Why didn’t Gromov strike in time? Boris Gromov burned on the golden hectares of the Moscow region. What position does Boris Gromov currently hold?

Deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma since May 2012. In 2000-2012 he was governor of the Moscow region. Career military man, retired colonel general. Participant in military operations in Afghanistan, Hero of the Soviet Union. Former people's deputy of the USSR, former deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Former First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, former Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces. Head of the All-Russian public organization of veterans "Combat Brotherhood".

Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was born on November 7, 1943 in Saratov into a military family. In 1955, he was admitted out of competition to the Saratov Suvorov Military School (as the son of an officer who died in the Great Patriotic War; Gromov’s father was killed in 1943). After the school was disbanded, Gromov was transferred to the Kalinin SVU, which he graduated in 1962. Boris’s older brother Alexey also studied at the Saratov SVU (graduated in 1953).

In 1965, Gromov graduated from the Leningrad Higher Military Combined Arms Command School named after Kirov and was sent to the Baltic Military District (Kaliningrad). He began his service as a platoon commander and then became a company commander of a motorized rifle division. In 1969, Gromov was sent to study in Moscow at the Frunze Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1972 with honors.

Since 1972, Gromov served in the troops of the Turkestan Military District (he was appointed commander of a motorized rifle battalion, then chief of staff of a regiment) and the North Caucasus Military District (served as commander of a motorized rifle regiment, later - chief of staff of the Maykop motorized rifle division). He received the military ranks of major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel ahead of schedule. In 1980-1982 he served in Afghanistan and commanded a motorized rifle division as part of the 40th Army. Upon returning from this country, he entered the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR named after Voroshilov. He graduated from this educational institution with a gold medal in 1984, already being a major general.

In 1984, Gromov was appointed first deputy commander of the 38th Army of the Carpathian Military District, and from March 1985 to 1986 he was a representative of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces in Afghanistan. From 1986 to June 1987, he commanded the 28th Army of the Belarusian Military District. In 1987-1989, he again served in Afghanistan, commanded the 40th Army and at the same time was the authorized representative of the USSR government for the temporary presence of troops in Afghanistan. In 1987, he received the military rank of lieutenant general, and for the development of Operation Magistral (the largest and most successful operation of the Afghan campaign), Gromov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin.

In 1989, Gromov led the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country. It was he who developed the plan for the withdrawal of troops through the Salang Pass, and the operation was completed without losses. In preparation for the withdrawal of troops, Gromov, by his own admission, allowed himself to incorrectly carry out the orders of the command: when an order came from Moscow to launch an artillery strike on the positions of field commanders, with whom the command of the Soviet troops had secretly agreed on neutrality for the duration of the withdrawal of troops, Gromov ordered striking empty gorges to avoid serious bloodshed.

As indicated on the official website of the governor of the Moscow region, on February 15, 1989, Gromov was the last of the servicemen of the Limited contingent of Soviet troops to leave Afghanistan (at the same time, in an interview with the Trud newspaper in February 2004, Gromov stated that he had left Kabul a week before the final withdrawal troops). On the same day, February 15, 1989, Gromov, according to him, received the first offer to write a book about the actions of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. This proposal was repeated several times. Gromov later accepted him and, in collaboration with journalist Sergei Bogdanov, wrote a book about the Afghan war: entitled “Limited Contingent” it was published in 1994 by the Progress publishing house. Gromov later expressed the opinion that it was the actions of Soviet troops in Afghanistan that gave rise to the surge in international terrorism that the world has observed since the early 2000s.

In 1989, Gromov was awarded another military rank - Colonel General; in the same year he was appointed commander of the troops of the Red Banner Kyiv Military District and elected people's deputy of the USSR. Since 1990, he served as First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR (Gromov’s biographer Igor Tsybulsky argued that in August 1991, during the events associated with the actions of the State Emergency Committee, it was Gromov who did not allow units of the Internal Troops to be drawn into the conflict and unleash a civil war in the country , for which in November of the same year he was sent into “honorable exile” - to the post of First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces). In addition, from 1990 to 1991, Gromov was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, and in 1991 he participated in the campaign for the presidential election of the Russian Federation as a candidate for the post of vice-president of the Russian Federation (Nikolai Ryzhkov was nominated for the post of president along with him).

