Always be in the mood. General Romanov
Romanov Anatoly Alexandrovich- Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Russian Federation- Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Colonel General.
Was born September 27, 1948 in the village of Mikhailovka, Belebeevsky district, Bashkiria.
IN Armed forces drafted in October 1967 by the Kirov District Military Commissariat of the city of Ufa, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1972 he graduated from the Saratov Higher Military Command Red Banner School of the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky, in 1982 - Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, in 1990 - the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
After the breakup Soviet Union continued military service in the ranks of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
After the start of the operation to restore constitutional order in the Chechen Republic, Lieutenant General Anatoly Romanov, appointed to the post of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, repeatedly traveled to business trips on North Caucasus. During one of these business trips, on October 6, 1995, he was seriously injured as a result of terrorist attack…
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 5, 1995, “for courage and heroism shown in the performance of official duty in the North Caucasus region, in conditions involving risk to life,” Colonel General Anatoly Alexandrovich Romanov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with a medal. "Golden Star".
December 28, 1995, in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1328 A.A. Romanov was relieved of his post as commander of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Since the time of his injury, Colonel General Romanov A.A. is being treated in a hospital in Moscow.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, “For Personal Courage”, “For Military Merit” (badge of the Order No. 1), and medals.
Article: Three worlds of General Romanov
IN 1995, an attempt was made on his life, 3 people died, but he survived. Doctors consider this a miracle. A person whose vitals have been damaged internal organs, including the brain, lives, worries about their loved ones. Maybe it’s a miracle, maybe it’s an unbending will, or maybe it’s just the love of loved ones. First of all, wives.
Family
They MET by chance. One day after work, her friend Nina approached Larisa: “You know, I really like one cadet. But he goes with a friend all the time. They need to be broken somehow. Help me". Sashka, who Nina liked so much, turned out to be a merry fellow and a joker. He joked all evening - the girls were dying of laughter. And his friend Tolya didn’t say even two words the whole evening - the tall, muscular blond was serious beyond his years. “Lord, how arrogant,” Larisa thought to herself. Tolya also had a low opinion of his new acquaintance: “Cute, but young.” It took them six months to understand each other and fall in love...
Anatoly looked after me beautifully. He brought flowers to every date, mostly wildflowers. The cadet at the Saratov Military School did not have money for greenhouse roses. He was still a little withdrawn. “I was able to understand him only after a few months,” recalls Larisa Vasilievna. — Tolya was born in a small village near Ufa. At the age of 15, he began to live separately from his parents - he went to work and at the same time finished evening school. He matured early, and all our jokes seemed senseless and childish to him.” The only thing cadet Romanov could talk about for hours was the army, duty, honor. They got married in September. At first they lived with Larisa’s parents. Then the command allocated them own apartment. The newlyweds worked during the day and made repairs at night. Every time Larisa accompanied her husband to work, she did not know when he would return home. At night the bell could ring - and Anatoly quickly got ready for work. But she knew one thing clearly: she followed her husband like stone wall. One day, the newlyweds and their friends were walking along the embankment. A group of local guys shouted obscenities at the women. Anatoly instantly appeared next to them and demanded an apology. This only inflamed the tipsy youths. Anatoly struck first - one of the hooligans flew several meters away. A fierce fight ensued, from which the military emerged victorious.
Soon the young couple had a child. Anatoly was expecting a son, and a girl was born. His colleagues reassured him: “Don’t worry! Girls are born only to real men!” The daughter was named Victoria in military style. Not a trace remained of the husband's seriousness. Together with the baby, he, a 2-meter athlete, rushed around the entire apartment, had pillow fights, read fairy tales and put his daughter to bed. But at the same time, he demanded organization and responsibility from the child. The girl was specially taken to a cafe so that she would learn the rules of good manners. The girl also loved to recite poetry, but was terribly shy. Then her father would put her on a chair in the middle of the room and ask her to repeat the poem. Several times the girl “passed the exam” even on the tram...
War
LARISA Vasilievna found out about her before others. They were vacationing in Essentuki when Anatoly Alexandrovich said: “It is quite possible that the Chechen campaign will begin again soon. I'll probably be there." A couple of weeks later he was appointed commander of a joint group of federal troops. Larisa watched all the news programs about the war. Sometimes in the reports it was possible to catch a glimpse of the husband. He could not sit in the general’s office and personally went out to check the positions. He was respected for this.
On October 6, an attempt was made on his life. While the column was passing through a tunnel on Minutka Square in Grozny, a directed land mine exploded. Romanov's wife and daughter learned about this from television news. News broadcasts ran every half hour and provided details: “General Romanov received severe injuries - a traumatic brain injury, penetrating wounds to the abdomen and chest, concussion. His assistant, Colonel Alexander Zaslavsky, the driver, private Vitaly Matvienko, and one of the fighters of the Rus special forces detachment, Denis Yabrikov, were killed. Another 15 servicemen of the internal troops accompanying the convoy were injured and concussed.” Passed more than an hour. No one called from the Main Command of the Internal Troops. Larisa was the first to start calling her husband’s colleagues. More than seven hours later they confirmed to her that Anatoly was alive: “He is already being taken to Moscow, don’t worry...”
