Vasyl Tomofiyovych Sobkov (Ukrainian: Василь Тимофійович Собков; 20 October 1944 - 1 April 2020), was an officer of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and later

Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

, who had served as the Deputy

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 1994 to 1998. Sobkov also served as the commander of the

Carpathian Military District The Red Banner Carpathian Military District (, ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Cold War and subsequently of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the early Post-Soviet period. It was established on 3 May 1946 on the ...

in post-independence Ukraine from 1992 to 1994. In 1992, Sobkov served as the

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

— First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

Biography

Soviet service

Vasyl Sobkov was born on 20 October 1944 to a family of peasants. After graduating from the Kazan Tank Command School in 1966, he served in the troops of the

, where he held the positions of tank platoon commander, tank company, training platoon, and training company. After graduating in 1977 from the Military Academy of Armored Forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky, he was sent for further service to 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 Occupation ...

, where he held the positions of chief of staff - deputy commander, then commander of a tank regiment and deputy commander of a tank division. In 1984, he graduated from the K. E. Voroshilov Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, and was appointed commander of a motor rifle division in the troops of the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of First Republic of Armenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic ...

, then from 1987 to 1989, he was the commander of an army corps in the

Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District (, ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with its headquarters at Tashkent. The District was first created during the 1874 R ...

. From 1989 to 1991 Sobkov served as commander of the

6th Guards Tank Army The 6th Guards Order of Red Banner Tank Army was a tank army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first formed in January 1944 as the 6th Tank Army,Glantz (Companion), p. 66. and disbanded in Ukraine in the 1990s after the dissolution of the Soviet U ...

in the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

, and in May 1991 he was commander of the

2nd Guards Tank Army The 2nd Guards Tank Army () was a large military formation of the Red Army and Soviet Army, later part of the Russian Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. The army was originally formed in early 1943 as the 2nd Tank Army. It was the firs ...

, as part of the Western Group of Forces, reaching the rank of lieutenant general in the Soviet Armed Forces.

Ukrainian service

On 4 June 1992, Sobkov was appointed

- 1st Deputy

, but on 25 September of the same year he was transferred to the post of commander of the Carpathian Military District instead of Lieutenant General Valeriy Stepanov, who had led the district for only a few months. On 31 December, by Decree of the President of Ukraine, Sobkov was promoted to a colonel general. On 7 April 1994, he was appointed the first, after the creation of the position,

Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces () is the professional head of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. In 2001–2005 it was known as commander-in-chief (). While the chief of ground forces post had been created in early 1992, it was over two ...

- Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine. On 30 September 1998, after the resignation of Army General Valeriy Hubenko from the post of Inspector General of the , Sobkov was appointed to this post, and in the post of Commander of the Ground Forces he was replaced by Colonel General

Petro Shulyak Petro Ivanovych Shulyak (; born 29 March 1945 in Korshiv, Zdolbuniv Raion, Soviet Union) is a member of the Ukrainian military, Colonel General who served as the Chief of General Staff and Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Career N ...

, who at one time replaced him and as commander of the Carpathian Military District. On 16 November 2004, by decree of the President of Ukraine,

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

, he was dismissed from military service due to his health. Colonel General Vasyl Tomofiyovych Sobkov died on 1 April 2020 in Kyiv. He was buried on 3 April 2020, at the

Baikove Cemetery Baikove Cemetery () is a historic cemetery memorial in Holosiivskyi District of Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a National Historic Monument of Ukraine and is known as a necropolis of distinguished people. History The cemetery was established in 1833 a ...

.https://sprotyv.info/news/v-zsu-vislovili-spivchuttya-shhodo-smerti-general-polkovnika-vasilya-sobkova/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobkov, Vasyl 1944 births 2020 deaths People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast Colonel Generals of Ukraine Soviet lieutenant generals Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Chiefs of the General Staff (Ukraine) Burials at Baikove Cemetery