At the beginning of 1992, Gromov was appointed first deputy commander of the general purpose forces of the United Armed Forces of the CIS. In the same year, he became Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation (he held this position until 1994; the Minister of Defense at that time was Pavel Grachev, a former subordinate of Gromov). Gromov's relationship with the defense minister deteriorated when Gromov sharply spoke out against the ill-conceived use of troops in an attempt to overthrow the regime of Dzhokhar Dudayev and condemned the "barbaric choice of military means" used by the Russian army in Chechnya (he returned to this topic several times).

In December 1994, Gromov, for reasons of principle, submitted his resignation, but his resignation was not accepted. In early February 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree seconding Gromov to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a chief military expert (with the rank of deputy minister; according to some sources, it was Gromov who achieved the consolidation of the Russian military presence in Tajikistan, to which the Ministry of Defense attached great importance; and also disrupted the final negotiations on the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan, which Yeltsin promised to return). After another month, Yeltsin nevertheless agreed to exclude Gromov from the staff of the Ministry of Defense.

In 1995, Gromov became involved in public politics. In the 1995 parliamentary elections, the general headed the My Fatherland bloc, which, however, could not overcome the 5 percent barrier. At the same time, Gromov himself was elected as a deputy of the State Duma in the Saratov electoral district.

In the State Duma, Gromov was a member of the Russian Regions deputy group and headed the subcommittee on arms control and international security of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. In 1996, he became Boris Yeltsin's confidant in the presidential elections. In December 1997, Gromov was elected chairman of the All-Russian public movement of veterans of local wars and military conflicts "Combat Brotherhood".

In November 1998, Gromov participated in the creation of the Fatherland movement, headed by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, and was a member of its organizing committee. In December 1998, he was elected a member of the Central Council (CC) and the political council of Fatherland. In September 1999, he was included in the federal list of the Fatherland - All Russia (OVR) electoral bloc to participate in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the third convocation and, following the election results, received a deputy mandate. In October of the same year, Gromov was nominated by a group of voters as a candidate for the post of governor of the Moscow region.

The main contenders for power in the Moscow region were then considered to be the current governor Anatoly Tyazhlov (supported by the team of Yuri Luzhkov) and Gennady Seleznev, who was supported by the communists. But Tyazhlov dropped out after the first round, and in the second - held in January 2000 - Gromov won. In December 2003, he was re-elected for a second term, and a second round of elections was no longer necessary, since Gromov had become very popular in the Moscow region. As a governor, Gromov advocated active economic cooperation between regional subjects so that the Moscow region did not become “separate appendages of the Moscow economy” (which, in his opinion, resulted from concluding agreements with Moscow firms and companies). Gromov has repeatedly stated that in terms of its total potential, the Moscow region is not much inferior to the capital, but this potential is not being sufficiently realized.

Gromov believed that the creation of a Council of Heads of Local Authorities, a regional self-government body that could help achieve greater agreement among the regional community and strengthen ties between its subjects, was necessary for the successful development of the region. Gromov emphasized that large cities in the Moscow region, some of which are separated by hundreds of kilometers, are not inclined to jointly lobby and protect their common interests. Gromov did not specify what the specific functions of the council might be. The governor only proposed to give such a council the right to manage a fund intended for financial support of municipalities (to avoid arbitrariness in the assignment of subsidies and subventions). By mid-April 2007, no such organization had been created in the region.

In 2005, the publishing house "Young Guard" in the series "Life of Remarkable People" published a book by Igor Tsybulsky about Gromov.

In February 2007, the press wrote about the conflict between Gromov and the deputy of Rosprirodnadzor of the Russian Federation, Oleg Mitvol. At the beginning of February 2007, Mitvol challenged the governor of the Moscow region to a debate on the television program “To the Barrier.” Among the topics that he planned to discuss were “illegal construction in the region, the state of the environment in the Moscow region,” as well as the removal of Mitvol’s wife Lyudmila from the elections to the Moscow Regional Duma. Mitvol was sure that the reason for the refusal to register her was his professional activity.