When Larisa Vasilievna saw her husband in intensive care, it seemed to her that in front of her - stranger. His face was completely burned, his whole body was bandaged, and there was a wall of equipment around the hospital bed. Strong man, who had once punched through the wall with his fist, now lay helplessly on the table. He couldn't breathe on his own. There was little hope for salvation; even the doctors did not hide this. However, time passed: people who received less severe wounds died, and the general continued to fight for his life.
"Own world
FOR 8 years now, Larisa Vasilyevna has been visiting her husband in the hospital. If the weather is good, he dresses him up and takes him for a walk. They walk around the hospital courtyard and she tells him the news. Anatoly Alexandrovich listens - he is happy, worried, indignant. Despite his overall improvement, General Romanov is still unable to speak. He communicates with the world silently, through his eyes. “I, of course, cannot understand literally what he wants to say,” says Larisa Vasilievna. “But all his feelings, thoughts, emotions are quite understandable to me, his friends, and the medical staff. He is very categorical in his manifestations. He immediately makes it clear who he wants to see and who he doesn’t. What he wants to hear about, and what it’s better not to stutter about.”
After the tragedy, Larisa Vasilievna had to learn to understand her husband again. “He is next to me,” she says, “but somewhere in his own world. I don’t know what’s in this world of his. I'm sure of only one thing: he remained the same. The man I knew. He also enjoys the arrival of friends and family. He also worries about everyone. When I told him about my daughter's wedding, he cried. The only thing he doesn't want to hear about is war. He stopped all attempts to talk to him about Chechnya, soldiers, and the army. He doesn’t want to know more about that side of life that almost destroyed him.”
The only thing that Hero of Russia Romanov reacts calmly to are songs from the times of the Great Patriotic War. Very often he asks to play “Dark Night”, songs about tank crews. In general, the daily routine of a combat officer has changed little. At 8 o'clock he is already washed, shaved and dressed. At 9 he undergoes a kind of exercise: specialists give him a special massage. The doctor strictly monitors his diet: during all this time, the general has not gained weight and has not lost an ounce of weight. “Eight years have passed, during which time he has gotten better,” says Larisa Vasilievna. “That means there is hope that he will finally return.” We are all waiting for him."
"Not hard?
- With a husband like General Romanov, no. I was always proud to be his wife. The wife of a military officer. Even now, when the authority of the army has fallen, I believe that being an officer’s wife is prestigious. Of course, during our youth the state looked at us somewhat differently than it does now. Then the military, as in every normal country, was the backbone of the state. But now I have the impression that the state does not need the army to be strong and loyal. That's why her status was debunked. That's why our officers are paid so little. Maybe this is my delusion, but it seems to me that if General Romanov had now remained in the ranks of our army, then there would have been more order in it.
“Do you remember how small these Christmas trees were when we first arrived at this hospital,” Larisa asks her husband, “and now they’ve grown so much.” You and I are delayed here, Tolya, we are delayed...
And again the eyelids tremble slightly. He agrees. Stayed late."
General Romanov is a famous Soviet and Russian military leader, with the rank of Colonel General. Previously, he held the post of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, directly commanded the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the united group of federal troops on the territory of the Chechen Republic. In 1995 he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
In the fall of 1995, an attempt was made on his life, which caused him to lose the ability to move and talk independently. From 1995 to the present, he has been undergoing treatment at the Ministry of Internal Affairs hospital located in Balashikha. Currently, he perceives written text and communicates his condition using eye movements and hand waves.
Childhood and youth
General Romanov was born in 1948. Anatoly Alexandrovich was born in the small village of Mikhailovka, located in the Belebeevsky district. Now this is the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan. He grew up in a large peasant family, in which, in addition to him, there were seven more brothers and sisters.
The future General Romanov is Chuvash by nationality. In his native village, he studied at a junior high school, which he successfully graduated from. The hero of our article received a full secondary education by 1966. After that, he did not continue his studies, but went to work. There were many children in the family, so they had to sacrifice education, at least at first. Anatoly Alexandrovich began working as a milling machine operator.
Military service
Military service was one of the most promising directions For career growth in his position. Anatoly Romanov was called up for military service in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This happened in 1967.
From the very beginning, the future General Romanov served in the 95th Division of Internal Troops. The duties of him and his colleagues included the protection of especially important government facilities and special cargo.
