded the title "Marshal of the Soviet Union" (he became the only one in history who became Marshal of the Soviet Union, being the first deputy, not chief of the General Staff).

From September 1984 to December 1988 - Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Since December 1988 - Inspector General of the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense, at the same time since 1989 - Advisor to the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, since March 1990 - Chief Military Advisor to the President of the USSR. Member of the CPSU Central Committee since 1983 (candidate since 1981). Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 11th convocation. People's Deputy of the USSR since 1989.

Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union S.F. committed suicide in his office in the Moscow Kremlin after a failed attempt to remove the President of the USSR from power during the period of activity (August 19-21, 1991) of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP), leaving a suicide note explaining the reasons for his death: "I cannot live when my Fatherland is dying and everything that I considered the meaning of my life is destroyed. Age and my past life give me the right to leave this life. I fought to the end." He was buried in Moscow at the Troekurovsky cemetery (section 2).

Colonel (8.12.1956).
Major General of Tank Forces (04/13/1964).
Lieutenant General of Tank Forces (02/21/1969).
Colonel General (10/30/1974).
General of the Army (04/23/1979).
Marshal of the Soviet Union (03/25/1983).

He was awarded 4 Orders of Lenin (02/23/1971, 02/21/1978, 04/28/1980, 05/7/1982), Orders of the October Revolution (01/07/1988), the 1st degree of the Patriotic War (03/11/1985), 2 Orders of the Red Star (09/15. 1943, 12/30/1956), the order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd degree (04/30/1975), medals. Also awarded with foreign orders: Red Banner (Czechoslovakia, 1982), Victorious February (Czechoslovakia, 1985), Scharnhorst (German Democratic Republic, 1983), Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 1988), "People's Republic of Bulgaria" 1st degree (1985) , "September 9" 1st degree with swords (Bulgaria, 1974), "For military merit" 1st degree (Vietnam, 1985), Red Banner (Afghanistan, 1982), Saur Revolution (Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, 1984), Sukhe-Bator (Mongolia, 1981), medals of Bulgaria ("For strengthening the brotherhood in arms" - 1977, "30 years of Victory over Nazi Germany" - 1975, "40 years of Victory over fascism" - 1985, "90 years of the birth of George Dimitrov "- 1974," 100 years since the birth of Georgy Dimitrov "- 1984," 100 years of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke "- 1978), Czechoslovakia (" 30 years of the Slovak national uprising "- 1974," 40 years of the Slovak national uprising "- 1985), East Germany ("Brotherhood in Arms" 1st degree - 1980, "30 years of the People's Army GDR "- 1986), Romania (" For military valor "- 1985), Mongolia (" 30 years of Victory over Japan "- 1975," 40 years of victory over Japan "- 1979," 60 years of the Armed Forces of the Mongolian People's Republic "- 1981), Cuba ("20 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces" - 1976, "30 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces" - 1986), the DPRK ("40 years of the liberation of Korea" - 1985), China ("Sino-Soviet Friendship" - 1955), Afghanistan (" From the grateful Afghan people ", 1988), the badge of honor" Brotherhood in Arms "(Poland, 1988).

Lenin Prize (1981).

In Moscow, on the house where the marshal lived, a memorial plaque was installed.

“In November 1991, the Russian prosecutor's office closed the criminal case against S.F. Akhromeev on the fact of his participation in the activities of the State Emergency Committee due to the absence of corpus delicti. The investigation concluded that although S.F. Akhromeev took part in the work of the State Emergency Committee and carried out a number of specific actions on the instructions of the conspirators, but the content of these actions cannot be judged that Akhromeev's intent was aimed at participating in a conspiracy to seize power.
However, the marshal chose to be his own investigator and judge. And his trial turned out to be merciless. The Marshal, who renounced his Destiny, doomed himself to a terrible death, especially for a military man, because since ancient times in the army only traitors and spies were punished with a loop ...
And a few days after the modest funeral at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow, his grave was desecrated. Some scoundrels dug the coffin, took off the ceremonial uniform from the deceased - and the marshal, who had been hanged twice, had to be buried a second time ... "(From the book of V. Stepankov and E. Lisov "Kremlin conspiracy". M., 1992.)

In the distant days of August 1991, the death of Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Fedorovich Akhromeev went almost unnoticed, remaining in the shadow of the loud steps of the "victorious democracy". The winners then tried not to advertise this death. If it was reported in those days, it was only in the sense that the late Sergei Akhromeev felt his guilt and responsibility for joining the "putschists". The further the events of those years move away from us, the less politicized assessments of what is happening reach us, but the circumstances of the tragic death of the Marshal of the USSR, who was known and loved in the army, are still not completely clear and understandable.

Usually, recalling the victims of the August 1991 coup, information appears in the media about 3 victims who became victims of rather strange events on the Garden Ring and who became one of the last Heroes of the Soviet Union. Much less often the press recalls the names of three more victims who committed suicide. It is not customary to refer them to either the victims, or even more so to the heroes, although recently the assessment of their actions has been seriously revised by society. But then many believed what kind of heroes they were if they committed suicide and who were they? One Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR is a member of the "notorious" GKChP, the second is the head of the CPSU Central Committee, a terry "party crat", the third is a Marshal of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev's military adviser, who also supported the GKChP.

It should be noted that when this all happened (and suicides followed one after the other after the failure of the "putsch"), many began to think that these were not suicides, but murders organized by someone, the purpose of which is to eliminate important and especially undesirable witnesses for someone.

All three suicides were quite striking personalities, but one of them - Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Akhromeev was such a unique and striking figure that his tragedy is most characteristic of that time, which is called perestroika and allows you to better understand the time and events of those days. Akhromeev was a combat marshal who participated in the Great Patriotic War from the first to the last day and went all the way from platoon commander to chief of the General Staff. In 1980 he was awarded the Lenin Prize for research and development of new automated control systems for the aircraft.

According to the famous writer, publicist and historian Roy Medvedev, Marshal Akhromeev was a very worthy person and enjoyed great respect both in the army and among party members. The Marshal was a staunch supporter of the early withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Together with the deputy head of the USSR Foreign Ministry G.M.Kornienko, he believed that it was not worth counting on the PDPA being able to stay in power, the maximum that could be counted on was that the PDAP could take a legitimate, but at the same time modest place in the new mode.

