Aleksandr Starovoitov

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Starovoitov (; 18 October 1940 – 17 July 2021) was an officer of the Soviet and Russian security services and academic, specialising in communications technologies. He reached the rank of army general, and was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

Starovoitov's education and early career was spent specialising in electronics and communications, and after obtaining qualifications and practical experience in this area, he began research work at the Penza Scientific Electrotechnical Research Institute. Over the years he rose to head the institute, and became general director of the "Krystal" Research and Production Association, working under the Ministry of Communication Equipment Industry. During this time he oversaw the development of information security systems which were employed in the Soviet Armed Forces, governmental departments and organs, and in economic and financial institutions. By the late 1980s he had become a leading expert in the field of communications research and development, and in 1986 he was appointed deputy head for technological equipment of the KGB's Government Communications Department. He was briefly chairman of the Government Communications Committee prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and then became general director of FAPSI, the Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information.

Under Starovoitov's leadership FAPSI became one of the largest intelligence agencies in the Russian Federation, and he rose through the ranks to become an army general. Dismissed from his post in 1998, he retired in 1999, being awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation that year. He remained active in commercial fields related to his service, in senior leadership positions in businesses and enterprises, as well as in research and academia. He was a member of numerous scientific bodies and academies, and had received a number of academic and governmental distinctions prior to his death in 2021.

Early life and career Starovoitov was born on 18 October 1940 into a Russian family in the town of Balashov, Saratov Oblast, in the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, in the Soviet Union. No such transfer occurred, and he was dismissed from military service in 1999. Starovoitov lived and worked in Moscow, dying there on 17 July 2021 at the age of 80. Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin expressed his condolences, stating that Starovoitov had "made a huge contribution to the development of national science and contributed to the strengthening of the country's defence capability." Starovoitov was buried in the fourth section of the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.

Honours and awards The gold star medal of the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. Starovoitov was awarded the title in 1999. Besides the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, Starovoitov had received numerous awards and honours over his long career. He was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Fourth Class on 9 April 1996, and the Third Class in 2020. He had also received the Order of Alexander Nevsky on 11 June 2016, and the Soviet-era awards of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour on 8 August 1986, and the Order of the Badge of Honour on 10 March 1981. He also held several professional awards and distinctions, including the titles of on 21 October 1993, Honoured State Security Officer in 1991, Honoured Communications Industry Worker, and . He had also been awarded the thanks of the President of Russia on 12 July 1996.