Lev Rokhlin: biography, family, career, photo

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

Lev Rokhlin is a well-known domestic military and political figure. He was a deputy of the State Duma of the second convocation, from 1996 to 1998 he headed the Duma Defense Committee. He received the military rank of lieutenant general. In 1998, he was found murdered at his own dacha in the Moscow region. According to the official version, his wife shot him, but there are a number of conspiracy theories related to the fact that the general was one of the leaders of the opposition in those years, according to some information, he was preparing a coup d'état in the country in order to remove Boris Yeltsin from the post of President and establish a military dictatorship.

Officer biography

Lev Rokhlin was born in 1947. He was born in the small town of Aralsk on the territory of the Kazakh SSR. In the family of his father, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, there were three children, the hero of our article turned out to be the youngest of them. The older brother's name was Vyacheslav, and the sister's name was Lydia.

It is believed that his father was a Jew by nationality. Lev Rokhlin, together with his brother and sister, was brought up by one mother, the father of our heroleft the family when the youngest son was eight months old.

According to other sources, he was arrested and sent to the Gulag, where he died. Ksenia Ivanovna Goncharova, the mother of the hero of our article, raised three children alone.

In the late 50s, the family moved to Tashkent. Lev Rokhlin studied at school number 19 in the Old City area on Sheikhantakhur. Having received a secondary education, he went to work at an aircraft factory, after which he was drafted into the army.

Lev Rokhlin received his higher education at the combined arms command school in Tashkent. He graduated with honors, like all other educational institutions in which he studied throughout his life.

Serving in the army

After the Tashkent military school, the hero of our article was sent to Germany, he served in a group of Soviet troops near the city of Wurzen on the basis of a motorized rifle regiment.

Later he was trained at the Frunze Military Academy. From there he was sent to the Arctic. At various stages of his military biography, Lev Rokhlin served in the Turkestan and Transcaucasian military districts, and was a deputy corps commander in Kutaisi.

War in Afghanistan

In 1982, Lev Rokhlin, whose photo is in this article, was sent to serve in Afghanistan, where Soviet troops had been introduced several years earlier.

At first he went to the city of Fayzabad, located in the province of Badakhshan, where he began to lead a motorized rifle regiment.

In the summer of 1983, he was dismissed from the post of commander for an unsuccessful military operation, at least commanding itrated unsatisfactory. He was sent to the post of deputy commander of another motorized rifle regiment, which was based in the city of Ghazni. He managed to recover in his position quite quickly, it took less than a year.

While in Afghanistan, Rokhlin was wounded twice. After being wounded in October 1984, he was evacuated to Tashkent. Having recovered, he remained there in command of the regiment, and then the division.

In 1990, it was Rokhlin who was at the head of the 75th motorized rifle division, which was transferred from the Transcaucasian military district, which belonged to the Ministry of Defense, to the border troops of the KGB of the USSR.

In 1993 he graduated with honors from the military academy of the General Staff. Immediately after that, he was appointed commander of the Eighth Army Corps in Volgograd, in parallel, he led the Volgograd garrison.

In Chechnya

In December 1994, Rokhlin was appointed head of the army corps in Chechnya.

It was under the command of the hero of our article that several districts of Grozny were stormed during one of the most famous operations of the First Chechen War in late 1944 - early 1995. In particular, Rokhlin led the assault on the presidential palace.

In mid-January 1995, Lieutenant General Lev Rokhlin and General Ivan Babichev were instructed to establish contacts with Chechen field commanders in order to cease fire.

Returning from a business trip to Chechnya, Rokhlin impressed many colleagues and the public by refusing to accept the title of Hero of Russia for participating in the storming of Grozny and minimallosses incurred during this operation. He said that commanders should not seek their glory in a civil war, and Chechnya is Russia's main trouble.

Political career

Rokhlin was a member of the all-Russian political organization "Our Home is Russia". In September 1995, he was ranked third on the party's pre-election list.

In December of the same year, he became a deputy of the State Duma of the second convocation. As a result of the vote, "Our Home - Russia" took second place, gaining more than 10% of the vote. The movement was led by Viktor Chernomyrdin, the NDR lost only to the communists, who were supported by more than 22% of voters.