It so happened that the first major obituary in memory of the deceased marshal was written not in the USSR, but in the United States, and it was published in Time magazine. It was written by Admiral W. Crowe, who at one time served as chairman of the US Chief of Staff Committee. Crowe wrote that Akhromeev was devoted to the ideals of communism and was very proud of the fact that everything he had was not much superior to what he wore. His narrow ideas about capitalism were the main reason for our disputes with him. At the same time, for all his loyalty to the party and great patriotism, Sergei Akhromeev was a modern man who perfectly understood that much in the USSR was a mistake, and much should change if the USSR was still going to remain a great power. He noted the contribution of Akhromeev to the control of the proliferation of arms, the creation and work on constructive Soviet-American relations, the reduction of world tension and the nuclear race, which lasted 45 years, to Crowe. He called Akhromeev a man of honor. Words from the title of the obituary “Communist. Patriot. Soldier "relatives of the marshal knocked out on the monument to the marshal.

Suicide or murder

According to the official version, which was adhered to by the investigator for especially important cases of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia, Leonid Proshkin, who was investigating the death of Sergei Akhromeev, the events developed as follows. On August 6, 1991, Marshal Akhromeev and his wife were on regular vacation, which they spent on the territory of a military sanatorium in the city of Sochi. At the same time, he knew nothing about the preparation of the State Emergency Committee and the plans of its participants. Already in the morning of August 19, having learned from television programs about what was happening in the country, he immediately flew to Moscow, where on the same day he met with the Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanayev and became a member of the GKChP headquarters, where he took up the work on collecting and following analysis of information about the military-political situation in the state.

On August 24, 1991, Akhromeev arrived at his own office in the Kremlin and, in a state of depression after the failure of the GKChP initiative, decided to commit suicide. At 9:40 in the morning, he made the first attempt, after which he left a note about it. “I am a poor master at preparing a suicide weapon. The first attempt (at 9.40) failed. The cable broke. I woke up at 10.00. I am mustering the strength to repeat everything again. " In the evening of the same day, the body of the Marshal of the Soviet Union was found in his private office, he hanged himself. A team of investigators led by Proshkin was summoned to the scene, who arrived in the Kremlin at 11:27 pm and recorded what they saw on video. The Marshal was sitting on the floor by the office window. His neck was tied with synthetic twine, the free end of which was attached to the handle of the window frame. At the same time, his office was in perfect order, no signs of a struggle were found. At his workplace, Akhromeev left suicide letters and notes - only 6 pieces. A survey of persons who had contact with Akhromeev, an examination of the scene and the content of the suicide notes and the data of the examination carried out allowed Proshkin to conclude that Sergei Akhromeev took his own life of his own free will.

However, if you carefully read the case materials, which were collected in 2 rather weighty folders, a sufficient number of questions arise. The case contains many inconsistencies and elementary contradictions that were recorded during the investigation. It is possible to cite only a few quotations from this case, so that you too have some doubts about the correctness of the conclusions of the investigation.

"On August 24, 1991, in office No. 19a in building 1 of the Moscow Kremlin, at 9:50 pm, the guard on duty Koroteev found the body of Marshal of the USSR Sergei Akhromeev (born in 1923), who worked as Mikhail Gorbachev's military adviser" (from report).

“We arrived at the Kremlin. Sergei Akhromeev said: "Go to the base, I will call you." And he never called. At 10:50 in the morning I called him in the Kremlin and asked him for lunch, after which he let me go and told me to be at the base at 13:00 ”(from the testimony of the Kremlin driver NV Platonov).

“I was at my workplace from 10 am to 3 pm, I didn’t see Sergei Akhromeev, but his office was open, I determined this fact by the fact that people entered and left the marshal’s office, but I don’t know who it was. I assumed that it was the marshal himself who went in and out, since the secretaries did not go to work on Saturdays. When I was leaving the building, I noticed that there was no key in the door of Akhromeev's office .. I remember exactly that there was no key in the office door, otherwise I would not have turned off the light in the corridor "(from the testimony given by the adviser to the President of the USSR V.V. Zagladin).

"The officer on duty V. N. Koroteev reported to me (about 24 hours) that in the office 19a of the adviser to the president of the USSR S. F. Akhromeev, a key was inserted into the keyhole, and the light in the office was off and that he was asking me to come to the place." (from the testimony given by the commandant of the 1st Kremlin building M.I.Barsukov).

“From one of the security representatives, whose name is Sasha, I heard that he saw the marshal alive at about 2 pm on Saturday” (testimony of A. V. Grechina - assistant adviser to the USSR president).

Already from the above quotes, it follows that, waking up after an unsuccessful suicide attempt at 10 o'clock in the morning (from Akhromeev's note), the marshal calmly talks with the driver at 10:50 and is even going to go somewhere around 13:00. Again, after 10 o'clock in the morning, someone repeatedly enters and exits the marshal's office. Someone from the Kremlin guard, Sasha, sees the marshal alive and well at about 14:00. And Zagladin, who leaves the Kremlin at about 3 pm, says that there was no key in the door of the marshal's office, while at 9:50 pm the key appears from somewhere. The presence of these facts already seems to be a sufficient reason for the investigation to continue and to try to answer the questions that arose during the questioning of witnesses.

At the same time, there are other issues in this case that do not fit very well into the official version of what happened. First, the method of suicide itself, which is extremely uncharacteristic for a military man, raises questions. The way is also surprising - the marshal hanged himself while sitting. This method is usually used in the criminal world, as they are hanged in prisons because of the "architectural features" of the cells. However, not only did Akhromeev himself come to this method, but he also ignored the more traditional version with a ceiling, on which hooks for heavy chandeliers seemed to have been specially equipped.

Secondly, when Proshkin received an order to investigate the circumstances of the marshal's death, the investigators were not allowed to the scene for a long time and they were not allowed to take attesting witnesses with them, who eventually became the KGB officers who were on duty in the same building where the office was located. Marshal.

Thirdly, immediately before the tragedy of August 23, Sergei Akhromeev completed work on the text of his speech at the upcoming session of the Supreme Soviet, which was to take place on August 26, 1991. He discussed his speech with his daughter (who even kept a draft of the speech). The Marshal was going to convey to the public and the deputies information and facts of betrayal by some senior officials from the country's leadership of the interests of the state. If on August 26 Akhromeev was going to speak publicly in front of the deputies, why should he hang himself on the 24th ..