Gromov did not immediately respond to the call, but in mid-February it became known that he had filed a lawsuit against the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor in the Koptevsky Interdistrict Court of Moscow. It was reported that Gromov intends to receive 50 million rubles from the defendant as compensation for moral damage. On February 28, 2007, it became known that the reason for the lawsuit was a publication in the Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper dedicated to Mitvol’s January press conference. At this press conference, Mitvol actually accused the head of the region of financial crimes, and also that the governor removed Lyudmila Mitvol from the elections “out of revenge” for inspections that the environmental department carried out in the Moscow region. On June 15, the court granted Gromov’s claim, however, obliging the defendants to pay the governor not 50 million, but 110 thousand rubles. On the same day, the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor told reporters that he intended to appeal the court decision. In particular, Mitvol stated: “Given that the plaintiff was triune (as Gromov himself, as the governor and as the government of the Moscow region), I can go all the way to the European Court.”

In mid-April 2007, the Vedomosti newspaper, citing sources in the Kremlin, reported that Gromov, following the results of elections to the regional legislative assembly, decided to turn to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a question about his credibility. By that time, there were 29 governors left in Russia who were elected by the population and did not go through a new appointment procedure. Four of them had their powers set to expire in 2007: Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Khloponin, Governor of the Buryat Autonomous Okrug Leonid Potapov and Governor of the Sakhalin Region Ivan Malakhov. Gromov, like the leaders of 16 other regions, had his powers expire in 2008. According to political scientists, when addressing the president, the governor could count on a positive response, since the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party received 49.57 percent of the votes in the Moscow Regional Duma elections.

On May 4, 2007, it became known that Putin proposed the candidacy of Gromov for consideration by the Moscow Regional Duma. Speaking to the deputies, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District, Georgy Poltavchenko, emphasized that during his seven years of work, Gromov “has proven himself to be a competent leader and a talented organizer.” All 50 members of the regional parliament voted to re-elect Gromovan for a third term. The inauguration ceremony was scheduled for May 11.

In October 2007, Gromov headed the regional list of candidates for deputies from United Russia in the Moscow region in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the fifth convocation. After the party's victory, he, as expected, refused his deputy mandate.

One of the major road plans actively supported by Gromov was the project for the construction of a toll Central Ring Road (CRR), which was supposed to significantly relieve congestion on many highways in Moscow and the Moscow region. The cost of the project was estimated at more than half a trillion rubles. Although the decision on the construction of the Central Ring Road was adopted back in October 2003, its start was repeatedly postponed. In addition, environmentalists protested against the Central Ring Road, pointing out that its creation required cutting down about one hundred square kilometers of forest, as well as the owners of the areas through which the route was supposed to pass. Nevertheless, in the fall of 2011, Gromov announced the start of construction of the Central Ring Road.

An even more resonant road project, associated in particular with the name of Gromov, was the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg expressway. The decision on the route was made by the Russian authorities in 2004, and in 2006 Gromov signed a decree of the Moscow region government regulating this construction in the Moscow region. The construction of the highway, according to the project plan, was supposed to lead to the deforestation of a large part of the Khimki Forest Park, which caused outrage among local residents who launched a large-scale campaign to protect the forest. In 2009, the government of the Moscow region canceled its resolution and significantly reduced the areas subject to deforestation, but this did not suit environmentalists, who sought to abandon the construction of the route. In August 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suspended construction through the Khimki forest, but Gromov continued to insist on building a road according to the previously approved project. In December of the same year, a commission of the Russian government decided to resume construction of the road through the forest park. In 2011, Gromov took first place in the list of “enemies of the Khimki Forest” compiled by the Movement in Defense of the Khimki Forest, led by Evgenia Chirikova.

A special place in the work of the Moscow Region administration headed by Gromov was occupied by the issue of relations between the region and Moscow. In particular, for a long time the capital and regional authorities could not reach an agreement on the delimitation of the two regions. Moreover, while Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov expressed a proposal to unite Moscow and the Moscow region into a separate federal subject, Gromov opposed this idea. The agreement on the borders between Moscow and the Moscow region was signed only on June 30, 2011 - and already against the backdrop of a discussion of the idea expressed shortly before by President Medvedev about the creation of a capital federal district, which provided for a new change in borders by transferring regional territories to the capital. Already the next month, Sergei Sobyanin, who by this time had replaced Luzhkov as Moscow mayor, announced the expected increase in the area of ​​Moscow by 2.4 times, and in December 2011, the corresponding law, transferring 148 thousand hectares of regional territories to the capital from July 2012, was adopted by the Federation Council .

