Leonid Ivashov is a descendant of a nobleman and Decembrist, general, rebel, poet, scientist, best-selling author about the past and future of Russia. The list of advantages of this non-standard person can be continued endlessly. It is difficult to measure his love for his country, patriotism, which has become the main guiding force in his life.
Siberian roots
The Ivashov clan originates in the Siberian province, where Vasily Ivashov was born, who chose the military path under the influence of the war of 1812. As an officer and member of the Union of Welfare, Southern Society, he supported the ideas of the Decembrists. He did not participate in the uprising (he was on vacation), but he was arrested, convicted and exiled to hard labor. Chitinsky Ostrog, Petrovsky Zavod, 15 years of exile, French governess who went to Siberia to become the wife of a disgraced officer - this is the genealogical branch of a noble family, to which Leonid Ivashov belongs (the letter in the surname was confused in the passport office, the rest of the relatives have the last name Ivashevs) .
Leonid was born in the Kyrgyz city of Frunze on August 31, 1943, the Great Patriotic War was on. The wounded father who returned from the front, Lenya - one of the four children in the family, hunger and devastation - a common post-war fate. Children grew up hardworking, resistant to difficulties. Leonid, who learned to play the accordion, often sang war songs for veterans, listened to their stories. Throws about the profession he did not have - he will be a military man.
Career officer
In 1960, a graduate entered the Tashkent Military School. In 1964, service began: Carpathian Military District, Germany, Czechoslovakia. Yes, he was a member of Operation Danube. This event, Lieutenant Ivashov considers his political baptism. In 1971, Leonid entered the Military Academy. Life in Moscow was not limited to lectures; he goes to theaters, gets acquainted with Tvardovsky and Svetlov, goes to football matches. After the academy, he leaves for Taman. The severe injury received during the exercises could interrupt the career of Leonid Ivashov, but he recovered.
In December 1976, Minister of Defense Ustinov approved Major Ivashov as his adjutant. This service required broadening of horizons, and the 33-year-old major undertook a dissertation. He had creative skills, while still at school he began to write poetry and short stories, and during the service he published several times in the media.
In 1980, the lieutenant colonel was appointed head of the secretariat of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Three years later, receives a Ph.D. After the death of Dmitry Ustinov, he retains his post under Marshal Sokolov, under Yazov he becomes head of the Department of Affairs. At this post, Leonid Ivashov simultaneously receives a law degree (Humanitarian Academy of the Armed Forces).
Ministry General
On the Day of the Soviet Army in 1988, Ivashov receives general epaulettes. His authority grew through impeccable, competent service. Thanks to him, the army revived officer meetings (as it is similar to the time of the Decembrists). Three years later, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general. And then came 1991 - a coup, GKChP, military commission of inquiry. The general preceded his participation in this work by the condition - no resignation of the officer corps, which saved the army from unrest and riots.
It fell to him a difficult time of change. The collapse of the USSR concerned the division of military property, military status, defense of other territories and borders. At the cost of great efforts and complex negotiations, we managed to create the CIS and sign a security treaty. Defense Minister Grachev could not stand the promptings and moral teachings of General Ivashov about the illegality of some of his actions;
High positions, work on a doctorate, the concept of cooperation - this is an incomplete circle of tasks performed by General Ivashov. The following Ministers Rodionov and Sergeyev supported his ideas for enhancing security. For five years, the head of the Directorate Leonid Ivashov, already Colonel General, has traveled to 58 countries, becoming an excellent military diplomat and negotiator. After his next negotiations, Minister Sergeyev joked: "How many divisions have been preserved today?" The doctoral dissertation, defended in 1998, became the basis for the creation of the Shanghai Organization.
Operation in Kosovo
As a military official, Leonid Ivashov well understood the situation that developed around Yugoslavia in 1996. When the bombing of the Republic of Yugoslavia began in March 1999, it was Ivashov who insisted on unprecedented measures - Russian-NATO contracts were frozen, military representatives of the alliance countries were isolated from contacts, NATO information block sent from the country. At the same time, the Russian military were recalled.
Colonel General is the author of the expression "NATO genocide." In the negotiations on the settlement of the Yugoslav issue, when Chernomyrdin agreed with the opinion of the United States, the general made an unflattering statement and left. He, having studied the matter to the smallest detail, understood how this “blitzkrieg” would end for the whole world. He irreconcilably and firmly defended the president of Yugoslavia Milosevic at the Hague Tribunal, accusing the United States of organizing the destruction of the country.
Russia still remembers the Russian march on Pristina, when the Americans wanted to establish their complete rule over the crumbling republic. Without violating a single legislative norm, the Russian airborne battalion reached the Kosovo airdrome overnight. Behind this operation was also General Ivashov, nicknamed Hawk for it.
Serve Russia
In 2001, another Minister of Defense Ivanov fired Leonid Ivashov from the ministry. But service to the motherland is not a ministerial concept. Colonel-General, Professor, continues to work at the Geopolitical Academy, teaches at MGIMO, military academy, publishes monographs, is published in serious publications (more than 700 articles).
By the officers' meeting, he is elected chairman of the Russian military-power alliance. He has many titles, awards - both Russian and foreign countries.
War writer is a difficult calling
A man who loves to learn, collect knowledge and share it, Leonid Ivashov throughout his life published works on the military history of the country. Artistic and scientific, emotional and severely documented. All the books of Leonid Ivashov are about Russia, its life in the new millennium, victories and mistakes in the past. The writer in his work emphasizes that no one has ever succeeded in defeating the country by military force.
Having become a member of the Union of Writers of the Russian Federation, Ivashov fruitfully works on the creation of historical, scientific and artistic works. He writes only about what he knows and understands as a geopolitician, military, historian. The Cold War, the doctrine of New Russia, the Syrian question are topics of creative and scientific understanding of the problems in his works.
Reboot
Leonid Ivashov’s book “The Overturned World”, published in 2016, immediately became a bestseller, like all 13 previous ones. The realist author evaluated and predicted the future of Russia. The Overturned World is a mystical view of history. It would seem, a perfect materialist, professor, and suddenly - the secrets of Tibet? But there is no fiction in the book of Leonid Ivashov. It is based on secret documents stored in the archives of the KGB of the USSR, the Wehrmacht and others.
It seems that the title reflects the state of the author, who saw with his own eyes "strange" documents. Leonid Ivashov, “overturned” by these facts, dug deep and did not fail to share knowledge with readers. Did you hear the version that the leaders of fascist ideology hid under the ice of Antarctica, that Hitler had a submarine there? Is it true that before the Second World War, the special services of the Soviet Union and Germany visited Tibet? These are the topics Ivashov wrote about.
The general draws conclusions that are incredible, but confirmed by archival documents and artifacts. Judging by the content, he knows the answers to questions about the rationality of the “lesser brothers”, the existence of God, Shambhala, and other sacraments. The author himself calls the book not entirely scientific, although based on reliable sources, not very artistic, although the published stories are similar to fiction. Leonid Ivashov honestly says that he intends to “stir up” a swamp of strange religious, pseudoscientific perception of the world. The writer knows that the world drawn in history textbooks is not at all the same from the point of view of space. Apparently, an ancestor-Decembrist sometimes awakens in it, demanding truth, justice and a better share for his Fatherland.
This year, Lenid Ivashov turned 75 years old. He is full of energy, is actively working. The professor general also has collections of poems, and even songs, of course, patriotic. They sound in the concerts of the ensemble. Alexandrova. Every year on Poklonnaya Hill his “Lieutenant Waltz” sounds, marking the graduation of new officers.