GENERAL SHAMANOV APPOINTED COMMANDER OF AIRBORNE TROOPS

Itar-Tass
May 25 2009
Russia

MOSCOW, May 25 (Itar-Tass) – Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov was
appointed as commander of the Russian Airborne Troops, spokesman for
the Russian Defence Ministry Alexander Drobyshevsky told Itar-Tass
on Monday.

General Shamanov earlier occupied the post of the chief of the main
department of combat training and military service of the Russian
Armed Forces. He replaced Lieutenant-General Valery Yevtukhovich,
who was dismissed upon reaching the retirement age this May.

Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov was born in Siberia on February 15,
1957. He graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in
1978 and from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1998. He
is a candidate of sociological sciences. He began the military
service as a platoon commander, then served at various posts in the
Airborne Troops. Shamanov also fought in several flashpoints in the
Transcaucasia, including Nagorno Karabakh. He was the commander of
the 7th airborne division.

In 1995-1996 Shamanov served as an assistant commander of the United
Army Group of the Federal Troops in the Chechen Republic. He was in
command of a storming operation of several villages in the Chechen
highlands (Bamut and Tsentoroi). In 1995 he was injured, but remained
to fight in Chechnya. In 1996 Shamanov was appointed as commander of
the United Army Group of the Russian Defence Ministry in Chechnya. He
commanded the troops storming the Chechen highland settlements of
Dargo and Vedeno. He carried out a special operation in the highlands
in western Chechnya, where the Bamut stronghold of militants was
captured. In 1998-1999 – the commander of the 20th All-Arms Army
deployed in Voronezh, in 1999-2000 – the commander of the 58th Army in
the North Caucasus military district and simultaneously the commander
of the western grouping of the United Army Group in the North Caucasus,
after that an assistant commander of the United Army Group.

On December 24, 2000, Shamanov was elected as chief of the
administration in the Ulyanovsk region. On November 16, 2004, he
dropped his candidacy during the repeated gubernatorial elections in
the Ulyanovsk region and was appointed as Russian premier’s aide for
social security of servicemen. In 2006 he was appointed as adviser
of the Russian defense minister, since November 2007 he has headed
the main department for combat training and military service of the
Russian Armed Forces.

Shamanov is awarded the title of the Hero of the Russian Federation. He
is married. He has a son and a daughter.