Kovtun, Vladimir Pavlovich

Vladimir Pavlovich Kovtun
Vladimir Pavlovich Kovtun
Date of Birth	July 27, 1960 (59 years old)
Affiliation	USSR → Russia
Type of army	GRU Special Forces
Years of service	1978 - 1999
Rank	; Colonel
Battles / wars	Afghan war
Retired	farmer

Vladimir Pavlovich Kovtun (born July 27, 1960 ) - Soviet and Russian officer, GRU special forces reserve colonel , Hero of the Russian Federation (2019).

Content

1 Biography
2 Awards and titles
3 notes
4 References

Biography

Born in 1960. He graduated from the intelligence department of the Ryazan Higher Airborne School , served in the 10th separate special forces brigade of the GRU General Staff in Crimea. He fought in Afghanistan in the 186th separate detachment of special forces of the 22nd Special Forces Brigade of the GRU General Staff in 1985-1987 ^[1] .

On January 5, 1987, in the Meltanai Gorge ( Kandahar Province ), while still a senior lieutenant , Vladimir Kovtun was able, as part of a group under the general command of Major Evgeny Sergeyev , deputy commander of the 186th detachment ^[2] , to capture one of three samples of American MANPADS " Stinger ” , which the Americans supplied to the Mujahideen , as well as a diplomat with documentation for them, including the addresses of suppliers from the USA ^[3] . The other two (empty and unused) were captured by the inspection team of Vasily Cheboksarov ^[4] . These trophies were shown at an urgent press conference at the Afghan Foreign Ministry as irrefutable evidence of America's interference in the country's internal affairs. Despite the order that the first to capture the Stinger would be presented for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union , neither Kovtun nor his comrades were awarded the title, as the officer himself put it, possibly because of a “cloudy” relationship with his superiors ^{[ 3]} . Based on these events, in 2011 the documentaries “Star for the Stinger” ^[5] and “The Hunt for the Wasp” ^[6] were shot.

During the war in Afghanistan received seven bullet wounds. Twice introduced to the Golden Star of the Hero. During the service he was awarded two orders of the Red Star ^[1] .

In 2011, Vladimir Kovtun was a farmer in the Vladimir region .

Awards and titles

For heroism, courage and courage shown during the performance of special tasks in conditions involving a risk to life, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on February 15, 2019, Kovtun Vladimir Pavlovich was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation ^[7] ^[8] . The award was presented by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at a gala evening in honor of the Special Operations Forces Day on February 27, 2019.

Notes

↑ ¹ ² People in the Shadow of War (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment January 16, 2012. Archived on May 6, 2014.
↑ “Worthy of the title of Hero!” (Unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment January 18, 2012. Archived July 8, 2011.
↑ ¹ ² Special operations: who took the Stinger?
↑ Hero without the title of Hero - Far Eastern Vedomosti (Russian) . dvvedomosti.com. Date of appeal April 16, 2018.
↑ Star for "Stinger" (Russian) . https://www.youtube.com . Date of treatment February 15, 2019.
↑ Hunting for the "Wasp" (Russian) . https://eradoks.com . Date of treatment June 5, 2019.
↑ The officer who captured the Stinger in Afghanistan became the Hero of Russia (Neopr.) . Lenta.ru (February 15, 2019). Date of treatment February 15, 2019.
↑ Administration of the President of Russia. Decree of February 15, 2019 (Russian) . http://kremlin.ru/ . President of the Russian Federation (February 15, 2019). Date of treatment February 15, 2019. Archived February 15, 2019.

Links

Kovtun, Vladimir Pavlovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
V. Kovtun. E. Sergeev. How did the first Stingers take
Who is Vladimir Kovtun and what is he known for?

[autogenerated3-1] ¹ ² People in the Shadow of War (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment January 16, 2012. Archived on May 6, 2014.

[2] “Worthy of the title of Hero!” (Unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment January 18, 2012. Archived July 8, 2011.

[autogenerated1-3] ¹ ² Special operations: who took the Stinger?

[4] Hero without the title of Hero - Far Eastern Vedomosti (Russian) . dvvedomosti.com. Date of appeal April 16, 2018.

[5] Star for "Stinger" (Russian) . https://www.youtube.com . Date of treatment February 15, 2019.

[6] Hunting for the "Wasp" (Russian) . https://eradoks.com . Date of treatment June 5, 2019.

[7] The officer who captured the Stinger in Afghanistan became the Hero of Russia (Neopr.) . Lenta.ru (February 15, 2019). Date of treatment February 15, 2019.

[8] Administration of the President of Russia. Decree of February 15, 2019 (Russian) . http://kremlin.ru/ . President of the Russian Federation (February 15, 2019). Date of treatment February 15, 2019. Archived February 15, 2019.