In December 2010, the International Football Federation (FIFA) decided to hold the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and even before the victory of the Russian bid, it was assumed that a stadium with a capacity of more than 44 thousand spectators would be built for the championship in the Moscow region. However, in October 2011, Gromov unexpectedly abandoned the construction of the stadium and the participation of the Moscow region in the championship, pointing out the uncertainty of the prospects for the further use of the sports arena.

In September 2011, Gromov led the regional group of candidates from the Moscow region of the federal list of United Russia in the elections to the State Duma of the sixth convocation. During the election campaign, the press suspected the governor of putting pressure on the heads of municipalities in order to improve the results of the ruling party, but Gromov’s press service rejected such accusations. According to the official results of the voting held on December 4, 2011, 32.83 percent of those participating in the elections voted for United Russia in the Moscow region. In the same month, Gromov refused the deputy mandate that was due to him.

In March 2012, Gromov announced his intention to leave the post of governor of the Moscow region after the expiration of his term in May. In early April, Gromov announced that he was going to become a representative of the Moscow region in the Federation Council. In the same month, the Moscow Regional Duma approved the candidacy of Gromov’s successor, submitted by President Medvedev. He became the Minister of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief Sergei Shoigu. At the end of April 2012, it became known that United Russia proposed Gromov as a deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma (previously, one of the deputies from the party surrendered his mandate “due to family circumstances”), so that the former governor could then become a member of the Federation Council from the government of the Moscow region. On May 10, Gromov was confirmed as a deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma, and the next day, after Shoigu’s inauguration, he ceased to be governor.

In March 2009, Russian President Medvedev signed a decree, according to which all government officials were obliged to annually submit information on income and property. In 2009, according to the income statement, Gromov earned 2.226 million rubles. He owned an apartment with an area of ​​236 square meters and a garage. The following year, the governor’s income amounted to about 3.07 million rubles.

Gromov is the author of numerous publications on the history and practical development of the armed forces. President of the International Association "Twinned Cities", head of the All-Russian public organization of veterans "Combat Brotherhood". Awarded the Order "For Services to the Fatherland" II, III and IV degrees, the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", the Medal "For Military Merit" (he values ​​the title of Hero most of all) Soviet Union). Honorary citizen of Saratov (since 1989).

Gromov is a master of sports in handball. Married for the second time, he has five children. In 1985, his first wife died in a plane crash; Gromov met the widow of a pilot who died in the same accident - he married this woman, who had two children. Gromov adopted the children, and in 1998 the Gromovs had a daughter. Gromov's two sons from his first marriage - Maxim and Andrey - also decided to become military: Maxim graduated from the Kiev SVU, then from the Kiev Combined Arms Command School, colonel; Andrey graduated from the Moscow SVU and entered the law faculty of the Military University.

Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov, Soviet and Russian military leader and politician, Hero of the Soviet Union, chairman of the All-Russian organization "BATTLE BROTHERHOOD", was born on November 7, 1943 in Saratov. His father was a military officer who died in 1943. In 1955, following his older brother, he entered the Saratov Suvorov Military School, but the educational institution was soon disbanded, and Boris Vsevolodovich was transferred to the Kalinin SVU, which he successfully graduated in 1962. Three years later, Gromov B.V. graduated from the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School named after S.M. Kirov and was sent to the Baltic Military District (Kaliningrad).

He began his service as a platoon commander and then became a company commander of a motorized rifle division. In 1969, Gromov B.V. was sent to study in Moscow, at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, from which he graduated in 1972 with honors. He passed successively the positions of commander of a platoon, company, battalion, regiment, and division. He received the military ranks of “major”, “lieutenant colonel”, and “colonel” ahead of schedule. At the age of 39 he received the military rank of major general. In 1984 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces with a gold medal.

The geography of his service is very extensive: after the Baltic states - the Turkestan, North Caucasus, Carpathian and Belarusian military districts. But the central place is occupied by Afghanistan, where he took part in hostilities for a total of more than five years. At one of the meetings with veterans, Gromov admitted that he still remembers almost every day he spent in Afghanistan.

