Romanov Anatoly Alexandrovich - Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General.
He was born on September 27, 1948 in the village of Mikhailovka, now the Ermolka Village Council of the Belebeevsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan, into a peasant family. Russian. He graduated from an incomplete secondary school in his native village, and in 1966 - 11 classes of a secondary school in the city of Belebey. Since 1966, he worked as a milling machine operator at the plant.
He was drafted into the Armed Forces of the USSR on October 29, 1967 by the Kirov district military registration and enlistment office of the city of Ufa. He served in the 95th division of the internal troops for the protection of important state facilities and special cargo in the positions: shooter, cadet, squad leader, deputy platoon commander, platoon commander. In 1969, senior sergeant A.A. Romanov, instead of being transferred to the reserve, wrote a report about sending him to a military school.
In 1972 he graduated with honors from the Saratov Military Command Red Banner School of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky (since 1973 - higher). As the best graduate, he was left in the same school, served there as a course officer, assistant to the head of the training department, teacher of the fire training department, commander of a cadet battalion.
In 1982 he graduated from the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze. He again commanded a battalion at the Saratov School. Since 1984 - deputy commander, and since 1985 - commander of the 546th regiment of internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Sverdlovsk region, which performed the task of protecting one of the strategic defense enterprises. Since 1988 - Chief of Staff of the 95th Division for the Protection of Important State Facilities and Special Cargoes of the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (Zhukovsky, Moscow Region).
In 1991 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Since 1992 - commander of the 96th division of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Yekaterinburg). From the beginning of 1993 - Head of the Special Units of the Internal Troops for the Protection of Important State Facilities and Special Cargoes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Since mid-1993 - Deputy Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - Head of the Combat Training Department of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
A.A. Romanov, a participant in the bloody events in September-October 1993 in Moscow, during the period of confrontation between the President of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, dissolved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1400 of September 21, 1993, acted on the presidential side. Repeatedly traveled on business trips to the North Caucasus.
Since June 1995 - Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation - Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. At the same time he was appointed commander of the United Group of Federal Forces in the Chechen Republic. An active participant in the operation to restore constitutional order in the Chechen Republic, also known as the first Chechen war.
He could combine military clarity with intelligence. Thanks to such qualities of character, the main result of his service in the rebellious Chechnya was a consistent movement towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict. It was during his tenure as commander that a schedule for the disarmament of the most "irreconcilable" Chechen illegal armed groups was agreed upon, an active process of accepting weapons from the population and restoring local authorities began. Taking the most direct part in the work of the special monitoring commission for the peaceful settlement of the crisis in Chechnya, he carried out titanic work to stop hostilities and bloodshed. Often, after a series of serious provocations by the militants, only his restraint allowed him not to slide into a new round of armed confrontation.
On October 6, 1995, he was seriously wounded in a tunnel near Minutka Square in Grozny as a result of a well-planned terrorist act - an explosion of a radio-controlled landmine.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 5, 1995, for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of a special assignment, Lieutenant General Romanov Anatoly Alexandrovich He was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the award of a special distinction - the Gold Star medal.
On December 28, 1995, Colonel-General A.A. Romanov was relieved of his post as commander of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Since the time of his injury, he has been recovering: in 1995-2009 - in the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N.N. Burdenko of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, since 2009 - in the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Balashikha).
Colonel-General A.A. Romanov is alive, and so is his work. His pupils and comrades-in-arms serve in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, new generations of soldiers and officers are coming, for whom the fate of A.A. Romanov is still a model of real military service and high human dignity.
Colonel General (07.11.1995). He was awarded the orders "For Military Merit" (12/31/1994, No. 1), "For Personal Courage" (10/07/1993, No. 2039), the Red Star (02/19/1988, No. 3789284), medals.
Laureate of the Russian National Olympus Prize (2002).
Honorary citizen of the city of Saratov (10/28/1997).
It was Anatoly Romanov, back in 1995, who was one of the first to start the negotiation process on the disarmament of illegal gangs in Chechnya. Then the general took a big risk. And this risk nearly cost him his life. For 23 years after the assassination attempt, Romanov has been confined to a wheelchair. The congratulations from the President of Russia to the Colonel-General were conveyed by the First Deputy Director of the Russian Guard.