Romanov proved himself to be a responsible and efficient person, which led to his rapid advancement through the ranks. By the end of his military service, he held the rank of senior sergeant. He served as a squad commander and even a deputy platoon commander.
Anatoly Romanov was demobilized in 1969. Then I finally decided to devote myself to military service and receive specialized education in this area. So he submitted documents to military school Ministry of Internal Affairs named after Dzerzhinsky, which was based in Saratov.
Military education
Anatoly Romanov not only successfully passed the exams for this military school, but also studied without problems for all the years, demonstrating high results. In 1972, he became a graduate and received a diploma with honors. Moreover, he was recognized as the best in the course, for which he was left to serve at the school.
Anatoly Romanov stayed at the Saratov school until 1984. IN different time holding the posts of course officer, assistant head of the training department, personally taught at the fire training department, and led the cadet battalion.
At the same time, he did not abandon his own education. From 1978 to 1982, in parallel with his service at the school, Romanov entered the extramural Military Academy named after Frunze. Successful completion of this military educational institution allowed him to further advance career ladder.
Up the career ladder
In 1984, having said goodbye to the school, Romanov was appointed head of the headquarters of the 546th regiment of internal troops, which were part of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. A year later he became a regiment commander.
This military unit was based in the Chelyabinsk region, in a closed military town called Zlatoust-36. Romanov directly supervised the security and maintenance of order at the defense plant and in the city itself.
In 1988, for his successful service, he was transferred closer to the center. He moved to the Moscow region, to the small town of Zhukovsky. Here Anatoly Romanov headed the headquarters of the 95th division, in which he once began his military career on emergency service.
With the rank of general
During perestroika and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, Romanov did not leave the armed forces, although at that time they were worried and not better times. By 1991, he already held the rank of colonel.
After this, the hero of our article became a student at the Military Academy of the General Staff, named after Klim Voroshilov. After graduating, he became the commander of the 96th division of internal troops with a base in Sverdlovsk.
In 1992, he was appointed head of the department of special units of the internal troops. Then he rose to the rank of major general.
1993 also became important in the biography of General Romanov, when he was appointed head of the department for the protection of important government facilities and special cargo. In the same year, he continued to move up the career ladder. Anatoly Romanov was successively appointed deputy commander of the internal troops, and then head of the combat training department of the internal troops.
Crisis near the White House
In September and October 1993, another significant event occurred in the biography of General Anatoly Romanov. He took a direct part in the confrontation between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Supreme Council.
The officer took the side of the head of state, all this time constantly being near the White House. It was Romanov, instead of General Shkirko, who took upon himself the responsibilities of leading the storming of the Russian parliament, which in live broadcast on TV channels around the world.
Participation in the war in Chechnya
Romanov participated in the establishment of constitutional order in the Chechen Republic, as the armed conflict that escalated into a long-term war was called in those years, as deputy commander of the internal troops.
He was directly involved in drawing up plans in case of destabilization of the situation in the self-proclaimed Ichkeria or other regions of Russia.
At the end of 1994, Romanov took command of the operational group of internal troops, which moved to the North Caucasus. In connection with this appointment, he was awarded a new rank - lieutenant general.
In December 1994, Romanov, among the leaders of a group of internal troops, entered Ichkeria, which by that time had declared its independence. Russia refused to recognize the sovereignty of the republic.
In the summer of 1995, the hero of our article was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, the direct commander of the internal troops in the country. In this place, he replaced Anatoly Kulikov, who left for the post of Minister of Internal Affairs. At the same time, Romanov began to lead a united group of federal troops operating in the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic.
Assassination attempt on the general
In Chechnya, General Romanov quickly launched active activities. One of his main achievements was the direct and Active participation in attempts to peacefully resolve the military conflict. At the same time, Anatoly Romanov sought to create conditions for the implementation of the peace process, being responsible for the military bloc.
In October 1995, negotiations were scheduled between the Russian military command and Aslan Maskhadov, who at that time was one of the separatist leaders. The participation of the command of the North Caucasus Military District was planned. General Romanov also went to negotiations.
A few hours before they started, he went to Severny Airport to meet a prominent Russian politician Chechen origin named Ruslan Khasbulatov. Khasbulatov has more than once offered his role as a mediator to resolve the conflict.
In the Chechen capital Grozny, Romanov was driving under a railway bridge near Minutka Square. While Romanov's convoy was traveling, a radio-controlled landmine was detonated. The hero of our article was in a UAZ, which was at the epicenter of the explosion. He was seriously injured and fell into a coma.
He managed to survive thanks to the fact that he was wearing a helmet and body armor. Kulikov in his memoirs linked the assassination attempt on Romanov with the name of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, who actually played the role of president of Ichkeria after the murder of Dzhokhar Dudayev. In particular, Kulikov claimed that the organizer of the assassination attempt was Ayub Vakhaev, and the perpetrator was another Chechen, Vakha Kurmakhatov.
