Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov is a military general who held the post of commander of the Airborne Forces for a long time. Shamanov was awarded a large number of awards, and also served as governor of the Ulyanovsk region.
Childhood and youth
Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov was born on February 15, 1957 in Barnaul. His father left the family too early and his mother was raising his son. Shamanov’s mother was a well-known athlete and became a multiple champion of the Altai Territory in such sports as athletics, cross-country skiing. It was she who laid the desire to achieve goals in him and formed an iron character in her son.
Back in school, the future general chose a profession. A boy studied with him, whose father was a military commander. This determined the fate of Shamanov. He entered the Tashkent Tank School knowing that he would subsequently be transferred to another educational institution. In 1978, he graduated from the Ryazan Airborne School. In the same year he began to serve in the famous 76th Pskov Division.
Career
The career of Vladimir Shamanov began to rapidly gain momentum at the very beginning of the service. A few years after graduation, he became the commander of a self-propelled artillery platoon of a paratrooper regiment. Just a couple of years later, he became the commander of the battalion of the 104th regiment of the Pskov 76th Airborne Division. The post was approved by the commander of the Airborne Forces Dmitry Sukhorukov. As a result of such a dizzying takeoff through the ranks, he missed a number of mandatory posts, which is a rare exception.
The post of the battalion commander assumed admission to the academy, so Shamanov at the age of 29 continued his studies and again sat down at his desk. For this reason, he was not sent to Chechnya to receive his first military experience. As the commander of the 328th regiment, Vladimir Shamanov in the early 90s of the last century participated in military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh. To date, this operation raises many questions among human rights activists, but even the highest military officials cannot fully be responsible for certain political decisions.
In 1995, Shamanov came to Chechnya with the rank of chief of staff of the 7th Airborne Division. During this military operation, he gained fame. Shamanov was seriously injured, but escaped from the hospital to be able to continue to fulfill his duty. Shamanov became famous not only as a talented military leader, but also as a rather tough person. Some colleagues called him even cruel to the enemy and to the civilian population. General Troshin in his books wrote that rudeness was not the main drawback of Shamanov. Everyone was struck by how unrestrained and impatient he could be at the moment of danger. Because of this morale of the boss, his subordinates found themselves in a perilous situation many times. But perhaps this helped him to become what he became, and achieve such heights.
Retirement
In 2000, Vladimir Anatolyevich decided to end his military service. After discharge to the reserve, he ran for the post of governor of the Ulyanovsk region and his candidacy was supported by voters. Over the years of his work in this position, Shamanov managed to do a lot. By the beginning of 2000, the region was on the verge of an energy crisis, but debt restructuring was carried out and difficult times were left behind.
In 2004, Shamanov was appointed Assistant to the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. This was the reason that he independently withdrew from the subsequent election of the governor. Later, he worked as an adviser to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Return to service
In 2007, the President of Russia signed a decree on the return of Shamanov to military service. Too much has been done by Vladimir Anatolyevich in this area, and, as the president pointed out, the country should not be rushed by such generals.
In 2008, Vladimir Anatolyevich led a military group in Abkhazia. Already in 2009, he was appointed to the post of commander of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation. Shamanov admitted that this was the pinnacle of his military career and a dream that became a reality. Only in 2016 he was removed from this post and became a deputy of the State Duma.
Shamans served in the highest military ranks:
- Major General of the Guard (since 1995);
- Lieutenant General of the Guard (since 2000);
- Colonel General (since 2012).
Vladimir Shamanov in 1999 was recognized as a Hero of the Russian Federation. He was also awarded several prestigious awards:
- Order of St. George IV degree (in 2008);
- Order of Alexander Nevsky;
- Order of Courage;
- Order of Military Merit.