In 1987-1989, he commanded the 40th Army, that is, the entire limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. In 1988, for the successful conduct of Operation Magistral (to lift the blockade of the city of Khost besieged by the Mujahideen), Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1989, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov led the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. It was he who developed the escape plan through the Salang Pass. Moscow ordered an artillery strike on the positions of the field commanders, with whom the command of the Soviet troops had secretly agreed on neutrality during the withdrawal of units. To avoid serious bloodshed, Gromov ordered a strike on the empty gorges. As a result, the withdrawal operation was completed without losses. According to his colleagues, Boris Gromov’s main task was always not to lose people.

The legendary general, assessing the events of those times, considers them a political mistake. “It is not clear for whose sake and for what they brought troops into this country in 1979. And in general, everything connected with the deployment of military formations anywhere: to Afghanistan in ’79, to Moscow in August ’91, to Grozny at the end of ’94, did not lead to anything good,” - notes B.V. Gromov.

After the successful operation, Gromov was awarded the rank of Colonel General and appointed commander of the Red Banner Kyiv District, where he was elected People's Deputy of the USSR.

At the beginning of 1992, Boris Vsevolodovich was appointed first deputy commander of the general purpose forces of the United Armed Forces of the CIS. In the same year, he became Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation and held this position for about two years. He repeatedly spoke out sharply against the ill-considered use of troops in the Chechen Republic and condemned the “barbaric choice of military means” used there. In December 1994, he submitted his resignation, but it was not accepted. In 1995, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree seconding Gromov to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a chief military expert with the rank of deputy minister. After this, a new political stage began in the life of a military officer.

In 1995, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov headed the federal list of the socio-political movement “My Fatherland” and was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and became a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

In 1996, he became Boris Yeltsin's confidant in the presidential elections. He stood at the origins of the veterans' movement in Russia. Since 1997, he has headed the All-Russian public organization of veterans “BATTLE BROTHERHOOD”.

In October 1999, Gromov B.V. was nominated as a candidate for the post of governor of the Moscow region and won the second round of voting, which took place in January 2000. In March 2012, at the end of the third term of leadership of the region, Gromov B.V. announced his intention to leave the post of governor of the Moscow region after the expiration of his term of office in May. In 2012, he was approved as a deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma, and then as a senator from the Moscow region in the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.

In June 2013, the Central Election Commission of Russia registered Boris Gromov as a deputy of the State Duma of the sixth convocation from the United Russia party. After the elections to the State Duma of the 7th convocation, he resigned as a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov is the author of numerous publications on the history and practical development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. President of the International Association “Twinned Cities”. He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II, III and IV degrees, the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, and the medal For Military Merit. Honorary citizen of Saratov (since 1989). Master of Sports in handball. Married for the second time, he has five children. Two sons of Gromov B.V. from their first marriage, Maxim and Andrey also decided to become military men. Maxim graduated from the Kiev SVU, and then from the Kiev Combined Arms Command School, colonel. Andrey graduated from the Moscow SVU.

General Boris Gromov is one of the few who managed, while remaining true to himself and his ideals, to stay afloat. Having lived through Afghanistan, he always opposed any attempts to resolve issues within the country using force. But, unfortunately, they did not always listen to him.

Childhood and studies

Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov is a hereditary military man, a native of Saratov. His father never saw his son - he died on his birthday, November 7, 1943. At twelve years old, the boy entered the Suvorov School in Saratov, his hometown. An example for him was his older brother Alexey, who by that time was already a Suvorov veteran. Two years before graduation, the school in Saratov was abolished, and he and his company were transferred to complete their education in Kalinin (modern Tver).

At the end of it, at the age of nineteen, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was drafted into the army. Then he continued his studies at the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School named after Sergei Kirov, which in 1991 was renamed St. Petersburg, and eight years later was liquidated by a decree of the Russian government.

Beginning of a military career

After completing his training, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was seconded to a military district in the Baltic states, where he rose from a platoon commander to a company commander of a motorized rifle division. In his youth, General Gromov gained the opinion of himself as a talented, ambitious and promising young officer. Therefore, he was sent to study further, at the Moscow Military Academy named after Mikhail Frunze. The training ended with a honors diploma, after which Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov returned to his native military unit in Kaliningrad, where he headed the battalion.