A symbol of infinite courage and perseverance. Hero of Russia, Colonel General Anatoly Romanov. Today he is congratulated by relatives, friends and comrades. For 23 years after the tragedy, his wife Larisa Romanova has not left him for a minute. Dozens of operations, the most difficult course of rehabilitation - all the time nearby. They learned to understand each other again. Communicate with eyes. They say about them: one feat for two.
“When innocent people die before your eyes, sometimes you yourself don’t know what qualities are hidden in you, in your character and in your behavior. What he saw hurt him, he worried about every soldier, for everyone,” says Larisa Romanova.
In October 1995, General Romanov's car was blown up in Grozny on Minutka Square. Severe traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, contusion. There was almost no chance of survival.
“He knew that once having sworn allegiance to his Fatherland, he would be faithful to her to the end, he was moving towards this; he immediately said that he would be a general, while still a cadet. A loving husband, a wonderful father, well, now my grandfather, my beloved, ”continues the wife of the Hero.
Brilliant career. From a platoon commander to the commander of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Goroy stood up for his fighters, who called him a soldier's general. For humanity.
“He, being a commander, received one of the latest samples of body armor. Defining a task for one of the special forces detachments for the implementation of a combat operation, seeing on the commander of the special forces detachment a bulletproof vest that was less comfortable, less convenient, less protecting him, he took off his bulletproof vest and gave it to the officer who was supposed to go to the front line, ”recalls Larisa Romanova.
Indifferent to someone else's grief. Anatoly Romanov always found himself where his help was needed. During the Chechen campaign, he was away from home for months. All special operations that were carried out under his command were planned with the utmost care. It was in Chechnya that Romanov's diplomatic talent was revealed. He negotiated with the leaders of gangs. They said about him: he could take cities without a fight.
Today Anatoly Romanov continues the course of rehabilitation. Every year, a combat sambo tournament is held in his honor in the Russian Guard. A book is being prepared for publication - the story of his life. On the eve of the anniversary in Saratov, in a military school, where Anatoly Alexandrovich was first one of the best cadets, and then officers, a monument was opened. The Hero of Russia is called Undefeated here.
For almost a third of his life, Colonel-General Anatoly Romanov has been chained to a hospital bed. During this time, a whole generation of people has grown up, many of whom are unlikely to know about the tragic fate of this man - "so, they heard something." We will tell about it.
In 1995, Anatoly Romanov was the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and at the same time - the commander of the United Group of Federal Forces in Chechnya. At that time, our units were actively fighting with the separatists. The senselessness of human sacrifice forced Moscow to look for ways of reconciliation in Chechnya. And General Romanov was inside this seething crater. Everything went to the fact that he would be able to negotiate with authoritative militants to end the war. But this was strongly disliked by those who wanted to continue it, dreaming of the Caucasian Jamaat. They decided to eliminate Romanov ...
THE CAR HAS BREAKED LIKE A CARDBOARD
On October 6, 1995, Romanov was supposed to meet with the ex-speaker of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, Chechen Ruslan Khasbulatov, who offered himself as a mediator in reconciliation. The general wanted to discuss the tactics of negotiations with him.
But in Grozny, in the tunnel under the railway bridge on Minutka Square, a radio-controlled landmine exploded during the passage of the column. "UAZ" Romanov was in the center of the explosion. The car was swept away like cardboard. The general was seriously wounded and fell into a coma. He was saved only by the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest and a helmet.
One of the witnesses of the tragedy - Private Roman Popov from the special forces detachment "Rus" - said:
The guards, who could move, rushed to the crumpled cars. They pulled out the victims, laid the mutilated bodies down and shouted: “Where is the general ?!”
Already in Khankala, where the wounded were evacuated, someone noticed on one of the bodies a flashing buckle with a star and an overlaid coat of arms of the Soviet Union. Only Romanov had a belt with such a buckle ...
18 DAYS IN A COMA
First, Romanov was transferred to Vladikavkaz, and the very next day - to Moscow, to the Burdenko Main Military Hospital. There he spent 18 days in a coma, and then, in the language of doctors, "began to respond to external stimuli." In July 2009 (after 13 years of treatment) Romanov was transferred to the Main Military Hospital of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Today, the general still cannot speak, but he reacts to speech with facial expressions. He is not exhausted (his weight is about 70 kg), the muscles are weakened, but not atrophied.
"TALKS TO ME WITH EYES"
On November 5, 1995, Lieutenant General Anatoly Romanov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. His wife, Larisa Vasilyevna, responded to the proposal to accept his Gold Star medal for safekeeping in the family: “I am not a widow. The hero is alive. Give it to him!"