The biography of General Romanov, who was blown up in Chechnya, is subsequently associated with long-term rehabilitation treatment. At the same time, in November 1995 he was awarded the rank of colonel general, and just before the New Year he was relieved of his post as commander of the internal troops due to health problems.
Long-term treatment
The photo of General Romanov appeared on the pages of many newspapers after the assassination attempt. He was immediately transported to a hospital in Vladikavkaz. He spent 18 days in a coma, after which he began to react to external stimuli.
Doctors diagnosed the officer with a fracture of the base of his skull and numerous shrapnel wounds. From Vladikavkaz he was transported to the military hospital named after Burdenko.
General Romanov's health remained stable for many years. In 2009, he was transferred to the clinical hospital of internal troops in Balashikha. He was treated with stem cells, but this did not bring tangible results, except for increased growth of nails and hair.
To this day, General Romanov’s condition has not changed fundamentally. He reacts to the speech of other people only with facial expressions. Understands text written on paper. At the same time, his physical condition remains satisfactory, his muscles are very weakened, but have not yet atrophied.
Personal life
Romanov has been married since 1971. His wife Larisa Vasilievna visits the officer almost every day, despite his serious physical condition. She comes to his room, takes him for walks, gives him a massage to avoid bedsores.
The special forces dealt with the traitorous military leader radically
On October 6, 1995, a radio-controlled land mine exploded under a railway bridge in Grozny. He rushed right under the car of the commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the United Group of Federal Forces in Chechnya, Colonel General Anatoly ROMANOV. The military leader was seriously injured and is still in the hospital. And all these years his wife has been selflessly caring for him.
Larisa Vasilievna, first of all, we congratulate your husband on his recent birthday. All the newspaper employees wish him get well soon and admire your courage! Tell me, how did Anatoly Alexandrovich manage to connect his fate with such a woman?
- My friend asked me to go on a date with her. And her friend came with Anatoly. At first we somehow didn’t like each other, but then we fell in love. He always looked after us beautifully: he never came without a bouquet of wild flowers. Why the field, I only realized later - he’s a cadet, where did the money come from?
- They probably envied you - the general’s wife, special opportunities, honor, power.
- You know, where we lived in military camps, this did not happen. You have to understand that my husband served in special units. These were good towns, with their own infrastructure. Everything was civil. We didn't feel any remoteness. As for envy... He gave no reason.
He treated soldiers, officers, and other people who surrounded us equally well. Very protective of the soldiers war time. When he taught at the school, he took care of the cadets and teachers. But he simply would not allow me, as the commander’s wife, to break these rules. He is a well-mannered, intelligent person. At the same time, Anatoly was quite down-to-earth - he did not shy away from drinking with friends and smoking.
Katya will treat her grandfather
- Was your husband upset when you gave birth to a daughter and not a son?
- No. He named her Victoria - Victory. She is already 37. Her first education was pedagogical, her second was legal. Serves at customs. Heads the HR department. The first husband turned out to be selfish, they divorced. The second one is fine. She was the secretary of the Komsomol organization at school, and he was the secretary of the city Komsomol committee. I worked in a small town in a bookstore; I am a book trade organizer by training. Everyone knew me, and I knew everyone. Sergei, Vika’s second husband, had a family, but he separated from his wife and asked me for shelter. Explaining that it’s hard for him now, and there’s no one to turn to for help. I was with him good relations, knew him for 20 years. Vika was also free by that time. Then they got married. Sergei has his own company. They live well. They gave me my granddaughter Katenka.
- I watched how you looked at your granddaughter, who performs in the famous Dance Ensemble named after Eliseev of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Do you want Katya to become a soloist?
- What do you! She categorically stated that when she grows up, she is now five years old, she will be a military doctor. He says that he will treat grandfather.
- Does she have her grandfather's last name?
- I think she will choose over time what she should be - Romanova or Plekhanova. This is not important. Moreover, both the first and second surnames are worth wearing. The main thing is, let him grow up kind, well-mannered person.
Threw the boor out of the trolleybus
- Tell me, Anatoly Alexandrovich fought for you in his youth, could he put a boor in his place?
- Certainly. Tolya did karate. One day we were walking along the embankment, and a bunch of guys, about six, started making obscenities at us. Well, Anatoly rushed in their direction. The fight was to the death. We barely got him away. Several people remained lying there. And one day my child and I entered the trolleybus through the front door, Tolya, naturally, through the back. At the bus stop, one boor started shouting at me that I was blocking the exit, and even used obscene language. Tolya came up and threw him out of the trolleybus.
- I remember your action when General Romanov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia: you were offered to receive an award for him, but you refused.