Two years later he was promoted to chief of staff of the regiment, and from 1975, for five years, he served in the military district of the North Caucasus, where he commanded a regiment for two years and then headed the divisional headquarters. There he received the rank of major.

"Hot spot" - Afghanistan

Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov made a serious and rapid breakthrough in his military career during the armed conflict in Afghanistan, where he was promoted three times in rank. In 1979, a ten-year conflict began on the territory of the Muslim state, where the state forces of the republic, united with a contingent of Soviet troops, encountered armed resistance from the Mujahideen, who were supported by the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance and the leading UN then qualified the actions of the Soviet army as military intervention.

Boris Gromov was born on November 7, 1943 in the city of Saratov. At the age of 12, in 1955, he entered the Saratov Suvorov Military School. In 1960, after the reduction of the Saratov school, the student was transferred to the Kalinin Suvorov Military School in the city of Tver.

Immediately after completing his studies at Suvorov, in 1962, Gromov entered the Leningrad Combined Arms Command School named after Kirov, which he graduated in 1965. The young lieutenant began his service by assignment in the Baltic Military District, the city of Kaliningrad. Four years later, in 1969, the officer entered the Frunze Military Academy, from which he graduated with honors in 1972.

After graduating from the academy, Boris Gromov took the position of commander of a motorized rifle battalion. He then served as chief of staff. He held the position of commander of a motorized rifle regiment. Subsequently appointed chief of staff of the division in the North Caucasus Military District. Military ranks - major, lieutenant colonel and colonel, the officer received ahead of schedule. In 1978, Gromov received additional education, successfully completing academic courses at the Frunze Military Academy. From 1982 to 1984, the experienced military leader trained at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces named after Voroshilov, from which he graduated with a gold medal.

During the entire period of the military conflict in Afghanistan, the officer served three times in units of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces. He held the post of commander of the 40th Army and at the same time was the authorized representative of the USSR government for the temporary presence of troops in the DRA. He led the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. For the successful conduct of Operation Magistral, the goal of which was the organized and safe withdrawal of military units and formations from the territory of the DRA, Boris Gromov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. According to Gromov himself, on February 15, 1989, the general was the last of the servicemen of the Limited contingent of Soviet troops to leave Afghan soil.

In 1989, the officer was awarded the next military rank of Colonel General, and in the same year, Gromov was appointed commander of the Red Banner Kyiv Military District. In December 1990, Boris Gromov was appointed First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR. A year later, in December 1991, he took the position of first deputy commander-in-chief of the country's ground forces. From June 1992 to February 1995, Boris Vsevolodovich served as Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. In August 1995, he was appointed chief military expert of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation with the rank of deputy minister. In this post, Gromov achieved consolidation of the Russian military presence in Tajikistan, and disrupted negotiations on the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan, which Boris Yeltsin promised to return to the Japanese.

In the period from 1995 to 1999, Gromov was a member of the Duma faction “Russian Regions” and headed the subcommittee on arms control and international security of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. Since 1997, the Colonel General headed the All-Russian public organization of veterans “Combat Brotherhood”. In December 1999, he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the third convocation. In January 2000, Gromov took the post of governor of the Moscow region, relinquishing his parliamentary powers. In December 2003, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin included the governor into the Presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation. In November 2004, at the congress of the United Russia party, Boris Gromov was elected to the Supreme Council of the party. At the end of November 2005, the politician officially joined the United Russia party.

Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation in May 2007, was appointed to the post of governor of the Moscow region for a third term with the wording - “In connection with the successes in the development of the region...”. In May 2012, the Moscow Regional Election Commission approved him as a deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma, and by decree of the new governor of the Moscow region Sergei Shoigu, he was appointed a representative in the Federation Council from the government of the Moscow region.

In June 2013, the powers of Senator Gromov were terminated early by a resolution of the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko. In the same month, the Central Election Commission of Russia registered Boris Gromov as a deputy of the State Duma of the sixth convocation from the United Russia party.

Family of Boris Gromov

In February 1969, at the age of 33, his elder brother Alexei Gromov (1937-1969) died.