Given these circumstances, a number of researchers and friends of the marshal suggested that Akhromeev was pushed to commit suicide. Perhaps he was threatened with subsequent reprisals or the arrest of family members (then it could still be believed) and offered the only possible way out of the situation - suicide. The performers, in accordance with their professional experience, also determined the method of suicide for him, handing over a synthetic twine taken in the secretaries' room and, possibly, locking the marshal alone for a while.

This version, which remains only a version, is able to somehow provide answers to some questions. In addition, the fact that Akhromeev was being blackmailed with the welfare of his family is involuntarily prompted by one of his suicide notes, in which he writes to his family: “For me, the main duty of a soldier and a citizen has always been. You were in second place. Today, for the first time, I put duty to you first. I ask you to courageously survive these days ... "

However, the investigator of the Prosecutor General's Office Leonid Proshkin did not consider this version or similar ones. According to him, there were no grounds for this, since the motives for killing Akhromeev were not visible. He did not hear about the upcoming speech at the session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. It seems strange that a professional of this level would overlook such a serious fact that could change the whole thing.

Today it can be argued that the possible murderers of Akhromeev had a reason for this. He was Gorbachev's right hand and knew a lot, he knew where and who was selling Soviet weapons, he knew the whole kitchen of betraying the strategic interests of the USSR in Europe, about how the equipment and means of the Western groups of forces of the USSR were being stolen. His compromising evidence could be murderous, but the marshal took all his secrets with him.

Sources of information:
-http: //www.e-reading-lib.org/chapter.php/1009735/216/Nepomnyaschiy_-_100_velikih_zagadok_russkoy_istorii.html
-http: //www.peoples.ru/military/commander/ahromeev/history.html
-http: //www.stoletie.ru/kultura/tajna_marshala_ahromejeva_2011-08-26.htm

Marshal Akhromeev

Sergei Fedorovich Akhromeev served as an advisor to the President of the USSR, he was sixty-three years old. On August 24, 1991, he committed suicide in his Kremlin office. Before his death, the marshal left five letters.

One note contained the following words:

“I cannot live when my Fatherland is dying and everything that I have always considered the meaning of my life is destroyed. Age and past my life give me the right to leave this life. I fought to the end. "

In a letter to relatives:

“The main thing for me has always been the duty of a soldier and a citizen. You were in second place. Today, for the first time, I put duty to you first. I ask you to live through these days with courage. Support each other. Do not give any reason to gloat to your enemies. "

He also left a message to Mikhail Gorbachev, in which he wrote:

“I understand that as Marshal of the Soviet Union I broke the Military Oath and committed a military crime,” Akhromeev gave an extremely strict assessment of his actions. - I committed no less crime as an adviser to the President of the USSR ... I was sure that this adventure would be defeated, and when I arrived in Moscow, I was convinced of this once again. Since 1990, I have been convinced that our country is heading for ruin. All of it will be dismembered. I was looking for a way to loudly state this. I thought that my participation in ensuring the work of the "Committee" and the subsequent related proceedings would give me the opportunity to speak directly about this. It probably sounds unconvincing and naive, but it is so. There were no mercenary motives in this decision of mine ... "

The way the marshal chose to die was by hanging. But the hanging is strange: for this, the marshal used a synthetic twine twisted in half, which is usually used to tie up packages, and the copper handle of a high Kremlin window. The first hanging failed: the twine broke. Then the marshal again fastened the twine with tape and hanged himself in an extremely uncomfortable position, as the prisoners do, bending his knees, in the hope that the weight of his body would tighten the noose tightly.

Between the first and second attempts, the marshal answered the phone and dismissed his chauffeur. However, he reminded him that after lunch it was necessary to return to the motor depot. Then he wrote another note:

“I am a poor master at preparing a suicide weapon. The first attempt (at 9.40) failed. The cable broke. I woke up at 10.00. I gather strength to repeat everything again. Akhromeev ".

This attempt was successful. The report from the scene, drawn up by the Murovites, read:

There were no damages on the clothes. On the neck of the corpse there was a sliding loop made of synthetic twine folded in half, covering the neck around the entire circumference. The upper end of the twine was secured to the window frame handle with adhesive tape. No bodily injuries were found on the corpse, other than those associated with hanging ...

Four years after the death of the marshal, the correspondent of "Top Secret" Terekhov managed to talk to his widow.

Was Gorbachev afraid of Akhromeev? - asked her correspondent, - did Mikhail Sergeevich take to heart the constant rumors about the impending coup?

I think I was not afraid. And about the coup ... Sergei Fyodorovich said: nothing can be done in Russia by force. Removing an unwanted leader is not the biggest problem. But what to do next? He believed that the most dangerous thing for our country was to deprive the government of respect, authority, and discredit the very idea of ​​power. Now this is exactly what has happened. See where this led? And he wanted to prevent, he warned. Remember how much he wrote about it. And his opponents just then remembered: “Whom are you listening to? He also received a Hero for Afghanistan. " In general, having left the General Staff, he could not work as an adviser to Gorbachev for a long time. Wrote several resignation reports. On the last one in June 1991, Gorbachev wrote: "Let's wait!"

Yazov studied with Akhromeev on the same course at the academy; Sergei Fyodorovich also had associates in the General Staff. And, despite this, it turns out that the marshal did not know anything about the upcoming events of August 1991?

I didn't know anything. On August 6, I, he and my granddaughter went on vacation to Sochi, quietly resting. On the 19th, Sergei Fedorovich, as always, went to exercise in the morning, then came back and woke us up: "Turn on the TV faster!" He silently listened to the first messages. When something important happened, he usually fell silent. We went to breakfast in silence. I didn't ask him anything. Then he suddenly says: "I have to fly to Moscow and sort things out at the workplace." We didn't say goodbye properly. A group of doctors accompanied him: "Come back, Sergei Fedorovich, we are waiting." He joked: "I'm leaving your wife as a pledge." He kissed my granddaughter and me and left. I never saw him again.

Who was at home with him these days?

