Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov (russian: Евгений Иванович Шапошников; 3 February 1942 – 8 December 2020) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n military leader and business figure. He was awarded the rank of

Marshal of Aviation Marshal of the branch (or "marshal of the branch of service"; russian: Ма́ршал ро́да во́йск, Marshal roda voysk) was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the form ...

in 1991. He was the final Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union.

Early years

Shaposhnikov was born on a farm near Aksay in Rostov Oblast, Russia. He graduated from the Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School in 1963 and the

Gagarin Air Force Academy Gagarin Air Force Academy () is a Russian military aviation academy located in Monino, Moscow Oblast. The academy prepares high-ranking military personnel for the Russian Air Force. Among the academy alumni are around 700 Heroes of the Soviet ...

in 1969.

Military career

Shaposhnikov joined the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

and rose through the ranks. In 1987–1989, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov was the

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

commander of the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupat ...

(

16th Air Army The 16th Red Banner Air Army (russian: 16-я воздушная Краснознамённая армия) was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air ...

?). In July 1990, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet Air Force.

Political career

Soviet Union

In August 1991 – February 1992, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov held the post of

Minister of Defence of Soviet Union The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the socialist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992. Pe ...

(and thus the last Soviet Defence Minister). Recognized the Belovezhsky agreement on the termination of the existence of the USSR immediately after its signing on 8 December 1991. On 21 December 1991, simultaneously with the accession of 8 republics to the Commonwealth of Independent States (all, except for Georgia and the Baltic republics that previously left the USSR) a protocol was signed on the assignment of temporary command of the Armed Forces of the USSR to Shaposhnikov. Around the end of January 1992, the Ministry of Defense of the disintegrated USSR began to de facto call itself the main command of the CIS Armed Forces. In the Decree of the President of Russia of 4 January 1992, Marshal Shaposhnikov was mentioned as the head of the Ministry of Defense of the former USSR.

Commonwealth of Independent States/Russian Federation

Only on 14 February 1992 did the Council of CIS Heads of State officially appoint Shaposhnikov Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Armed Forces of the CIS, and only on March 20 of the same year, on the basis of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the General Command of the CIS Joint Armed Forces was officially created. In June–September 1993, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov held the post of the secretary of the

Security Council of the Russian Federation The Security Council of the Russian Federation (SCRF or Sovbez; russian: Совет безопасности Российской Федерации (СБРФ), Sovet bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii (SBRF)) is a constitutional consultative bo ...

Business career

In January 1994, he became a representative of the

President of the Russian Federation The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

in the main arms-exporting company

Rosvooruzhenie JSC Rosoboronexport (russian: AO Рособоронэкспорт, ''Rosoboroneksport'') is the sole state intermediary agency for Russia's exports/imports of defense-related and dual use products, technologies and services. The Rosoboronexport ...

. In November 1995 – March 1997 he was the CEO (General Director) of Aeroflot airline company. He has been employed as an adviser of the President of the Russian Federation on matters of aviation and space exploration since March 1997.

Death

He died on 8 December, 2020 at

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Russia The COVID-19 pandemic in Russia is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Russia on 31 January 2020, when two Ch ...

.Умер последний министр обороны СССР Евгений Шапошников

References

External links

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, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaposhnikov, Yevgeny 1942 births 2020 deaths Soviet Air Force marshals Soviet Ministers of Defence Russian politicians Aeroflot Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd class Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War