All these 23 years, Larisa Vasilievna visits him daily in the ward, takes him out for walks, and gives him massages. I spoke to her on the phone.
- Larisa Vasilievna, is that what it is for you - to be the wife of an officer who has fallen into terrible trouble?
Well, what is being a wife at all? This is work, this is care, like any other wife whose husband is not in trouble. These are constant experiences, a desire to help her husband.
- Do you often visit Anatoly Alexandrovich?
Every day, even twice a day. When the weather is good, we walk often. You know, he, too, is tired of these walls ... well, we decorated them as best we could - there are paintings, portraits of him, our photos ...
23 years have already passed since the tragedy - so you, as the person closest to Anatoly Alexandrovich, have you noticed at least some pluses, changes in his behavior?
Of course. Well, that's a huge change. You understand, then we got motionless eyes, a clumsy head, unresponsive hands. And now he reacts, he answers! He can show his mood. At night, he generally himself in a dream is looking for a more comfortable position of the body ...
- Larisa Vasilievna, where do you draw strength from? The other one would be already ... And you are fighting.
Well, I'm Romanova. Last name requires...
Larisa Romanova hopes that her husband - the Hero of Russia - will return to a full life. Photo: Archive of the Russian Guard
HIS EVERYDAY
"Basayev now and then grabbed a knife"
Colonel Vasily Panchenkov (Romanov's press secretary in September 1995) recalls:
I happened to closely observe the meetings between Romanov and Maskhadov. During these negotiations, some "bearded men" from Maskhadov's entourage jumped up, waving their arms, switched to the upper registers of the Chechen language. Among these unbalanced was the youngest of the negotiators, the younger brother of terrorist No. 1 in Chechnya Basayev - Shirvani. Demonstrating his militancy, he grabbed a wide curved knife hanging from his belt in a scabbard decorated with an ornament on a green field. These demarches clearly disrupted the course of the negotiations, but at such moments Romanov remained calm and tactful, patiently waiting for the passions to subside and everyone to come to their senses.
Romanov was ready to go to negotiations for as long as it took. And it was noticeable that such trusting relations began to develop between him and Maskhadov. For example, Romanov drove into Chechen villages, leaving guards outside the outskirts, far from the place of his meetings with the leaders of gangs and gatherings of the population, relying entirely on Maskhadov and the younger Basayev, who ensured his safety in the territory controlled by the Dudaevites. But once, in some moment of revelation, Romanov complained that negotiations with Maskhadov were going very slowly and difficult, because Dudayev, who insisted on the unconditional sovereignty of Chechnya, was apparently putting pressure on him, who believed that his chief of staff, Maskhadov, was on the lead of the federals .
CALL TO THE CLINIC
The attending physician Tatyana KLOKOVA:
No predictions unfortunately...
- Tatyana Mitrofanovna, how do you assess Anatoly Alexandrovich's condition?
Well, how can I tell you, thank God, it is a stable condition.
No, there will be no forecasts, unfortunately. Why should I deceive or deceive myself? ..
General Anatoly Romanov: "The main thing for me is to keep the situation in my hands, to prevent the outbreak of hostilities ..."
On September 27, 2011, Hero of Russia Colonel-General Anatoly Aleksandrovich Romanov turned 63 years old. The fate of this amazing and courageous person is mercilessly cut by the drama into two parts of different sizes. In one of them, he is full of bright, strong, courageous life. A peasant son who became the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. A husband and father who found simple human happiness in his close-knit family. In the other, a seriously wounded man is in the ward of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after N.N. Burdenko, in whose mind the fireball of a terrible explosion has inexorably rolled over him for 13 long years. It hits backhand with a ferocious shock wave, just like on that day, October 6, 1995, when his general's UAZ and several armored infantrymen, without slowing down, flew into the tunnel under the bridge near Minutka Square ...
A high-explosive charge equivalent to 30 kg of TNT was blown up around 13:00, when part of the column of the Internal Troops, including Romanov's UAZ, was already drawn into the tunnel near Minutka Square. It was a powerful explosion, designed to kill several dozen people. The fact that this happened in a confined space only exacerbated the consequences: the blast wave, repeatedly reflected from the concrete walls, literally blew the UAZ to shreds. "In principle, he was killed," the head of the hospital to them will later say about Romanov. Burdenko, Major General of the Medical Service Vyacheslav Klyuzhev. Many people were injured. Among the human bodies scattered by the explosion, Romanov was not immediately found. He was identified only by a belt with a general's buckle. All his companions who were in the car - Assistant Colonel Alexander Zaslavsky, driver Private Vitaly Matviychenko and a security guard - a fighter of the special forces detachment "Rus" of the Internal Troops Private Denis Yabrikov - died.
