Suchkov, Gennady Alexandrovich

Education

He graduated from the Higher Naval School named after M.V. Frunze (1964-1969), the Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy (1977-1978), the Naval Academy named after Marshal of the Soviet Union A. A. Grechko (1981-1983), courses at Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in 1994.

Career

He served: commander of a torpedo group (1969-1970), commander of the BS-3 (1970-1972), assistant commander, senior assistant commander of a submarine (1972-1977), commander of the submarine B-105 (October 10, 1978 - 9 June 1980), commander of the B-4 submarine (June 9, 1980 - August 1981), chief of staff of the 69th submarine brigade (July 1983 - October 1985), chief of staff (October – December 1985), commander (December 1986 - November 1988) 42nd Submarine Brigade.

Then - the chief of staff (November 1988 - February 1992), commander (February 1992 - December 1994) of the 4th Northern Fleet submarine squadron, 1st deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet (December 29, 1994 - July 19, 2001), commander of the Pacific Fleet ( July 19 - December 4, 2001), commander of the Northern Fleet (December 4, 2001 - September 11, 2003).

He was appointed to the Northern Fleet instead of Admiral Vyacheslav Popov , who was removed from this post after investigating the death of the Kursk nuclear submarine .

After removal from office due to the death of the crew of the nuclear submarine K-159

On September 11, 2003, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, he was temporarily removed from command of the Northern Fleet for the period of the investigation into the death of the K-159 nuclear submarine that sank on August 30, 2003 ^[1] . Vice Admiral Sergey Simonenko became the interim commander of the Northern Fleet.

On May 18, 2004, the Severomorsk Northern Maritime Court sentenced Gennady Suchkov to 4 years of imprisonment with a probation period of two years on charges of negligence that resulted in the deaths of crew members of the K-159 nuclear submarine ^[2] . In September 2004, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, having examined the cassation appeal of Admiral G. A. Suchkov, upheld the verdict ^{[2] [3]} . Alexander Nikitin, senior assistant to the chief military prosecutor, stated in this case the following:

The court, on the basis of evidence gathered in the case, interrogations of more than a hundred witnesses, the study of hundreds of documents, many volumes of the criminal case, established that only as a result of the unprofessional, incompetent, recognized by the court criminal acts Suchkov killed 9 submariners. And do not look for political motivation under the actions of the prosecutor's office and the court, as some so-called commentators of this case tried to do this today. These statements have no legal or moral foundation ^[4] .

At the end of May 2004, Admiral G. A. Suchkov was dismissed from the post of commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Mikhail Abramov became the new commander of the Northern Fleet ^[5] . At the beginning of June 2004, when Abramov was introduced to the leadership of the Northern Fleet, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Ivanov thanked Gennady Suchkov for the leadership of the fleet (already condemned by that time for negligence, which led to the death of crew members of the nuclear submarine K-159). Ivanov expressed hope and confidence that Gennady Suchkov will remain in the Armed Forces ^[6] .

Since mid-April 2005 - Advisor to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Ivanov ^[3] .

Chief Military Prosecutor of the Russian Federation Alexander Savenkov in June 2005 stated that "the appointment of Suchkov in April this year as adviser to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation is a fact that is absolutely inconsistent with the tasks of justice." At the same time, Sergey Ivanov stated that Admiral G. A. Suchkov was appointed to the post of adviser to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation after consultations with Savenkov ^[7] .

Since December 2007 - President of the International Association of Public Organizations of Navy Veterans and Submariners ^[8] .

The name of Gennady Suchkov was mentioned in connection with the Oboronservis case. According to the investigation, the interests of suppliers could be lobbyed by Advisor to the former Minister of Defense, Admiral Gennady Suchkov.

In 2011, he created an interdepartmental working group for “re-examination of oxygen torpedoes with subsequent servicing” at the enterprises of Oboronservis OJSC and headed it himself. Suchkov’s deputy was Mikhail Sokolovsky, head of Remvooruzhenie, and the general director of Bars was included in the same group. "Vladimir Fitsner, formerly a midshipman in the Northern Fleet under the command of Suchkov.

Assignment of ranks:

rear admiral (1990),

Vice Admiral (May 6, 1993),

Admiral (February 21, 2002) ^[9] ,

Acting State Advisor to the Russian Federation, Grade 3 (December 23, 2008).

• Order of the Red Star ;
• Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree;
• Order of Friendship
• 13 medals;
• Honorary citizen of the mountains. Polar .

He was married with two children. The eldest son Alexander is a submarine officer. The youngest son, Yegor, is a lawyer.

He died on August 7, 2013 in Moscow at the 67th year of his life after a serious illness ^[10] . He was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery (plot 27) ^[11] .

• Gennady Suchkov on birta.ru
• Gennady Suchkov on the website biografija.ru
• Interview with Gennady Suchkov on May 24, 2004
• “Forgive us, Admiral!” In memory of the famous submariner and naval commander // Century. RU. - August 30, 2013.
• "Life for the fleet." A monument to Admiral Gennady Suchkov was unveiled in Polyarny and the square was named after him // Century. RU. - December 9, 2016.