Daughters, their families. When the first messages about the creation of the Emergency Committee were heard on TV, they understood: the father would come. He arrived - cheerful, tanned, said that he did not understand anything yet, and left for the Kremlin. He offered his help to Yanaev, worked in an analytical group collecting information from the field. This was his participation in the Emergency Committee. My daughters called me endlessly: come soon. But they didn't say anything directly. Conspirators! They wrote that one of the children fell ill, I was offended: well, why don't you let me rest, can't you take care of your father yourself? Then she could not resist, called Sergei Fedorovich in the Kremlin to find out, he said that he was all right. He promised to tell me when I get back. But I still decided to go. With difficulty we got tickets for 24 August.

After the failure of the Emergency Committee, Sergey Fedorovich was very worried?

He was depressed and awaited arrest. But he continued to go to work in the Kremlin, although very few people were there at that time. The daughter once could not resist: “Why do you go there? How do you like it? " “Nobody comes up to me. Nobody talks to me. " Thinking that they would be arrested, he said: "I understand, it will be difficult for you, but I could not otherwise." The daughters asked him: "Do you regret that you arrived?" He replied: "If I stayed on the sidelines, I would curse myself all my life."

Was he disappointed in the GKChP participants? Gave them grades?

The daughters say that on the night of August 23-24, they talked for a long time. It was interesting to know his opinion about the events and the people participating in them. He did not know all the members of the Emergency Committee equally well. But to those whom he treated with respect before these events, he did not change his attitude.

For example, to Yazov?

Not only. To Baklanov, Shenin ...

According to the investigation, that night Akhromeev had already decided to commit suicide.

According to the investigation, so.

You flew home ...

They began to call Sergei Fyodorovich in the Kremlin - the phone was silent. After five in the evening, they called every ten to fifteen minutes. At 23.00 his driver called and asked if Sergei Fyodorovich had arrived, otherwise something does not call him, and he does not know what to do. Then we went to bed. Of course, I did not sleep all night - I jumped on the sound of every car. In the morning we decided to go to Moscow - we lived in a dacha. As soon as they opened the door of the apartment, the telephone rings. My daughter picked up the phone, and I understood from her face: something terrible had happened. The officer on duty called the group of inspectors general, said that Sergei Fyodorovich died suddenly, there is a suspicion that he committed suicide (shot himself).

At night he was taken to the morgue of the Kremlin hospital, then to the Burdenko hospital. We went to the prosecutor's office. They said that the investigation had a video recording of the scene of the incident. I immediately asked to see it. The investigators looked at each other, looked at me dubiously: they say, was it restraint? - but agreed. I and one of the daughters went to look, the other could not. Sergei Fyodorovich was found by the duty officer. The office was open, the key stuck in the keyhole outside. He was buried on August 29.

Note, even the inspectors immediately after the incident were called the cause of death by suicide with a firearm. It did not even occur to them that Sergei Fyodorovich, like a schoolboy or a prisoner, would stick his head in a noose, and even twice. Somehow strange, not in a military way, this way to commit suicide looked. Death by strangulation with packing twine ...

People who had known the marshal for many years were shocked by his death, they had no other words than “soldier of duty”. Many of them later mentioned the marshal in their memoirs.

General Makhmut Gareev:

At one time, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov said that the highest dignity of a person consists not in taking off to a big position and torturing himself and others with this, but in doing the assigned work well and regularly at any post. Sergey Fedorovich Akhromeev adhered to this principle all his life ...

Appointment of S. F. Akhromeev as assistant to M. S. Gorbachev, apparently, was presented as an opportunity to somehow positively influence him. But the marshal was surrounded by such inveterate intriguers, who were not easy to resist, and he no longer had any serious influence at the “court” ...

Once in a friendly conversation, one of the commanders of the military district asked Sergei Fedorovich: "Have you formed the same friendly team here as it was in a tank army or a district?" To which, after a heavy sigh, S. F. Akhromeev replied with a sad smile: "Such a sincere, disinterested comradeship can only be found in the troops."

On the whole, Sergei Fedorovich Akhromeev was a man and a military leader of high honor and dignity, faithful to the end of his oath and his duty. He had an excellent memory and an outstanding analytical mind. From the time of the war, a case is known when he, with a grenade in his hands, remained in a damaged tank until our scouts arrived to the rescue. As a regiment and division commander, even on ordinary days when there were no exercises, he slept no more than five or six hours a day, and worked the rest of the time. Often at four or five o'clock in the morning, he summoned regimental commanders to the tank center or tank director. This, of course, gave rise to criticism, but he proceeded from the fact that until the business was established, the official duties were not fully fulfilled, and there could be no question of any rest or relaxation. I remember the flight from Tashkent to Moscow after the exercise conducted under his leadership, where we hardly slept for three days. Once on the plane, he did not allow himself to take a nap and pored over documents until the end of the flight.

Being very strict and demanding of himself and his subordinates, in the most tense atmosphere he did not lose his composure, showed restraint and was always very tactful in dealing with subordinates. Both friends and ill-wishers of Sergei Fedorovich unanimously noted such a feature of him as crystal honesty and decency, manifested even in small things. In any position he held, there could be no question of any abuse on his part ...

In the light of all this, the path that Sergei Fedorovich chose to leave this life is apparently impossible to justify, because it was contrary to his own life principles. But only God will judge him. And speaking quite frankly, he died primarily because he was the most conscientious among the people around him.

Valery Boldin, an employee of the CPSU Central Committee:

This honest and loyal man turned out to be, V. tragic situation, which led him in the end to a fatal decision. In August 1991, he was found: dead in his office. He, a soldier who had gone through the war, who had reached the highest military posts and honors for serving the people, for taking care of the country's defense, which allowed us to maintain military parity and ensure the peaceful labor of people in the coldest years of coexistence, was now defamed for what he had acquired some utensils for a summer residence. It is a shame to read in the press, to hear from the mouths of people's deputies who do not know what war is, but have turned into fiery fighters with privileges, about the mythical "abuses" of the marshal ...

I had to be with Sergei Fedorovich on a trip to the United States. I saw how the American military, President R. Reagan, treated S.F.Akhromeev with respect and attention, no less, if not more, than the general secretary. He was greeted with the same honor even when he was no longer Chief of the General Staff of the country. And now he was given to be eaten by small minnows. Couldn't such a betrayal on the part of Gorbachev have inflicted an unhealed wound on a veteran, an old soldier in marshal's shoulder straps? And is it not the devil-may-care attitude of the leaders of the state, who did not want to say goodbye to the man who did so much to strengthen the state's defense capability, and later, when the time came for its reasonable and equal disarmament, led to the fact that over the grave of S.F. the marauders were criminally and dirtyly abused.