“I answered: “I’m not a widow!” He deserves it, give it to him.” But I myself am so offended, I shed so many tears. Only six years later, Army General Tikhomirov arrived at the hospital and attached the Gold Star of the Hero to my husband’s chest.
I think we all walk under God. Today you are powerful, but tomorrow you are nothing. And you need to remain human in any circumstances.
- My husband’s colleagues are coming, don’t they forget?
- Not only do they not forget, but they even help financially. Some sponsor the purchase of a wheelchair, others sponsor an anti-bedsore system.
- What, the Ministry of Defense has withdrawn?
-Have you seen these defense ministers? We do not have ministers of war. We have managers. The last Minister of Defense graduated from the All-Union Trade Institute. You are a naive person. What is a hospital? This public sector entity. The hospital can only provide what is budgeted. The fact that my husband was in the Burdenko Hospital is a personal achievement Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin. When the wounded husband was flying on the Scalpel (special aircraft. - A.B.), the president ordered to place him in the Burdenko Hospital. 15 years ago it was the best medical institution. But recently reorganization began, and the impression was created that the hospital was simply destroyed. We decided to leave him and move to the departmental hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Balashikha. My husband is now in a stable condition. No surgical interventions required. Rehabilitation is underway. When my husband was shown his granddaughter, he began to cry. So he feels. We are waiting and hoping!
The generals surrendered their
- Together with Anatoly Alexandrovich, General Vladimir Shamanov was supposed to go to a meeting with Khasbulatov on that fateful day. But at the last moment, your husband ordered him to fly to the Vvedensky district, where the militant attack began.
- Yes, Shamans flew to the rescue of the guys, and Tolya went to Khasbulatov one. Shamanov then told me: “Larissa! It was God who saved me!”
- There’s another question that worries me. After all, the commander himself chooses the route. This is top secret information. So someone betrayed him?
- And what do you think? Of course we passed! I don’t know the details, but the officers from the special forces told me that they dealt with this man. It is tough. Drastically.
EVERY day, employees of the Burdenko military hospital see the same picture: a woman walking along the hospital courtyard, pushing a wheelchair in front of her. Sometimes he stops and tells something for a long time to a man sitting in a chair. He listens but doesn't answer. The former commander of the joint group of troops in Chechnya, Anatoly Romanov, cannot speak.
IN 1995, an attempt was made on his life, 3 people died, but he survived. Doctors consider this a miracle. A person whose vital internal organs have been damaged, including the brain, lives and worries about his loved ones. Maybe it’s a miracle, maybe it’s an unbending will, or maybe it’s just the love of loved ones. First of all, wives.
Family
They MET by chance. One day after work, her friend Nina approached Larisa: “You know, I really like one cadet. But he goes with a friend all the time. They need to be broken somehow. Help me". Sashka, who Nina liked so much, turned out to be a merry fellow and a joker. He joked all evening - the girls were dying of laughter. And his friend Tolya didn’t say even two words the whole evening - the tall, muscular blond was serious beyond his years. “Lord, how arrogant,” Larisa thought to herself. Tolya also had a low opinion of his new acquaintance: “Cute, but young.” It took them six months to understand each other and fall in love...
Anatoly looked after me beautifully. He brought flowers to every date, mostly wildflowers. The cadet at the Saratov Military School did not have money for greenhouse roses. He was still a little withdrawn. “I was able to understand him only after a few months,” recalls Larisa Vasilievna. - Tolya was born in a small village near Ufa. At the age of 15, he began to live separately from his parents - he went to work and at the same time finished evening school. He matured early, and all our jokes seemed senseless and childish to him.” The only thing that cadet Romanov could talk about for hours was about the army, duty, honor. They got married in September. At first they lived with Larisa’s parents. Then the command gave them their own apartment. The newlyweds worked during the day and made repairs at night. Every time Larisa accompanied her husband to work, she did not know when he would return home. At night the bell could ring - and Anatoly quickly got ready for work. But she knew one thing clearly: she was behind her husband like behind a stone wall. One day, the newlyweds and their friends were walking along the embankment. A group of local guys shouted obscenities at the women. Anatoly instantly appeared next to them and demanded an apology. This only inflamed the tipsy youths. Anatoly struck first - one of the hooligans flew several meters away. A fierce fight ensued, from which the military emerged victorious.
Soon the young couple had a child. Anatoly was expecting a son, and a girl was born. His colleagues reassured him: “Don’t worry! Girls are born only to real men!” The daughter was named Victoria in military style. Not a trace remained of the husband's seriousness. Together with the baby, he, a 2-meter athlete, rushed around the entire apartment, had pillow fights, read fairy tales and put his daughter to bed. But at the same time, he demanded organization and responsibility from the child. The girl was specially taken to a cafe so that she would learn the rules of good manners. The girl also loved to recite poetry, but was terribly shy. Then her father would put her on a chair in the middle of the room and ask her to repeat the poem. Several times the girl “passed the exam” even on the tram...
