The former commander of the Ground Forces, Vladimir Boldyrev, in a conversation with an RBC correspondent, commented on Ramzan Kadyrov’s statements addressed to him. In particular, he responded to allegations that he had been demoted and transferred from the North Caucasian Military District because he had failed in his duties.
“No one has taken me anywhere. After that, I began to command the North Caucasian District, was transferred to an equivalent position and commanded the Volga-Ural District. That’s all I can say about this. For some reason, he did not remember the year 2008 and the enforcement of peace by Georgia, for some reason he completely missed this moment, ”said Boldyrev.
He also reiterated that the head of Chechnya had no right to criticize Alexander Lapin. “The commander of the troops of the district, the commander of the grouping of troops at the front, Colonel General, Hero of Russia Lapin, only two people can evaluate him, and even more so criticize him: this is the minister and the president of our state. No other officials can give an assessment. Everything else is just empty words or undercover fuss, which, perhaps, is encouraged from somewhere else, ”said Boldyrev.
“Everything else that he said about me – God be his judge, I’m not going to enter into a debate with him here, ”Vladimir Boldyrev told RBC.
The day before, Kadyrov commented on Boldyrev’s statement that, as a civilian, he had no right to criticize Lapin. He recalled that he is a general of the National Guard and has seniority, experience and results. “Which of us is better: Colonel General blah blah blah or Colonel General Kadyrov?” – said the head of Chechnya.
Kadyrov criticized Lapin in early October, after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Krasny Liman. “It’s not a shame that Lapin is mediocre. And the fact that he is covered at the top by the leaders in the General Staff. <...> Army nepotism will not lead to good things. In the army, it is necessary to appoint people of a strong character, courageous, principled, who worry about their fighters, who tear their teeth for their soldier, who know that a subordinate cannot be left without help and support. There is no place for nepotism in the army, especially in difficult times,” Kadyrov said at the time.
Vladimir Boldyrev in 2001-2002 commanded the troops of the Siberian Military District, then until 2004 – the troops of the North Caucasian Military District.
In mid-July 2004, he was transferred to the post of commander of the Volga-Urals Military District. This happened a month after the militants attacked Ingushetia. Then the militants under the leadership of Shamil Basayev simultaneously attacked the federal border detachment in Nazran, the buildings of the police department in Karabulak and the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya. The loss of federal forces amounted to 93 people. The heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia and the prosecutor’s office of Nazran were also killed. In addition to Boldyrev, Anatoly Kvashnin, Chief of the General Staff, and Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, left their posts.
In 2008-2009, Boldyrev was the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. During the hostilities in Georgia in 2008, he headed the operational headquarters in Vladikavkaz, which coordinated the actions of the military in South Ossetia.
On January 1, 2010, Boldyrev wrote a letter of resignation. At that time, he had exceeded the age limit for military service.
Currently, Boldyrev is one of the general inspectors of the Ministry of Defense.