But, as I said, the marshal was preparing to retire. About two months before the incident, S.F.Akhromeev submitted an application to the president about his resignation and frankly said that in the current conditions of persecution of him, defamation of the military, hasty, ill-considered, and most importantly, unilateral disarmament, he has no right to hold a post next to the president and not will participate in the destruction of the army and the state. Mikhail Gorbachev was puzzled by this turn of affairs and asked Sergei Fyodorovich to postpone, to work some more. At one time, he attracted S.F.Akhromeev to work in his apparatus, believing to cover with his name those not always justified

concessions that were being made in negotiations with the United States at the time. He did not hide it. “Do you understand why I need him? - Gorbachev was frank. - As long as he is with me, it will be easier to resolve disarmament issues. Our military and defense workers trust him, he is respected in the West ... "

Marshal of the USSR Sergei Fedorovich Akhromeev submitted an application to leave Gorbachev and came to me to tell me about his decision. “Gorbachev, of course, objects, asks to think and not rush,” said Sergei Fyodorovich. - But I can no longer and do not want to participate in the collapse of the state and the army. He said that he will return to the question after my vacation, but I will not change my opinion. Everything. I'm leaving. "

But events turned in such a way that he passed away, unable to betray his principles, oath, comrades-in-arms, together with whom he walked thousands of kilometers of battle roads, strengthening the army, educating soldiers and officers in loyalty to the Motherland.

Admiral Crowe, USA:

Marshal Sergei Akhromeev was my friend. His suicide is a tragedy, reflecting the convulsions that are shaking the Soviet Union. He was a communist, patriot and soldier. And I believe that is exactly what he would say about himself.

For all his great patriotism and loyalty to the party, Akhromeev was a modern man who understood that much in his country was a mistake and much should be changed if the Soviet Union intends to continue to remain a great power ...

In 1987, Marshal Akhromeev visited Washington for the first time. He came with Gorbachev to sign the Treaty on the Destruction of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Missiles. I invited him to the Pentagon. When he arrived for breakfast two days later, he was alone. The chief of the Soviet General Staff entered the enemy's camp without guards and a retinue of assistants! It was an impressive display of self-confidence. In 1989, he told me that he underestimated the depth of dissatisfaction in his country. Despite his desire for change, he did not foresee where reforms would lead in the future.

A year ago we met again in Moscow. “You didn’t destroy the Communist Party,” he told me. - We did it ourselves. And while this was happening, my heart was breaking a thousand times a day. You get a depressing feeling when they tell you that everything for which you have worked and fought for fifty years is wrong, ”he continued. He was devoted to the ideals of communism and took great pride in the fact that whatever he had was not much greater than what he wore. His narrow views of capitalism were at the heart of our most heated debate. In the end, he was unable to reconcile his conflicting beliefs with what was overwhelming him.

Marshal Akhromeev is given interesting characteristics. It is unlikely that such a person will dare to commit suicide of his own free will. That is why suspicions immediately arose that the marshal had been "helped." Moreover, a lot of time passed between the moment of suicide and the moment when the marshal's body was discovered. And, as the detectives noted with puzzlement, the door to the marshal's office was locked from the outside. Suspicions even fell on Barsukov, who at that time was in charge of the Kremlin economy and was at work that day, but since he was known as a cautious and cowardly person, no one took this version seriously.

At the request of Admiral Crowe, the staff of the American Embassy went on the second day after the funeral to lay wreaths on Akhromeev's grave. They found the grave in a terrible state. It was opened, the marshal's cap nailed to the coffin was ripped off, the marshal himself, buried in full uniform, is dressed in civilian dress ...

Sergey Akhromeev photography

In a LETTER addressed to his relatives, Sergei Fedorovich explained his last act in the following way: “For me, the main thing was always the duty of a soldier and a citizen. You were in second place. Today, for the first time, I put duty to you first. I ask you to live through these days with courage. Support each other. Do not give any reason to gloat to your enemies. " This meant that after the failure of the State Emergency Committee, which was actively supported by the Marshal, he believed that he would be arrested and wanted to save his family from the humiliation associated with this.

A farewell note found in the marshal’s Kremlin office adds information about the causes of the incident: “I cannot live when my Fatherland is dying and everything that I have always considered the meaning of my life is destroyed. Age and past my life give me the right to leave this life. I fought to the end. "

Strange observations

It would seem that everything is clear: Sergei Fedorovich passed away of his own free will, experiencing a deep mental crisis. However, the adviser to the President of the USSR on international affairs Vadim Zagladin, who occupied the office next to Akhromeev's, gave the investigators who arrived at the scene of the incident that gave rise to serious doubts: did his colleague actually commit suicide or was he still forced to die? The adviser said that he heard Akhromeev's door open and close, but since it was Saturday, and the secretaries did not usually work that day, he believed that the marshal himself was running.

Zagladin left the Kremlin at three in the afternoon. As he left, he noticed that there was no key in the door of Akhromeev's office, from which he concluded that the marshal had already left, and turned off the light in the corridor between their offices. However, by the time Zagladin was leaving, Sergei Fyodorovich was already dead.

Meanwhile, the arriving investigators found a key in the door lock of his office. Who put it in?

"I am a poor master at preparing a suicide weapon ..."

Best of the day

Akhromeev's body was found at about 22 hours. The security officer on duty informed the commandant of this building that there was no light in office 19a, and the key was sticking out in the door. Then the officers opened the office ...

Since the commandant was none other than Mikhail Barsukov, who at the time of Yeltsin became Boris Nikolayevich's favorite for a time and headed first the Main Directorate of Security, and then the Federal Security Service, some journalists later put forward a version, was it he who organized this death? But, according to other authors, Mikhail Ivanovich, a pedantic serviceman and an extremely cautious person, was the least suitable for such secret improvisations.