In May 1985, in a plane crash that occurred with an An-26 military aircraft taking off from Lvov to Moscow, and which, due to an error by the air traffic controller, collided with a Tu-134 flight Tallinn - Lvov - Chisinau, Boris Gromov’s first wife Natalya Nikolaevna tragically died. He was left with two sons: Maxim (born in 1974) and Andrey (born in 1980).

In the same An-26 crash, the commander of the Air Force of the Carpathian Military District, Evgeniy Krapivin, Gromov’s classmate and friend from studying at the General Staff Academy, and his sons Andrei and Alexander were killed (among the dead were also a member of the military council of the district, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the son of cosmonaut V. Bykovsky and other people). The Gromov and Krapivin families were friends; in Moscow they generally lived in the same house. After the death of the male half of the family, Faina Krapivina, the widow of Alexander, was left alone with two twin girls, Zhenya and Valya, who were 2 months old on the day of the plane crash. After the tragedy, Boris Gromov and Faina tried to support each other. Their common grief brought them closer together. In 1990, after five years of loneliness, Gromov, no longer young, married for the second time to Faina, whose family he helped after the tragic death of her husband and father-in-law. He adopted Faina's children - twins Evgenia and Valentina. And in 1998, his daughter Lisa appeared in his family. The girl's godfather was the then mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov.

The eldest son Maxim graduated from the Kiev Suvorov Military School, then took a course at the Kyiv Combined Arms Command School (the school was liquidated in 1992), and currently continues to serve in the army with the rank of colonel.

The younger one, Andrei Gromov, studied at the Moscow Suvorov Military School, after which he transferred to the Faculty of Law of the Military University.

Boris Gromov Awards

Hero of the Soviet Union, with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (March 3, 1988).
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree (September 25, 2018) - for significant contribution to the development of the veteran movement, strengthening the military community, and many years of active work in the patriotic education of youth.
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree (November 6, 2003) - for his great contribution to the strengthening of Russian statehood and the socio-economic development of the region.
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree.
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (November 7, 2008) - for his great contribution to the socio-economic development of the Moscow region and many years of fruitful work.
Order of Honor (March 30, 2012) - for his great contribution to the socio-economic development of the region and many years of conscientious work.
Two Orders of the Red Banner.
Order of the Red Star.
Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree
Medal "For Military Merit".
Medal “For Merit in Perpetuating the Memory of the Fallen Defenders of the Fatherland” (Russian Ministry of Defense, 2008) - for great personal contribution to perpetuating the memory of the fallen defenders of the Fatherland, establishing the names of the dead and the fate of missing servicemen, demonstrating high moral and business qualities, diligence and reasonable initiative, providing assistance in solving problems to perpetuate the memory of fallen defenders of the Fatherland.
Medal "For Impeccable Service" I, II, III degrees
Medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Medal "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Medal "70 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Breastplate "Warrior-Internationalist"
Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
Medal "For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth"
Medal "For the development of virgin lands"
Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow"
Certificate of Honor from the President of the Russian Federation (July 4, 2009) - for great work in social and economic support of war participants and combat veterans
Honorary citizen of the city of Saratov (1989)
Honorary citizen of the city of Tver (May 14, 2005)
Honorary citizen of the Moscow region (May 31, 2012)

Foreign awards:

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, IV degree (Ukraine, February 12, 2014)
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V degree (Ukraine, November 7, 2003)
Medal "10 years of the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus, November 22, 2005) - for significant contribution to the development of economic, scientific, technical and cultural ties between the Republic of Belarus and the Moscow region of the Russian Federation
Medal “In memory of the 10th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan” (Belarus, February 13, 2003) - for great personal contribution to the development and strengthening of interaction between the movements of veterans of the war in Afghanistan of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation
Medal "Loyalty" (Afghanistan, November 17, 1988)
Medal “To the Internationalist Warrior from the Grateful Afghan People” (Afghanistan)
Order of the Red Banner (Afghanistan)
Order of the Star, 1st class (Afghanistan)
Confessional awards:

Order of Glory and Honor, 1st degree (2012)
Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, 1st degree (2008) - in recognition of special services to the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and in connection with the 65th anniversary of his birth
Order of the Holy Blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st degree
Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, II degree
Order of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, 1st degree