War
LARISA Vasilievna found out about her before others. They were vacationing in Essentuki when Anatoly Alexandrovich said: “It is quite possible that the Chechen campaign will begin again soon. I'll probably be there." A couple of weeks later he was appointed commander of a joint group of federal troops. Larisa watched all the news programs about the war. Sometimes I was successful in reporting
axis to catch a glimpse of her husband. He could not sit in the general’s office and personally went out to check the positions. He was respected for this.
On October 6, an attempt was made on his life. While the column was passing through a tunnel on Minutka Square in Grozny, a directed land mine exploded. Romanov's wife and daughter learned about this from television news. News broadcasts ran every half hour and provided details: “General Romanov received severe injuries - a traumatic brain injury, penetrating wounds to the abdomen and chest, concussion. His assistant, Colonel Alexander Zaslavsky, the driver, private Vitaly Matvienko, and one of the fighters of the Rus special forces detachment, Denis Yabrikov, were killed. Another 15 servicemen of the internal troops accompanying the convoy were injured and concussed.” More than an hour passed. No one called from the Main Command of the Internal Troops. Larisa was the first to start calling her husband’s colleagues. More than seven hours later they confirmed to her that Anatoly was alive: “He is already being taken to Moscow, don’t worry...”
When Larisa Vasilyevna saw her husband in intensive care, it seemed to her that there was a stranger in front of her. His face was completely burned, his whole body was bandaged, and there was a wall of equipment around the hospital bed. The strong man who had once punched through the wall was now lying helpless on the table. He couldn't breathe on his own. There was little hope for salvation; even the doctors did not hide this. However, time passed: people who received less severe wounds died, and the general continued to fight for his life.
"Own world
FOR 8 years now, Larisa Vasilyevna has been visiting her husband in the hospital. If the weather is good, he dresses him up and takes him for a walk. They walk around the hospital courtyard and she tells him the news. Anatoly Alexandrovich listens - he is happy, worried, indignant. Despite his overall improvement, General Romanov is still unable to speak. He communicates with the world silently, through his eyes. “I, of course, cannot understand literally what he wants to say,” says Larisa Vasilievna. “But all his feelings, thoughts, emotions are quite understandable to me, his friends, and the medical staff. He is very categorical in his manifestations. He immediately makes it clear who he wants to see and who he doesn’t. What he wants to hear about, and what it’s better not to stutter about.”
After the tragedy, Larisa Vasilievna had to learn to understand her husband again. “He is next to me,” she says, “but somewhere in his own world. I don’t know what’s in this world of his. I'm sure of only one thing: he remained the same. The man I knew. He also enjoys the arrival of friends and family. He also worries about everyone. When I told him about my daughter's wedding, he cried. The only thing he doesn't want to hear about is war. He stopped all attempts to talk to him about Chechnya, soldiers, and the army. He doesn’t want to know more about that side of life that almost destroyed him.”
The only thing that Hero of Russia Romanov reacts calmly to are songs from the times of the Great Patriotic War. Very often he asks to play “Dark Night”, songs about tank crews. In general, the daily routine of a combat officer has changed little. At 8 o'clock he is already washed, shaved and dressed. At 9, he undergoes a kind of exercise: specialists give him a special massage. The doctor strictly monitors his diet: during all this time, the general has not gained weight and has not lost an ounce of weight. “Eight years have passed, during which time he has gotten better,” says Larisa Vasilievna. - Which means there is hope that he will finally return. We are all waiting for him."
For almost eighteen years, the struggle for the life of Colonel General Anatoly Aleksandrovich Romanov, seriously wounded in October 1995 near Minutka Square in Grozny, has continued. His opposition to death, which has continued all these years, cannot but arouse respect for Anatoly Alexandrovich. On September 27, 2013, General Romanov will turn 65 years old. As usual, he will meet this day in a special ward of a military hospital.
Fatal October
The fate of General Romanov is mercilessly cut by the drama into two parts of different sizes. In one of them, he is still full of a bright, strong, courageous life, which, as it seems to everyone, is just entering the time of true blossoming. Forty-seven years old. A peasant son who had just become commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Husband and father who found in his friendly family simple human happiness.
In another part of life that lasts almost eighteen for long years, is a seriously wounded man with life still smoldering in him, like a candle flame. Hospital ward and white coats of doctors. An undefeated general whose consciousness has not yet returned from the war...
Since the spring of 1995, he was captured by many journalistic television cameras and cameras, when, after the dramatic assault on the Chechen capital and the displacement of militants into the mountains Russian authorities began to strengthen the peaceful order of life in the cities and villages of Chechnya. Often Romanov, without security, fearlessly entered villages where militants were still hiding. I talked with representatives of the rural authorities and clergy, with residents for whom the future world was not an abstract concept, but meant the return of normal life: with the aroma fresh bread, a sense of security, pensions for the elderly and education for children.