The detectives who got into Akhromeev's office after midnight filmed a corpse in a marshal's uniform sitting on the floor near a steam heating radiator, meticulously recording in the protocol: “There was no damage to the clothes. On the neck of the corpse there was a sliding loop made of synthetic twine folded in half, covering the neck around the entire circumference. The upper end of the twine was secured to the window frame handle with adhesive tape. No bodily injuries on the corpse, other than those associated with hanging, were found ... "

Nearby lay another note: “I am a poor master at preparing a suicide weapon. The first attempt (at 9.40) failed. The cable broke. I woke up at 10.00. I gather strength to repeat everything again. Akhromeev ".

And he repeated. From the second call it turned out. In the interval between the first and second attempts, the marshal received a call from his driver, Platonov, asking him to let him go for lunch. Sergei Fyodorovich gave permission, reminding him that the driver should then return to the General Staff's motor depot. Strange pedantry for a man determined to commit suicide. Or was that his character?

Address to the President

AFTER the arrest of the GKChP members flying to Gorbachev in Foros at the airfield, the Marshal expected that they would come to arrest him any minute, because of all Mikhail Sergeyevich's assistants and advisers, he was the only one who actively supported the putschists. Therefore, on August 22, Sergei Fyodorovich wrote a letter to the President of the USSR, in which he considered it his duty to tell, with a soldier's frankness, about his participation in the activities of the State Committee for the State of Emergency.

From this letter it is clear that, while resting in a military sanatorium in Sochi, until the morning of August 19, the marshal did not know anything about the Emergency Committee. Hearing on television in the morning about its creation, on his own initiative immediately flew by passenger plane to Moscow.

On the same day at 18:00 he was already in the Kremlin at his workplace, and at 20:00 he met with Vice President Gennady Yanayev. Akhromeev said that he agreed with the program outlined by the Committee in its appeal to the citizens of the USSR, and offered his services as an adviser to the acting President of the USSR. On behalf of Yanaev, Akhromeev, together with Oleg Baklanov, began collecting and analyzing the current situation. During 20-21 August, he prepared two reports of this kind.

In addition, having visited Defense Minister DT Yazov on August 20 at about 3 pm in his office on the fifth floor of the Arbat Pentagon, Sergei Fyodorovich was present when Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Vladislav Achalov reported to Dmitry Timofeevich his views on the capture plan "White House", which then housed the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. “I understand that as Marshal of the Soviet Union I broke the Military Oath and committed a military crime,” Akhromeev gave an extremely strict assessment of his actions. "I have committed no less crime as an advisor to the President of the USSR."

But if the marshal was so clearly aware that he was going in a criminal way, why did he join him? “I was sure that this adventure would fail, and when I arrived in Moscow, I was convinced of this once again,” he writes in the same letter to Gorbachev. - Since 1990, I have been convinced that our country is heading towards ruin. All of it will be dismembered. I was looking for a way to loudly state this. I thought that my participation in ensuring the work of the "Committee" and the subsequent related proceedings would give me the opportunity to speak directly about this. It probably sounds unconvincing and naive, but it is so. There were no mercenary motives in this decision of mine ... "

Senior Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Prosecutor's Office of the RSFSR Leonid Proshkin, who was studying the circumstances of the Marshal's death, finally concluded: "There are no persons guilty of the death of Akhromeev or in any way involved in it," after which the case was closed "for lack of corpus delicti."

Soldier of duty

The leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense paid the Marshal of the Soviet Union the last honors in the morgue of the Military Hospital. Burdenko, none of the generals considered it necessary to go to the Troekurovskoye cemetery. And they buried the marshal without the ritual assigned to his rank.

Could Sergei Fedorovich have assumed that the Russian prosecutor's office would also discontinue the criminal case initiated against him on the fact of participation in the GKChP activities "due to the absence of corpus delicti"?

Former USSR Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, who was not Akhromeev's friend at all, took fundamentally different positions on many important disarmament issues, responded to the death of his opponent in negotiations with the Americans with the following expression of feelings for him in an interview with journalists: “Soldier of duty, that was you can see it right away. "

And the chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, William Crow, wrote in Time magazine: “Akhromeev was my friend. His suicide is a tragedy reflecting the convulsions that are shaking the Soviet Union ... "

By the way, these are American journalists, who came to photograph Akhromeev's fresh grave in the morning of September 2, found that it had been dug, the criminals broke through the lid of the coffin and removed the marshal's uniform from Sergei Fedorovich's body.

The criminal case under Article 229 of the RSFSR Criminal Code ("Desecration of the grave") was conducted by the investigative department of the Gagarinsky District Department of Internal Affairs in Moscow. They detained several people who were engaged in the resale of orders and military uniforms, but they were soon released for lack of evidence ...

Alexander VAYS

The greatest attention to the fate of the late Marshal was shown by the American Admiral William D. Crove, who during the time of R. Reagan served as chairman of the Committee as the Chief of Staff of the United States: in America this is the highest post for the professional military. W. Crowe spent a lot of time with Akhromeev at various negotiations on military issues and was imbued with deep respect for him. The admiral tried several times to get through to Akhromeev's relatives in Moscow, but unsuccessfully. In the end, he asked American journalists he knew in Moscow to find the wife and daughters of the late Marshal in the Soviet capital and express his condolences to them. He also asked to lay a wreath on the grave of his colleague. It was Admiral W. Crowe who wrote the first large obituary dedicated to the memory of Marshal S.F. Akhromeev and published in September 1991 in the American magazine Time.

"Marshal Sergei Akhromeev," wrote the admiral from the United States, "was my friend. His suicide is a tragedy reflecting the convulsions that are shaking the Soviet Union. He was a communist, a patriot and a soldier. And I believe that is what he would say about himself. For all his great patriotism and loyalty to the party, Akhromeev was a modern man who understood that much in his country was a mistake, and much must be changed if the Soviet Union intends to continue to remain a great power.

He made great efforts to reduce tensions between the armed forces of our two countries. In 1987, Marshal Akhromeev visited Washington for the first time. He came with Gorbachev to sign the Treaty on the Destruction of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. I invited him to the Pentagon. When he arrived for breakfast two days later, he was alone. The chief of the Soviet General Staff entered the enemy camp without a guard or a retinue of assistants. It was an impressive display of self-confidence.