Biography of Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov - young years.
Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was born on November 7, 1943 in Saratov. He and his older brother Alexei were raised by their grandfather, Dmitry Fedorovich. As Boris Vsevolodovich himself recalls, the main merit of his grandfather in raising him and his brother was the desire to instill in them the rules of good manners from childhood: he demanded respect for himself as the head of the family, and respect for women, mother and grandmother. Although the grandfather never used the “belt method,” the boys were slightly afraid of him, but they received a real male education. Dmitry Fedorovich wanted Boris and his brother to receive a legal education, but fate decreed otherwise.
In 1955, Boris Gromov and his brother Alexei, as the sons of an officer who died in the Great Patriotic War, were sent to Saratov, and then to the Kalinin Suvorov School. Thus, Gromov’s military biography, one might say, began at the age of twelve. Gromov later spoke about his first serious military training as a good school, obtained thanks to the most experienced teachers who sought to provide not only knowledge, but also to educate real officers. In addition to the main program, the school's students studied ballroom dancing, music, and studied art history and aesthetics. Most of all, Gromov gravitated towards military disciplines. An important aspect of the training was the compulsory knowledge of the English language - everyone, both students and teachers, were required to speak only English, which, as Gromov later recalls, often led to anecdotal situations, since not all teachers spoke English, but the students themselves, who spoke at first with grief in half, only a sense of humor saved me.
After successfully graduating from college in 1962, Gromov entered the Leningrad Military School, from which he graduated in 1965, receiving the rank of lieutenant.
Then Gromov enlisted in the troops of the Baltic Military District. At first he was a platoon commander, then became a company commander of a motorized rifle division. In the very first years of his service, Gromov proved himself to be a talented and highly gifted commander, and in 1969, as a promising employee, he was sent to study at the Military Academy in Moscow. Gromov graduated from the academy with honors and, starting in 1972, continued to serve in the North Caucasus Military District as chief of staff of the 9th Motorized Rifle Division.
Over the years of military service, Gromov became a professional military man; the army strengthened his will and largely influenced the formation of his personality.
The facts of Gromov’s military biography speak for themselves: In 1975, 1977 and 1979, he was awarded the ranks of major, lieutenant colonel and colonel ahead of schedule.
In 1980, Gromov was sent to Afghanistan. There, for two and a half years, he was commander of the fifth motorized rifle division. In 1982, Gromov received the military rank of major general and continued to improve his military skills by entering the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces.
Gromov becomes First Deputy Commander of the 38th Army of the Carpathian Military District. Since March 1985, he has served for a year with the rank of general for special assignments of the Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces in Afghanistan, and then for another year as commander of the 28th Army of the Belarusian Military District.
In 1987, Gromov became the commander of all formations of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. In the same year, Gromov was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. In the difficult military conditions of Afghanistan, Gromov’s organizational talent was fully demonstrated.
Among his soldiers, he enjoyed well-deserved authority and respect as a shining example of humanity, personal courage and heroism.
In 1988, one of the most honorable events in Gromov’s biography occurred - he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Gromov received this honorary award for the brilliantly carried out Operation Magistral. Once again proving himself to be a first-class professional, Gromov successfully withdrew his troops from warring Afghanistan, suffering virtually no losses. The operation carried out by General Gromov went down in history as one of the exemplary examples of military achievements, and was subsequently described in all textbooks on military tactics and strategy as a clear illustration of the manifestation of highly professional actions of the commander.
Fundamental disagreements soon arose between Gromov and the Minister of Defense. Gromov openly criticized the senior generals on issues related to military reform and the Chechen war. This led to his resignation from the post of Deputy Minister of Defense. Gromov was transferred to the position of Chief Military Expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Being a military professional and a widely erudite, experienced leader, with a good command of English, Gromov quickly joined diplomatic activities.
In December 1995, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was elected to the State Duma. In January 2000, he became governor of the Moscow region.
The personal life of Boris Vsevolodovich is full of drama. His first wife died, and he was left with two sons, the youngest of whom was only five years old at that time. Then followed many years of loneliness, which ended with his second marriage. Gromov married a woman who was left a widow after the same disaster that claimed the life of his wife. He adopted her two daughters. In 1998, a daughter, Lisa, appeared in the Gromov family.