In January 1996, he joined the relevant faction, headed the Duma Defense Committee.

Own political movement

In September 1997, Rokhlin announced his withdrawal from the Our Home is Russia bloc and the creation of his own political movement, which was called the Movement in Support of the Army, Defense Industry and Military Science, abbreviated as DPA.

In addition to Rokhlin himself, the leadership of the DPA included ex-Minister of Defense Igor Rodionov, former KGB leaders Vladimir Kryuchkov and commander of the Airborne Forces Vladislav Achalov. In May 1998, he was removed from the post of chairman of the Duma Defense Committee.

DPA Rokhlin adhered to the ideology of militocracy. After the murder of the hero of our article, it was headed by Viktor Ilyukhin, Albert Makashov, Vladimir Komoedov, ViktorSobolev.

In the elections to the State Duma in 1999, the DPA participated as an electoral bloc. The first places on the party list were taken by Ilyukhin, Makashov and Savelyev. The bloc took 15th place in the voting, with the support of only half a percent of voters. Its participants did not receive a single mandate in the State Duma.

In opposition to the authorities

In 1997-1998, it was Rokhlin who was considered one of the main oppositionists in Russia. In particular, the Russian Reporter publication, referring to his colleagues and friends, claimed that the hero of our article was preparing a conspiracy in the country, the purpose of which was to overthrow President Boris Yeltsin and establish a military dictatorship.

One of his associates, Viktor Ilyukhin, even described a plan according to which Yeltsin himself and his entourage were to be removed from power. It was supposed to arrange a mass rally demanding the resignation of the head of state and government, which were extremely unpopular with the people. It was known that Yeltsin at that time had a firm decision not to resign. Recalling the events in Moscow in 1993, when the parliament was stormed, the conspirators feared violating the Constitution and using force against the protesters.

Therefore, when such a threat arose, it was planned to send troops to the capital to protect them. It was noted that Yeltsin carried out an active "cleansing" of the army, but still Rokhlin managed to find a large number of commanders who promised him support undersuch a scenario. It is believed that even the oligarch Gusinsky, who wanted to finance the assassination attempt on Yeltsin, offered support to the general. But Rokhlin abandoned this plan.

At the same time, according to General Alexander Lebed, Rokhlin still used the money of the Most group, which belonged to Gusinsky, to finance meetings with the public, as well as to quickly move around the regions by plane. The murder of Rokhlin mixed up all the cards, but an attempt to impeach him was nevertheless carried out, albeit unsuccessfully. It is possible that this whole future situation influenced Yeltsin's decision to step down at the end of 1999.

Murder

Rokhlin was found dead at his dacha in the Naro-Fominsk region on the night of July 3, 1998. According to the official version of law enforcement agencies, his wife Tamara shot at the sleeping general because of a family quarrel.

In November 2000, the court found Lev Rokhlin's wife guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to 8 years in prison. However, the verdict was then overturned and the case was sent back for a new trial.

In 2005, Tamara Rokhlina appealed to the European Court of Human Rights with a complaint about the long term of pre-trial detention and the delay in the consideration of her case. The complaint was officially upheld and she was awarded compensation in the amount of eight thousand euros.

The new trial of the case was completed in the Naro-Fominsk City Court in November 2005. The court again found her guilty of killing the general, sentencing her to four years in prison.freedom on probation for two and a half years.

At the stage of the investigation of this criminal case, many experts noted a large number of inconsistencies. For example, not far from the crime scene in the forest belt, three charred corpses were found. According to the official version, they died shortly before the murder of the general by his wife, they have nothing to do with this case. At the same time, according to the conspiracy theory, which is followed by most of Rokhlin's supporters, these are the real killers of the officer, who were liquidated by special services associated with the Kremlin.

According to the version put forward by the general's wife herself, Rokhlin's guards could have been involved in his murder. Allegedly, they committed a crime because of the large amount of money that was kept in the house and was supposed to be directed to the activities of the DPA.

In his memoirs, one of Boris Yeltsin's former associates, Mikhail Poltoranin, claims that the decision to physically liquidate Rokhlin was made at the highest level. The decision was made by a narrow circle of people, which included Yeltsin, Yumashev, Voloshin and Dyachenko.