Officer's fate
Anatoly Alexandrovich Romanov was born on September 27, 1948 in the village of Mikhailovka, Belebeevsky District, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, into a large peasant family. His father, Alexander Matveyevich Romanov, respectfully referred to by fellow villagers as "Uncle Sanya", a former infantry sergeant and order bearer, was seriously wounded on the Kursk Bulge and returned from the war without his right leg. And today all fellow villagers respectfully remember the working family of the Romanovs.
Anatoly Romanov studied well at school. He was famous for his kind, open character, intelligence, hard work and love for sports. After graduating from the eight-year school in the village, he studied for two more years at secondary school No. 1 in the regional center - the city of Belebey. In the same place, before being drafted into the army, he worked as a milling machine operator at a factory. Fellow villagers, teachers and foremen at the plant already noticed leadership inclinations in Romanov. However, even in their wildest dreams about the future career of Tolik Romanov, they saw him, rather, as the chairman of a large collective farm than a military leader known throughout Russia. But such is fate, in the fall of 1967, the future general was sent as an ordinary shooter to one of the Moscow Region units of the 95th division of the Internal Troops for the protection of important state facilities and special cargo.
Romanov turned out to be an exemplary soldier, having passed all the service steps of a junior commander in two years of military service. It is noteworthy that in 1969 Senior Sergeant Romanov was transferred to the reserve from the position of acting platoon commander. This means that twenty-year-old Anatoly Romanov had great command confidence in his regiment.
Everything else in the life of A. Romanov is a firmly chosen officer's fate. From 1969 to 1972, A. Romanov studied at the Saratov Military School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. After graduating, he was among the best lieutenant graduates left at the school by a course officer, whose platoon will soon be considered the best, ahead of all other cadet units in academic performance and state of discipline. The glory of an intelligent, honest and fair officer-teacher will accompany Romanov for all the next 12 years, when step by step within the walls of his native educational institution he will go from a course officer to a teacher of the department of fire training, and then further - commander of a battalion of cadets.
In 1984, Major Anatoly Aleksandrovich Romanov would write a report asking for a transfer from a military educational institution to the troops - to the 546th regiment of the Internal Troops stationed in the Urals, which guarded one of the country's most important defense enterprises. A year later, he will lead this regiment, for the skillful command of which in peacetime he will be awarded the military order of the Red Star.
Romanov's rapid career growth is due precisely to the highest business qualities of the general: chief of staff of the 95th division of the Internal Troops in 1988, student of the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1989, commander of the 96th division of the Internal Troops in 1992, head of special units of the Internal Troops for the Protection of Important State Facilities and Special Cargoes in 1993, in the same year - Deputy Commander of the Internal Troops - Head of the Combat Training Department of the Main Directorate of the Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in 1995. This is how the former Minister of the Interior, General of the Army A.S., described Romanov. Kulikov: “Since the time of our joint studies at the Academy of the General Staff, I was impressed by his manner of a neat and clear executor of orders. No matter how you torture him, he remembered every detail of any operation, was extremely efficient and never left his workplace until he was convinced that everything is perfected to the smallest detail ... ".
He was responsible for the development and implementation of the so-called "military bloc" issues. The sphere of his concern included the most acute problems born of armed confrontation: observance of the ceasefire regime, disarmament of militants and acceptance of weapons from the population, elimination of autonomous and subordinate bandit groups, establishment of local authorities in many settlements...
However, outside the urgent information messages, listing the number of confiscated machine guns and grenade launchers, remained the main thing that was the true program of the changes being prepared in Chechnya. On the eve of the assassination attempt on October 6, 1995, Romanov himself outlined her most important positions in an interview with Obshchaya Gazeta columnist Alexander Trushin: “The main thing for me is to keep the situation in my hands, to prevent the outbreak of hostilities: For the time being, the military-technical side dominates "But we, the military, believe that this is not true, the final word should be with politicians. Then - the economy. It is necessary to restore the republic, thinking first of all about the troubles of a particular person, about providing him with housing. At the same time, life-supporting infrastructure should be dealt with: lighting, communications, roads, bridges, transport: And, of course, the creation of such governing bodies of the Chechen Republic, which will be ready for real self-government. And our role is to provide assistance, consultations, training. My goal is to lead society to elections without violence. So that no one and nothing put pressure on the voter, so that there would be no Russian tank, no machine gun, no militant near the polling station.. .".
