Leonty Shevtsov

Leonty Pavlovich Shevtsov (; born 14 March 1946) is a retired Russian colonel general. He served in a number of senior positions, including as the Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of Russia from 1997 to 1998 and as a Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs from 1997 to 1999.

After becoming an officer in the Soviet Army he commanded units at every level from a platoon to a field army. During the early 1990s, he was the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army, the deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate at the Russian General Staff, and the chief of staff of the Joint Group of Forces in Chechnya. Shevtsov was sent to the NATO military headquarters from 1995 to 1997, when Russia deployed one brigade for the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and worked out the framework for Russia's participation with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a U.S. general. He became the deputy to the supreme commander for Russian forces. Shevtsov was later the head of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the late 1990s after returning to Russia and oversaw their reforms.

Early life and education Leonty Shevtsov was born on 14 March 1946 in the village of , in the North Kazakhstan Region of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.

Shevtsov joined the Soviet Army in 1964. His military education includes graduating from the Tashkent Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1968, the Frunze Military Academy in 1977, and the General Staff Academy in 1990.

In March 1993 Shevtsov became the Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate, General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. When Lieutenant General Anatoly Kvashnin was appointed to lead the Joint Group of Federal Forces in Chechnya in December 1994, he chose to have Shevtsov as his chief of staff. Shevtsov and the General Staff only had a couple of weeks to plan for the operation. He was then appointed the First Deputy Chief of the same directorate, holding that post until July 1997.

At the ministerial level, a decision was made to send Russian General Staff officers to NATO on 8 October 1995, and Colonel General Shevtsov was chosen to lead the Russian Ministry of Defense Operational Group to be sent there. The exact solution for the framework of the mission was worked out by him and U.S. Army General George Joulwan, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). In three weeks they successfully arranged the joint Russian-NATO mission, despite the fact that previously their military-to-military ties were in an early stage of development, and it had been mostly limited to high-level meetings with no practical work at the lower levels. The 1st Separate Airborne brigade consisted of two or three battalions, drawn from the Russian 76th Guards Air Assault and 98th Guards Airborne divisions. Russia continued its participation in the mission when in late 1996 the Implementation Force in Bosnia became the Stabilization Force. According to Joulwan, the cooperation between NATO and Russia at SHAPE and in Bosnia contributed to the development and signing of the NATO–Russia Founding Act at the 1997 Paris summit. Shevtsov was awarded the Legion of Merit by the U.S. for his work at SHAPE. Speaking about the NATO-Russian military-to-military cooperation, he said "We military have set an example for our politicians by demonstrating that the question of Russian participation in a peacekeeping operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina jointly with the Americans ... can be successfully solved."

Interior Ministry After a year and a half at the NATO military headquarters, he returned to Russia and was appointed the Commander of the Internal Troops in July 1997. The appointment of Shevtsov, an army general with no experience in the Interior Ministry, was interpreted as helping bring the Internal Troops under the control of the Defense Ministry and of his ally, General Anatoly Kvashnin, who was then the Chief of the General Staff. It was also to begin reform in the Internal Troops, which had up to that point been unaffected by the reforms taking place in the Armed Forces.

After commanding the Internal Troops, from May 1998 to April 1999 he led the Main Directorate of the Interior Ministry in the North Caucasus. Shevtsov was also a Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs during his entire time at the Interior Ministry from 1997 to 1999. After that, until his retirement in 2007, he was the inspector of the main command of the Internal Troops. When the National Guard of Russia was created from the Internal Troops, he became an advisor to its commander, General Viktor Zolotov.

Awards Domestic Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Order of Military Merit Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd and 3rd classes Merited Military Specialist of the Russian Federation Foreign United States: Legion of Merit

Promotions + Rank Date Lieutenant colonel December 1980 Colonel 21 February 1985 Major general 29 October 1987 Lieutenant general 7 July 1992 Colonel general 9 February 1995