Nikolai Ilyich Martynyuk (; 22 April 1934 – 10 April 2021) was an officer of the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

. He rose to command his own vessels, reaching the rank of

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

in 1985, and serving as First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet between 1984 and 1991.

Naval career

Martynyuk was born into a peasant family on 22 April 1934 in the village of , , in

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

, then part of the

Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, in the Soviet Union. He attended the

Pacific Higher Naval School The Makarov Pacific Higher Naval School () is one of the Russian Navy's two higher educational institutions under the Ministry of Defense of Russia, with this school being located in Vladivostok in Russian Far East, Eastern Russia, the only naval ...

, graduating with honours in 1956. Between 1956 and 1966 he served on various surface ships of the

Kamchatka Flotilla The Kamchatka Military Flotilla () is a flotilla of the Russian Navy. On December 14, 1849, in accordance with the Decree of Emperor Nicholas I, the Okhotsk military flotilla was transferred to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Kamchatka. Thus December ...

, rising through the ranks from commander of the ship's control group, and weapons commander on the ''SKR-55'' of the 86th separate battalion of patrol ships, to commanding two

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s, including the ''BTShch-91'' and the Project 30bis destroyer ''Bezboyaznenny''. Between 1965 and 1966 he was a student at the Faculty of the Navy at the of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, and after completing his studies, was sent in 1966 to serve in the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

. He remained with the fleet until 1969, during which time he commanded the Project 57bis destroyer ''Derzkiy''. Skoryy Class destroyer

Martynyuk undertook further studies between 1969 and 1971, this time at the A. A. Grechko Naval Academy, graduating with honours. In 1971 he joined the Pacific Fleet, where he would spend the rest of his naval career. While serving with the fleet he rose from the post of chief of staff of the 82nd brigade of reserve ships, through two years in command of the 175th missile ship brigade, to become the fleet's First Deputy Chief of Staff in summer 1984. He undertook several long-range voyages with the , where he had served as the squadron's chief of staff and deputy commander between June 1975 and 1984. The squadron at this time was one of the most powerful in the navy, consisting of some of its most modern ships. In 1985 he was promoted to the rank of

, and retired in 1991.

Political career and later life

Shortly before retiring from the navy, Martynyuk began a career in politics in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

. He was elected a deputy of Vladivostok City Council for the 149th constituency in 1990, and served until 1993. He was elected chairman for the defence commission, and was a member of the Presidium of the Council between 1990 and 1992. Over the course of his life he was awarded the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

, and the

Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" (), also known as the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", was a Soviet Union, Soviet Order (honour), military order awarded in three classes ...

Third Class, and various medals. In retirement he settled on a farm in the village of . Martynyuk died in Vladivostok on 10 April 2021 at the age of 86, after a serious illness. He was buried in the city's .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martynyuk, Nikolai 1934 births 2021 deaths Pacific Higher Naval School alumni N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy alumni People from Primorsky Krai Soviet admirals Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class