In many ways, what is happening in today's Chechnya is the 13-year-old "Romanov program" brought to life, which irreconcilable militants tried to destroy together with the general himself. As a result, this attempt turned out for the Chechen Republic, its people and its economy only in stolen years and numerous human losses. As Romanov's comrade Colonel Alexander Kislitsyn once perspicaciously remarked: "If Anatoly were healthy, much would have gone differently ...".
An attempt to disrupt the negotiation process
Today it is reliably known where and why Lieutenant General Anatoly Romanov urgently left. In Grozny, in the office of the deputy head of the territorial administration of federal executive bodies in the Chechen Republic, Vladimir Zorin, he was scheduled to meet with Ruslan Khasbulatov, who retained some political influence in his native Chechnya even after the well-known Moscow events in October 1993.
Khasbulatov flew in from the Russian capital with new political initiatives to resolve the Chechen crisis. Romanov, who tried to consolidate the Chechen political, religious and social elite on the basis of any reasonable and meaningful ideas, did not refuse any contacts and discussions. He knew that all cabinet schemes would remain dead until the people themselves realized the benefits of a peaceful life and peaceful coexistence with their neighbors. Romanov sought and found in Chechen society strong shoots of common sense and relied on authoritative people whose word had weight in towns and villages, in bazaars and mosques.
Khasbulatov's ideas, brought from Moscow, were not indisputable, but interesting. He was already waiting for the general, so Romanov, who was late for the meeting, was in a hurry, and he himself appointed the shortest route.
After the assassination attempt on General Romanov, the negotiation process in Chechnya, in which Anatoly Romanov was an important participant, was, of course, collapsed, if not in form, then in substance. Today, few people know that the members of the delegation acting on behalf of the federal government, without exception, literally went under the bullet in those days: the day before, the attempt on the life of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government Oleg Lobov ended in failure, the cars of Valentin Zorin and Vyacheslav Mikhailov were fired upon, and Chechen fighters' lists of the most important targets included the Minister of the Interior, General Anatoly Kulikov, and many other senior officers of the Ministry of Defense, the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Federal Security Service.
And all the same, the attempt on Romanov was perceived as a special deceit. Although not a central, but a very important link was knocked out of the chain of negotiators: Romanov was responsible for a block of military issues, and his manner of a diplomatic, intelligent person, able to carefully dampen the most violent disputes and "push through" the most difficult issues in favor of the federal forces, made him participation in the peace process is unique in its own way.
People liked General Romanov. I liked it at first sight, and there was something else in him that made anyone, even the most frenzied action movie, come to terms with his calm arguments. And in this sense, for the ideologists of the rebellion and Chechen separatism, for those who hid behind their backs in those days, Romanov remained a deadly figure.
The assassination attempt on the general was a planned action
And today the question of the responsibility of the perpetrators of this crime remains relevant. It is known that on the fact of the terrorist act committed on October 6, 1995 in Grozny against the commander of the United Group of Federal Forces in the Chechen Republic, Lieutenant General A.A. Romanov, on the same day criminal case No. 24 was initiated.
His fate is dramatic, like this whole story: on August 9, 1996, the materials of this criminal case burned down along with other papers as a result of a direct hit by a shell on the building of the Federal Security Service for the Chechen Republic. In December of the same year, the investigation into the case was suspended "due to the failure to identify the person to be charged as an accused." It is clear that after the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements of 1996 and the bandit bacchanalia that reigned after them on the territory of the Chechen Republic, it was difficult even to talk about the continuation of any investigative measures where the very name of Romanov was torn to pieces by the anti-Russian propaganda of the authorities of Ichkeria.
However, having established themselves in power, the leaders of Ichkeria no longer concealed the main authorship of the terrorist plan. In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta on January 13, 1999, one of the active figures in the separatist movement, the former president of the CRI, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev (he was included in the list of UN terrorists, died in 2004 in Qatar. - Approx. Aut.), When asked by a correspondent whether there had been assassination attempt on General Romanov by a planned action, answered frankly: “Yes, it was a planned operation ... He (General Romanov. - Approx. Aut.) expected that he should be pitied? What kind of negotiations can we talk about when Russian troops were on territory of the Chechen state...". According to Yandarbiev, "any politicians in Russia ... should have been let into the air at that time."