In 1989, he told me that he underestimated the depth of dissatisfaction in his country. Despite his desire for change, he did not foresee where reforms would lead in the future. A year ago we met again in Moscow. “You didn’t destroy the Communist Party,” he told me. - We did it ourselves. And while this was happening, my heart was breaking a thousand times a day. You get a depressing feeling when they tell you that everything for which you have worked and fought for 50 years is wrong, ”he continued.

He was devoted to the ideals of communism and took great pride in the fact that whatever he had was not much greater than what he wore. His narrow views of capitalism were at the heart of our most heated debate. In the end, he was unable to reconcile his conflicting beliefs with what was overwhelming him. This does not detract from his contribution to arms control, to building more constructive Soviet-American relations, and to reducing tensions that have held our countries together for 45 years. He was a man of honor. "

The Time article was accompanied by a photograph of Marshal Akhromeev and Admiral Crowe standing side by side during military exercises, watching the airborne assault. These were the largest military exercises in the 80s, which were held in the United States from July 6 to 10, 1988 and covered the territory of several states: North Carolina, Texas, South Dakota. The actions of large units of the US Army, Air Force and Navy and their interaction were shown. As a professional military man Akhromeev was admired, but as a patriot he was depressed.

Marshal Sergei Akhromeev was a unique and striking figure. Many called him "a man of honor". Among the military, officials and politicians, he has always enjoyed enviable respect. The Marshal sincerely shared the communist ideals. At the same time, he clearly understood that a lot of things in the Soviet state were a mistake. He believed that if a country is going to remain a Great Empire, it must change.

First test

Marshal Akhromeev had to go a long way before reaching the top in his military career. He was born in the spring of 1923 in one of the villages of the Tambov province and grew up in an ordinary peasant family.

A few years later, Marshal Akhromeev, whose photo you see in the article, moved to the capital and began to study at a special naval school. After graduating from there, he continued to improve already in a similar university.

Unfortunately, within these walls, the future marshal unlearned only one year, since the war began. Thus, he took an active part in the battles. At the same time, he fought on such "dangerous" fronts as Stalingrad, Ukrainian, Southern ... In addition, he participated in the defense of the northern capital and even received a medal.

In the summer of 1944, Sergei Akhromeev became the commander of a submachine gunner battalion. In a word, he knew this terrible war more than firsthand.

In peacetime, in his conversations, he repeatedly returned to these events. True, he said, first of all, about the people who headed the divisions, armies, fronts. Sergei Akhromeev believed that they became real teachers not only during the war, but also in the post-war period.

From battalion commander to chief of staff

Marshal Akhromeev, whose biography was full of events and interesting facts, when the battles ended, successfully graduated from one of the officer's armored schools. And in the fall of 1945, he already commanded a tank battalion.

Seven years later, this time training at the Military Academy, Sergei Akhromeev headed the coastal headquarters of a tank-self-propelled regiment, and three years later became the chief of all tank regiments in the Far East.

Later he moved to Belarus, and in 1964 he became the head of a training tank division.

During this time, Marshal Sergei Akhromeev continued to study, including at the Academy under the General Staff. After that, for four years he was the commander of a tank army in the same Soviet republic.

After some time, he again found himself in Primorye and headed the district headquarters.

In top positions

In the mid-1970s, Akhromeev moved to the capital, where for five years he headed the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff. And in the period 1979-1984. he was the second person in this institution. During this time, he repeatedly had to travel to Afghanistan. He planned military operations in this country at absolutely all stages. At the same time, he was an adamant follower of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the DRA.

Sergei Akhromeev as head of the General Staff

In 1984 Akhromeev already headed the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. According to the recollections of his colleagues, he was a professional of the highest standard. It covered the entire colossal set of tasks. The man did not live in the past. I built the work of the headquarters exclusively for the future - for 5, 10, 15 years ahead. This ability is not given to everyone.

He had a unique memory. For example, he perfectly remembered the numbers of all Soviet units, was well aware of the state of the groupings of NATO units.

The Marshal worked seven days a week. With subordinates, he communicated emphatically respectful and intelligent. As a result, all employees literally loved him and respected him immensely.

As chief of staff, he was often involved in the negotiations that ultimately ended the Cold War. At the same time, he was dissatisfied with the progress of the military reform. He believed that due to these processes, the Soviet military power would be weakened a priori. During the disarmament process, Foreign Minister Shevardnadze made huge concessions to the United States. It was only thanks to Akhromeev's team that it was possible to put obstacles in the way of this politician.

Nevertheless, the marshal, having expressed his disagreement with the military reform, was forced to resign.

In the early spring of 1990, the first Soviet president, M. Gorbachev, offered him the post of military adviser.

By and large, Akhromeev initially liked the style of the new leader. He tried to delve into many issues. But over time, coming home from the Kremlin, the marshal was in frustrated feelings ...

And after a while he was completely discouraged by the behavior of the head of state. The President began not only to postpone the solution of many serious and urgent issues in the army, but also did not give him any instructions.

As a result, in June 1991, Marshal of the USSR Akhromeev decided to submit a letter of resignation. However, the Soviet leader continued to hesitate to answer. Then in early August Akhromeev went on a well-deserved vacation. He was accompanied by his wife and grandchildren. They chose one of the Sochi sanatoriums as a place of rest.

Troubled August

On the morning of August 19, Marshal of the USSR Akhromeev learned from news broadcasts what was happening in the country. Before that, he was completely unaware of the appearance of the GKChP on the political map. The Marshal decided to urgently return to the capital, which, in fact, led to a tragic ending.

In Moscow, he was received by the head of the State Emergency Committee G. Yanaev. Akhromeev supported the putschists by offering his assistance. At the same time, he did not become a member of the "disgraced" committee.

The next day he was in the Kremlin and collected information about the situation in the state. He also developed a plan for upcoming measures related to the introduction of a state of emergency. He stayed at work all night.

When the GKChP was defeated, Akhromeev on August 22 sent a personal letter to Gorbachev. In fact, this was the will of Marshal Akhromeev. He wrote that the state is on the edge of an abyss, and everything is heading towards inevitable destruction. Akhromeev argued that in the near future the Soviet Union would become dismembered. At the same time, he believed that all actions of the State Emergency Committee were initially doomed to failure. He believed that his participation in ensuring the activities of the "Committee" would give him the opportunity to speak directly and openly about this. In addition, he, as a Soviet marshal, was aware that he had committed a military crime by violating the oath.

