Nikolai Staskov

Lieutenant General Nikolai Viktorovich Staskov (born 28 August 1951) is a Russian retired military officer. He was the deputy commander of the Russian Airborne Forces for peacekeeping from 1993 to 1997, and the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Airborne Forces from 1998 to 2005.

Staskov is a veteran of the Ethiopian Civil War, the First Chechen War, and the Dagestan War. He graduated from the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School, the Frunze Military Academy, and the Russian General Staff Academy. He was a military advisor in Ethiopia, and later commanded some of the forces that were involved in the storming of Grozny in Chechnya. Throughout the 1990s he also oversaw the deployment of Russian troops into former Yugoslavia as part of the United Nations Protection Force, and the NATO Implementation Force and Kosovo Force.

After becoming the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Airborne Forces he helped with the reform of the service, including the change of the 76th Guards Airborne Division into an all-volunteer unit as part of the plan to turn the entire service into a fully professional force. Although he was not chosen to become the commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, Staskov had a significant influence on the development of the branch in the post-Soviet years. He retired from military service in 2005.

He stood as a candidate for governor of Pskov Oblast in the 2004 Russian gubernatorial elections but did not win. In 2005 he earned a doctorate of political science from the Russian Presidential Academy of Public Administration. Since 2016 he has been the secretary and deputy chairman of DOSAAF.

Early life and education Staskov was born on 28 August 1951 in the village of , Smolensk Oblast, in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union.

His later military education included graduating from the Frunze Military Academy in 1983

General officer In September 1991 he was supposed to start attending the General Staff Academy, but before he could leave the 1991 Soviet coup attempt took place in August, and he was ordered to stay in command of the training division by Colonel General Pavel Grachev, who was the commander of the Soviet Airborne Forces at the time. The division was in Lithuania, and Staskov was instructed by the State Committee on the State of Emergency to take control of several Lithuanian radio and television stations, which he did with his paratroopers without any fighting or casualties. Staskov negotiated with their owners to bring the stations under temporary protection during the unrest, and he returned them several days later when the coup attempt fell apart. Staskov attended the General Staff Academy in the early 1990s, graduating in 1993, At that time, the VDV had deployed one battalion to the former Yugoslavia as part of the United Nations Protection Force, which was later increased with a second battalion. Two were sent to Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, and even more airborne units were deployed to Chechnya at outbreak of the First Chechen War. Staskov claimed that the Americans did not want to cooperate with the Russians. This may have contributed to him being sent back to Russia in February 1996.

Airborne chief of staff In November 1998 Staskov was appointed chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Airborne Forces.

In July 1999 Staskov told the media that Russia intends to participate in the Kosovo Force for the long term, and at that point its contribution was up to 1,200 paratroopers. During the Dagestan War in August 1999, the VDV's 7th Guards Airborne Division were the first federal troops to respond to the Chechen rebel attack into the region of Dagestan. Later on, after two Russian paratroopers were captured, Staskov personally went to Chechnya in November to negotiate with the rebel leadership to secure their release, trading several Chechen rebels that had been in Russia captivity. Staskov and the Airborne Forces Staff also made sure, with the support of the General Staff, that the VDV forces deployed in the Second Chechen War operated as their own separate formation, under the command of a VDV general. Staskov assisted with the reforms of the VDV, which was maintained as a separate service and the reserve of the president of Russia despite some pressure to integrate it into the Russian Ground Forces, and it was organized into airborne, air assault, and mountain units. He had a role in making the 76th Guards Airborne Division a model unit for the professionalization of the Russian military, and specifically for the plan of turning the VDV into an all-volunteer force. He was described as having been a big influence within the Airborne Forces.

Staskov remained as the Airborne Forces chief of staff until he retired from the military in March 2005.

Later work After retiring, in 2005 he acquired a doctorate in political science from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. His dissertation was titled "Force operations in a system of ethnic conflict resolution: domestic and international aspects."

In December 2013 he became the chairman of the International Union of Paratroopers. In January 2015 he became the representative of the chairman of DOSAAF of Russia for cooperation with the State Duma, and in April 2016 he was made the secretary and deputy chairman of DOSAAF.

Personal life He is married and has a son and a daughter.

Awards and decorations Russia and the Soviet Union Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Order of Military Merit Order "For Personal Courage" Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class 25 medals

Russian Orthodox Church Order of Saint Nicholas, 2nd class Order of Saint Daniel of Moscow

Foreign Order of Njegoš