Yandarbiev's revelations, however, did not clarify the mechanism by which the leaders of the militants made a decision to carry out a terrorist act, as well as the specific names of the organizers and perpetrators of the assassination attempt. Only after the start of the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of Chechnya, which began in 1999 and revealed some secrets of the separatist leadership, did evidence appear that the organization of this assassination attempt may have been entrusted to one of the five commanders of the groups of the Herat detachment, Ayub Vakhaev (put on the wanted list in 2001 ., died in Chechnya in 2005. - Author's note) by Aslan Maskhadov himself.
It can be stated with a high degree of certainty that those whose names were mentioned in one way or another in the list of possible perpetrators of this terrorist act, most likely, were swept away by the very course of the anti-terrorist operation that followed in 1999. This does not negate the duties of the investigation to identify all, without exception, those involved in the assassination attempt on General Anatoly Romanov, in the murder of Colonel Alexander Zaslavsky, Private Vitaly Matviychenko, Private Denis Yabrikov, as well as wounding another fifteen servicemen.
However, Russia's most just retribution for these criminals is the very fact that the soldier's and peacekeeping feat paid for with blood was not in vain. The clear changes in the Chechen Republic and the ideas of social and economic revival accepted by all its inhabitants are the germs of those seeds of trust and kindness that were sown by Anatoly Romanov.
Shortly before this event, Lieutenant General Anatoly Romanov was awarded the Order of Military Merit. This event was marked by another circumstance: on the back of the order awarded to Romanov and in the order book, the serial number of the award was indicated - 1. This can be seen as another symbol of his exceptional, undeniably first in importance role of Romanov as a peacemaker.
Fight for life
Since one in the afternoon on October 6, 1995, when the explosion thundered, the struggle for the life of General Romanov did not stop for a second. The main command post for the rescue of General Romanov was the office of the head of the military medical department of the Civil Code of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Honored Doctor of Russia, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Major General of the Medical Service Yuri Sabanin. He recalls: “I met the Scalpel in Chkalovsky. Transport was organized. I got on the plane and did not immediately recognize Anatoly Aleksandrovich: the head is huge, swollen: We went to the intensive care unit. When they did a CT scan, they saw that the commander’s brain was literally stuffed with hematomas. It became clear that the situation was more complicated than previously thought.The best doctors were called and for the first time they breathed a sigh of relief when the first ten most critical days passed.If a person survives them, then there is more hope.After another two or three days, the condition seems to have stabilized "We urgently needed an apparatus for artificial ventilation of the lungs. From England they received it by a passenger plane. And on November 10, on the Day of the Police, Anatoly Sergeevich Kulikov, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, and I went to see Romanov, who had just been brought into the ward from the pressure chamber. Seeing us in full dress uniform, he suddenly, to our surprise, unexpectedly made an attempt to get out of bed, but to no avail. some impulse. I will not hide, Kulikov and I had tears, not that they were welling up in our eyes, both were crying, only silently ... By the New Year, the process began to fade away, the hematomas began to turn into scars ... ".
From October 7 to December 21, 1995, Anatoly Alexandrovich Romanov was in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Burdenko. As the treatment progressed, it became clear that the biggest problem was the cerebral hemorrhage that occurred during the explosion of the land mine. This equated Romanov with people who had experienced a severe stroke, so 35-year-old neuropathologist Major Igor Aleksandrovich Klimov became Romanov's attending physician.
Romanov is alive. But if he is not indifferent to what is happening, his reaction to the ongoing events is expressed either in displeased facial expressions or in tears. Those of Romanov's friends who come to visit him from time to time take it very hard. Only Klimov sees in this the peculiar language of Romanov, with which he could communicate with the world.
It is terrible to imagine that Romanov, while remaining a thinking person, cannot find means of expression and is struggling to explain to us simple and obvious things for him. Those who have been close to Romanov for all these thirteen long years are reluctant to say that sometimes the general wakes up in the middle of the night. Horror rushes about in his eyes, his body shudders from the onset of pain. It seems that the shock wave, born of the October explosion, has remained wandering in this damned tunnel and there will be no end to it until a clear answer to the question is received: who needed it?