In Chechnya, which until recently lived in separatist dreams, these very things suddenly turned out to be the most scarce. It often happened that after a conversation with Romanov, the residents themselves drove out the remaining militants from the villages, and the flags of Ichkeria hanging on administrative buildings were quickly replaced by the tricolor flags of the Russian state.
In the summer of 1995, Romanov was confirmed as commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and appointed commander of the United Group of Federal Forces on the territory of the Chechen Republic. A participant in the negotiation process with the leaders of illegal armed groups, he was responsible for the development and implementation of the so-called military block of issues.
Romanov’s natural diplomatic talent, his ability to translate the most furious disputes into constructive dialogue and transform former enemies into new like-minded people through the mere power of charm made his participation in the peacemaking process unique in its own way.
But most importantly, ordinary Chechens began to trust Romanov. The further - the more. And in this sense, for the ideologists of the rebellion and Chechen separatism, as well as for those who were hiding behind them in those days, General Romanov remained a deadly figure.
This world went downhill on October 6, 1995, on the day when General Romanov, who left Khankala for Grozny to meet with Ruslan Khasbulatov, was seriously wounded. A high-explosive charge, equivalent to 30 kilograms of TNT, was remotely detonated at about 13:00, when part of the column of internal troops, including Romanov’s UAZ and several escort armored personnel carriers, had already been pulled into the tunnel near Minutka Square in Grozny.
Of those who were in Romanov's UAZ, the assistant commander, Colonel Alexander Zaslavsky, and the driver, Private Vitaly Matviychenko, immediately died. A little later, a soldier from the detachment who was guarding the general that day would die from his wounds. special purpose“Rus” of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, private Denis Yabrikov. Another two dozen people were wounded and shell-shocked.
Immediately after the explosion, the tunnel was filled with smoke. It was not immediately possible to find Romanov among the human bodies scattered by the explosion. He was identified by his belt with a general's buckle and a gold wedding ring on the right hand...
Rescue Relay
The fight for the life of General Romanov has already become worthy detailed story about the courage, patience and professional skill of those people who saved the wounded Romanov, who have been treating him all these years.
In Moscow, the first to learn about Romanov’s injury was the Minister of Internal Affairs, General Anatoly Kulikov. For him, Romanov was not only a military leader, who had recently replaced Kulikov himself as commander of the internal troops and commander of the United Group, but also a close friend.
The minister had just returned from Chechnya the day before, and on the morning of October 6 he managed to talk with Romanov on the phone, accepting his morning report.
The helicopter flight commander (who is also the commander of the Mi-8 helicopter crew), Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Karamyshev (lives in Khabarovsk), was not supposed to fly anywhere that day: it was his birthday, free from combat work. But war is war. According to its laws, the crew - in addition to the commander, included captain Andrei Zhezlov (lives in Kostroma) and on-board technician, senior lieutenant Alexander Gorodov (lives in Chita) - still had to fly to the Severny airfield. They had already requested permission for a return flight, when the command came to drop into “the meadow” - that was the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs helipad in Khankala. They explained: “There are eighteen “three hundred” (seriously wounded) there.
There were indeed wounded. On a stretcher. Everything is covered in blood and torn camouflage. The duty officer at the aviation command post, silently smoking a cigarette and not really explaining anything, finally made a strange reservation: they say, now the commander will fly with you.
The pilot knew the commander of the United Group Romanov well. He respected him for not acting like a master in front of his subordinates. For intelligence. For the fact that forty-seven-year-old Romanov could spin the sun on the horizontal bar, wearing a heavy soldier’s body armor for the load.
He expected to see a fit, tall general with his assistants now, wondering to himself at the suppressed nervousness of the people around him. He did not immediately realize that Romanov himself was wounded, who, along with other victims, should have been immediately evacuated to the Vladikavkaz military hospital.
Concentrating, Karamyshev figured that the shortest route, taking 17 minutes of flight, was the road through Bamut, which was shelling helicopters. A guaranteed safe route would have taken them almost twice as long.
We were in a hurry. We passed Grozny. The G8 was moving ten meters above the ground at a speed of 315-320 kilometers per hour, significantly exceeding the permitted speed. So they jumped out into an open field. Out of the corner of his eye, Karamyshev saw someone’s blurry silhouette suddenly rise from the arable land and soar upward like a candle. I managed to make a maneuver and almost jumped over the eagle flying to intercept it, like an anti-aircraft missile. A powerful blow shook the fuselage. The bird crashed into the taxiing headlight with all its might, turning it around and spattering the bottom of the helicopter with eagle blood. This was discovered later, surprised at their own luck: if there had been a frontal impact or a bird hitting the engine, the helicopter could simply have crashed.