Private life

Lev Rokhlin's family was not big. In addition to his wife Tamara, these are two more children - son Igor and daughter Elena. The daughter of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin became one of those who openly spoke about the involvement of the authorities in the death of her father.

In the spring of 2016, she gave an extended interview in which she bluntly stated that her father was preparing a military coup in the country. She said that she currently lives in Moscow, not far from her - her mother andbrother.

Elena herself has a disability, she is raising two children - a 23-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son. She devotes all her free time to social activities, she is a member of the Russian National Front. Elena notes that she is faced with the fact that Russian nationalists do not have the media, their own human rights base, in this she is trying to help them. Goes to courts, actively covers trials.

Together with other activists, the Foundation for the Support of Russian Political Prisoners was organized. Among those whom Elena and her like-minded people are going to help is Vladimir Kvachkov, he is currently in custody on charges of terrorism and organizing an armed rebellion in Russia.

According to Elena, her father was amazed when he saw how voluminous theft was in the country, especially a lot of information began to come after his election to the State Duma. Elena's husband, Rokhlin's assistant Sergey Abakumov, according to her, was privy to the details of the impending coup.

Besides, Rokhlin himself allegedly knew about the impending assassination attempt on him. He was even going to voice it in order to somehow protect himself, but he did not have time. A few days after his death, the general was scheduled to speak in the State Duma about the uranium deal. Uranium, in his opinion, the Russian government sold for next to nothing.

Another version of the death of the hero of our article is connected with the son of Lev Rokhlin. According to some reports, he may also be involved in the murder of his father. At least, such assumptions were made immediately after this tragedy.

AutumnIn 2000, during the trial of Tamara Rokhlina, she made a sensational statement in court that on the night of her husband's murder, there was another person in the house who had not previously appeared in the case, but who could shed light on what happened. However, he was never presented to the court.

Some journalists then noted that the son of Lev Rokhlin was sent to close relatives immediately after the murder of his father. As it became known, Igor suffers from a nervous disease, allegedly he has repeatedly threatened his father with murder. In this regard, a version arose that his illness developed into a serious mental illness, which led to the tragedy. In this case, the contradictory behavior of his mother would be explained. The fact is that immediately after the death of General Tamara Rokhlina pleaded guilty, but later stated that this was the work of unknown killers who forced her to incriminate herself.

The children of Lev Rokhlin for a long time remained under the close supervision of the public and the media. More than 20 years have passed since then, but it is still impossible to say with certainty who killed Rokhlin.

General's biography

The opportunity to get acquainted with the details of the fate of the hero of our article appeared in 1998. It was then that Andrei Vladimirovich Antipov published the book "Lev Rokhlin. The Life and Death of a General".

On 400 pages, the author assesses the controversial and ambiguous figure of an officer who took part in all military conflicts of recent years, constantly stood out among those around him with his authority and extraordinarystatements.

In the book about Lev Rokhlin, the author tries to draw a peculiar line under his life, objectively tell about his fate, give an answer to the riddle of his mysterious death. A real trench general found his place in modern Russian politics, not being afraid of any dangers and difficulties, he always acted ahead. In the book "Lev Rokhlin. The Life and Death of a General," the author notes that his career was cut short on takeoff, at only 51 years old. Most likely, no one will be able to unravel the mystery of his death, because he was inconvenient for so many, too many different politicians and influential people were interested in his death.

The book details the beginning of the general's career, when he turned into an infantryman or paratrooper, received a deadly lesson from life, fought in Afghanistan, commanded a division in Tbilisi in 1991, then participated in the fight against armed gangs in the Chechen Republic Republic.

The researcher of his life path is trying to answer the question of how the military general decided to go into politics, what work he did as a deputy of the State Duma. His friends and acquaintances claim that it was in parliament that he realized that without global and fundamental changes, it would never be possible to help the army and the military-industrial complex of Russia. He understood that in an economically weak state there could not be a strong and worthy army. By the summer of 1998, he was actually at the head of a powerful and massive protest movement, political rallies demanding the resignation of unpopularPresident and government could begin literally at any moment. Many modern researchers agree that the people saw in Rokhlin a leader who could lead.