"I'm not a widow. The hero is alive"
There is also the amazing feat of Romanov's wife, Larisa Vasilievna, who has remained all these years the soul of his salvation, a reliable guardian of his interests and rights, a source of the greatest faith that her Tolya will definitely return home.
Every day for thirteen years she comes after work and on weekends. Caring for the Romanovs is humanly difficult. Year after year, by trial and error, experience was accumulated that today allows us to maintain the life of the general at a decent level.
Romanov's nutrition is a separate chapter. The basis is the usual hospital food - soufflé, broths, cereals. Canned beef or pork meat from the Tikhoretsk baby food plant is added to them. It is the most delicious, high-calorie, it does not contain additives that cause allergies. When Larisa Vasilievna first came to the specialized department of the Children's World, the saleswoman asked about the child's age. Anyone in her place may have cried, and she, having gathered all the remaining will into a fist, somehow unscrewed herself from a direct answer.
But no matter how far Romanov is from us, he always noticeably comes to life when he hears Larisin's voice. It is felt that a wave of peace covers him when she is near: In those days when Vika's daughter comes with her granddaughter Nastya, one feels that Nastya is interested in him. Romanov carefully watches her and complacently accepts her hugs and kisses. Nastya knows that her grandfather is sick, but this does not negate the energetic Romanov blood in her, which, in spite of everything, stretches and reaches for her loved one.
In 1995, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Lieutenant General Anatoly Aleksandrovich Romanov, was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. In the same year, he was awarded the next military rank of Colonel General. Following the news that the adjutant of the general brought to the hospital for Larisa Romanova, the corresponding decree of the President of Russia B.N. was published on radio and television. Yeltsin. The video frames accompanying the text were cut from a recent chronicle. On them, Romanov, still smiling and strong, was confidently moving somewhere, explaining something to journalists and the officers accompanying him on the go. This image of him was different from the motionless body lying in intensive care, and this only made him bitter.
At some point, Larisa Vasilievna was overwhelmed with resentment. Therefore, on the proposal to receive his star of the Hero of Russia for her husband, she then answered harshly and uncompromisingly: "I am not a widow. The hero is alive. Hand him over! ..". The award took place only six years later, on July 30, 2002, in the ward of the hospital. Burdenko, when Colonel-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, attached the highest award of the Motherland to the cloth of the officer's shirt, which Colonel-General Romanov was wearing on the occasion of the celebration. He was calm and elevated at that moment, and it became clear that everything was done as it should...
"Own world
FOR 8 years now, Larisa Vasilievna has been visiting her husband at the hospital. If the weather is good, dress him up and take him out for a walk. They walk around the hospital yard and she tells him the news. Anatoly Alexandrovich listens - rejoices, worries, is indignant. Despite the general improvement, General Romanov is still unable to speak. He communicates with the world silently, with his eyes. “Of course, I can’t understand verbatim what he wants to say,” says Larisa Vasilievna. - But all his feelings, thoughts, emotions are quite clear to me, and his friends, and the medical staff. He is very categorical in his manifestations. Immediately makes it clear who wants to see and who does not. What does he want to hear about, and what is 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. What's in this world of his, I don't know. I'm sure of only one thing: he remained the same. The person I knew. He also rejoices at the arrival of friends and relatives. He also cares about everyone. When I told him about my daughter's wedding, he cried. The only thing he doesn't want to hear about is the war. He stopped all attempts to talk to him about Chechnya, soldiers, the army. He doesn't want to know any more about the side of life that nearly killed him."
The only thing that the Hero of Russia Romanov reacts calmly to is the songs of the Great Patriotic War. Very often he asks to include "Dark Night", songs about tankers. 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 goes through a kind of exercise: specialists give him a special massage. The doctor clearly monitors the diet: during all this time, the general has not recovered and has not lost a single gram. “Eight years have passed, during this time he got better,” says Larisa Vasilievna. - So, there is hope that he will finally return. We are all waiting for him."
"Not hard?
With a husband like General Romanov, no. I have always been proud to be his wife. Military officer's wife. 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, were the backbone of the state. And now I get the impression that the state does not need the army to be strong and loyal. Therefore, her status was debunked. That is why our officers are paid so little. Maybe this is my delusion, but it seems to me that if General Romanov now remained in the ranks of our army, then there would be more order in it.
- Do you remember how small these Christmas trees were when we just arrived at this hospital, - Larisa asks her husband, - and now they have grown. We lingered here, Tolya, we lingered ...
Again, the eyelids flutter slightly. He agrees. Delayed."