In a word, Sergei Akhromeev in this message pronounced a verdict on himself ...

The next day he was at a meeting of one of the committees of the Supreme Soviet. According to eyewitnesses, the marshal was in a very depressed state. In any case, earlier he actively spoke at such events, but now he did not utter a single word.

In parallel, he managed to complete the text of his own speech at the upcoming session of the Supreme Soviet. It was supposed to take place on August 26th. He intended to convey to the public some facts and information about the real betrayal of the country's interests by some officials from the highest echelon of the state. However, we will return to this later.

Death of Marshal Akhromeev

On August 24, in the morning, the marshal arrived at work as usual. He seemed quite cheerful and cheerful. And, accordingly, he had no thoughts of suicide.

During these last hours, he was writing something and copying some documents. At the same time, he tried to do it unnoticed. And if someone entered his office, he hid the papers. He had never done this before.

After a certain time, judging by the five suicide notes, he undertook to commit suicide by hanging. However, this did not happen, as the suicide weapon snapped off. For about 20 minutes, the marshal was unconscious. When he woke up, he wrote that he still intends to repeat what he had planned.

Unfortunately, the terrible plan was implemented. And in the evening the Kremlin officers found him hanged in their office. But was it really suicide? There are many versions. And they all have the right to life.

The main versions of the death of Sergei Akhromeev

Recall that Marshal Akhromeev left five suicide notes to members of his family and colleagues. These letters, in fact, answer some questions.

On the one hand, his latest messages seem to convince others that the act of suicide was in fact voluntary. He wrote that he was not able to watch his homeland perish. Sergei Akhromeev said that everything that he considered the meaning of his existence is being killed. He said that in this fight he fought to the last.

Many believe that he finally lost this battle on the eve of suicide. On this day, August 23, 1991, Yeltsin, in the presence of the President of the USSR, signed a decree related to the suspension of the activities of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. According to many, it was the behavior of Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as the ban of the CPSU, that truly became the last straw for the marshal.

On the other hand, some believe that the death of the brilliant marshal is provoked suicide. After all, the death of Akhromeev for his relatives was a terrible blow. Neither the spouse nor the daughter could even imagine that this would happen. He was known as a strong-willed and cheerful person. As a result, many researchers and friends of the military leader believe that the marshal was pushed to suicide. Perhaps he received threats of reprisals or, say, the arrest of family members. Therefore, he probably saw only one way out of this difficult situation - suicide.

In addition, one of his last notes suggests that he was being blackmailed by the welfare of his family. He wrote to his relatives that, first of all, his main duty was service. But now he believed that the most important thing was the family. He also asked that the family members courageously survive these dark days. And he added that they would never give cause for gloating to ill-wishers.

So who killed Marshal Akhromeev? And was it murder? If, in fact, the marshal was helped to commit suicide, then there were serious reasons for this. Sergei Akhromeev was the right hand of the Soviet president. He was aware of who was selling domestic weapons and where, and he knew how ruthlessly the funds and equipment of the Western groups of Soviet troops were being plundered. In short, he was well aware of the whole “kitchen” of betrayal of the strategic interests of the Soviet Union in European countries. And, as mentioned earlier, the marshal intended to bring these facts to the attention of the people's representatives.

And if on August 26 at the meeting he wanted to speak publicly, why did he get into the noose the day before? Apparently, his report to someone was very unprofitable and dangerous at such an electrified moment. Thus, the version that the death of Akhromeev was necessary for someone so that he would not expose officials at a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union looks more than plausible.

The marshal's compromising material could have been simply murderous. Alas, but all his secrets and secrets Marshal Akhromeev, the mystery of whose death remained unsolved, chose to take with him.

By the way, many were amazed that after the first attempt to strangle himself, the marshal talked very calmly with his driver and was even going to drive off somewhere by car. In addition, someone was constantly entering and leaving his office. And only after that Sergey Akhromeev was able to bring his plan to the end.

Another circumstance is also important. For a military man, self-hanging is an extremely uncharacteristic form of murder. The method is also surprising. The marshal's body was in a sitting position. True, as it turned out, he had no weapons, because after he retired, everything was handed over, including the pistols that were received as a reward.

To be honest, members of the Akhromeev family categorically cannot believe in his suicide. General Varennikov shared this point of view. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the true circumstances of his death will be revealed in the future ...

Last way

Marshal Sergei Akhromeev was buried on the first day of autumn 1991. He found his last shelter at the Troekurovsky churchyard in Moscow. By the way, the farewell ceremony took place with a clear violation of the ritual, which was due to the deceased by status.

And at night, immediately after the funeral, Akhromeev's grave was plundered. The vandals managed to dig the grave and lift the slab. They not only opened the coffin, but also stole the marshal's uniform with his awards. Investigators promptly opened a relevant criminal case. They detained several suspects who were engaged in the resale of military uniforms and orders. However, after a while, law enforcement officers were forced to release them for lack of evidence. But the uniform was never found. Perhaps this was the last humiliation of the legendary military leader.

The saddest thing is that the first major obituary about the marshal was published not at all in the Soviet Union, but in the United States. The article about him was called “Communist. Patriot. Soldier". The author was Admiral W. Crowe. At one time he was in charge of all American headquarters. These military men were tied by friendly relations. The admiral wrote that the marshal is a man of honor. By the way, the title of the obituary was engraved on the monument to Akhromeev.

Memory

How did Marshal Akhromeev die? Is it murder or suicide? To date, folders with the materials of the "marshal's" case have been gathering dust in the archives for a long time. Many, unfortunately, are already beginning to forget his name. But several years ago, in his homeland, in the village where he was born, grateful fellow countrymen erected a memorial plaque dedicated to his anniversary. And one of the local painters painted his portrait. This painting is in the rural library.

In addition, Western officers still remember him fondly. We have already talked about the American admiral, who was friends with Akhromeev. After the death of the marshal, he constantly sent news to the family. And if he found himself in our country, then without fail he came to the widow and, of course, visited the grave.

And the former head of the United States, George W. Bush. mentioned it in his autobiography. It's called My Life. The President wrote that the Marshal was sincerely devoted to his country. He was always ready to fulfill his duty to his fatherland. Bush agreed that Akhromeev differed from the Americans only in convictions. He was a communist and a military man. But most importantly, he "served Russia with honor."