Vladimir Timofeyevich Medvedev (, born 22 August 1937) is a retired Soviet

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

general and bodyguard who was responsible for personal security of Soviet leaders including

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

Biography

Medvedev was born in village Popovo,

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

into a family of four siblings. His father, Timofei Fyodorovich, was a carpenter and fought in World War II with an artillery unit, while his mother, Evdokiya Fyodorovna, worked at a factory and raised the children. In the late 1950s he served in the military as an aerial radio operator with the Baltic Air Force and then worked as a metalworker. In 1962 he was invited to train as a security officer with the KGB. He agreed mostly for financial reasons, as he was already married, and the new salary almost doubled that at a factory. During the next five years Medvedev trained with the KGB, guarded a top-secret installation, and received a university degree in law by correspondence. His physical drills included close-range combat; extreme driving, diving and swimming; skiing, athletics, and shooting from various angles in a wide range of environments; he was also trained in first aid. In late 1967 he was promoted to the unit that was responsible for Brezhnev's security, and in 1972 became its deputy head, under Aleksandr Ryabenko. It was Medvedev and his colleague Vladimir Sobachenkov who found Brezhnev dead in his bed in the morning of 10 November 1982. Medvedev attempted

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

, but to no avail. After the death of Brezhnev, only Medvedev kept a high-profile position among his closest bodyguards – the other three, Aleksandr Ryabenko, Vladimir Sobachenkov and Gennady Fedotov, were soon demoted and retired. Meanwhile, Medvedev was responsible for the security of top Soviet officials, including

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...

and Mikhail Zimyanin, in their domestic and foreign trips. Yet his role was changed from supervising to actually organising security, i.e., personal field work. In the summer of 1984 he was ordered to accompany

Raisa Gorbacheva Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (, , Титаренко; 5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a Soviet and Russian activist and philanthropist who was the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. She raised funds for the preservation of Russi ...

in Bulgaria. This assignment was given to test whether Medvedev could work with her and her husband, who was seen by the KGB as the next Soviet leader. Medvedev passed the test and became head of Gorbachev's security. Gorbachev wanted to renew his entire security team with young KGB officers, yet he placed an experienced veteran as its lead. During the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

, Yuri Plekhanov personally discharged Medvedev from Gorbachev's security. Medvedev obeyed a direct order from his superior and left Gorbachev in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, for which Gorbachev never forgave him. In March 1992 Medvedev retired from the former KGB and later worked for a Russian firm providing security to foreign tourists. In 1994 he published his memoirs, ''The Man Behind the Back'' (''Человек за спиной''). In his memoirs, Medvedev mentions that his wife Svetlana died in 1980, and that at the time of Brezhnev's death (1982) he was married to Dana and later had more than one daughter. Despite constant stress and overwork, he fell ill only twice during his KGB service, both times with a cold.Medvedev, 290

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medvedev, Vladimir 1937 births Living people People from Moscow Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Bodyguards of Leonid Brezhnev KGB officers Russian major generals Soviet major generals