Near Bamut, 152-mm self-propelled artillery units fired with all their remarkable force. There was a planned shelling in the squares, and the “eight” had to scour between the sultans of the explosions so as not to get hit by a flying shell or its fragments.
Karamyshev landed at the airfield on the move. I also looked at my watch - we got there in exactly a quarter of an hour. The wounded were handed over to local doctors. And all they could do was shake their heads: “Another ten minutes, and there would be no need to rush...”
Lieutenant Colonel Karamyshev, who was flying the helicopter, could not know what was happening in flight behind him, in the landing compartment of the helicopter. The medical team on board formed spontaneously even at the moment of loading the wounded.
Lieutenant of the medical service Dmitry Davydov, who had just graduated from the military medical faculty, boarded a helicopter to accompany the wounded soldiers of the Rus special forces detachment, whose chief of medicine he was on this first trip to the war. Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Evgeniy Kirichenko and nurse Warrant Officer Irina Burmistrova volunteered to board the helicopter.
Among the wounded, Davydov immediately recognized Denis Yabrikov. He was on Romanov’s bodyguard and together with him ended up at the epicenter of the explosion. Denis was still alive, his face was bandaged, but to Davydov’s question “How are you?” He moved his lips quite cheerfully: “Fine.” (Denis Yabrikov will die later, already in the Vladikavkaz garrison hospital, from wounds incompatible with life.)
The condition of two more wounded - a soldier in a gray police uniform and an officer in camouflage - seemed equally serious, if not worse. The officer’s blood pressure was generally “zero.” Only after handing over the wounded alive to the local doctors did they hear from the helicopter crew who had just been delivered to Vladikavkaz and who was wearing an officer’s camouflage torn by the explosion and bloody...
The decision to send the Scalpel military hospital aircraft to Vladikavkaz was made almost instantly. The chief anesthesiologist of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N.N. Burdenko, Honored Doctor of Russia, Colonel of the Medical Service Mikhail Rudenko received after returning from another operation.
He was called by the head of the hospital, Major General Vyacheslav Klyuzhev. Rudenko just asked Klyuzhev how many minutes he had left...
“Twenty,” answered the head of the hospital, and Rudenko sighed with relief in response: his suitcases with necessary equipment, medicines and materials that could be useful in any situation complicated by circumstances were always collected ahead of time.
Soon the entire team of military doctors at the Military Hospital named after. N.N. Burdenko, consisting of Mikhail Ivanovich Rudenko, Sergei Nilovich Alekseev, Grigory Borisovich Tsekhanovsky, Vladimir Borisovich Gorbulenko and Igor Borisovich Maximov, hastily loaded into the car, was already heading towards the Chkalov airfield near Moscow.
Upon arrival in Vladikavkaz, it turned out that Romanov had very severe intra-abdominal bleeding caused by a ruptured liver. Having quickly changed clothes, Rudenko went to the operating room...
We must pay tribute to the medical staff of the Vladikavkaz garrison hospital, led by Colonel Rudolf Nikolaevich An. Everything possible was done there to save the wounded. But the nature of Romanov’s injuries and his condition required the immediate evacuation of the wounded man to Moscow.
General Romanov ended up in the intensive care unit of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Burdenko.
In principle, he was killed,” Major General Vyacheslav Klyuzhev would later say about Anatoly Romanov.
However, he will immediately add: “He would have been killed if, from the first minute of his rescue, he had not found himself in the hands of professionals of the highest class...”
The fight continues
Despite the severity of the wound, this eighteen-year struggle for the general’s life does not stop to this day - for doctors, for his wife Larisa and daughter Victoria, for close comrades.
It is possible that Romanov would not have lived a day without Larisa Romanova, his wife, next to him. Love is not called a feat while it lives for pleasure, but any feat becomes possible if it is driven by true love.
For the last four years, General Anatoly Romanov has been in the Central Hospital of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, located in Balashikha near Moscow. Around the clock by his side nurses from the internal troops. Over the years, many of them have changed, but each of them has invested a considerable share of work, supporting the life of the wounded general in efforts that lasted day and night.
After the reconstruction of the hospital here, through the care of the current Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Army General Nikolai Rogozhkin, a special block for Romanov was equipped in one of the buildings. He often sits in his wheelchair near window opening, and it’s hard to say what’s in his soul.
Shortly before his injury, General Romanov, without any pathos, told his colleagues: “Each of us is ready to carry out a combat mission, even if it costs him his life. Nobody wants to die, but if necessary...” he fell silent without finishing his sentence.
The important thing is not that at that moment he did not yet know his fate. The important thing is that together we were ready to go to the end. And, having set off on the journey with Romanov, we never regretted it.