Why was the head of the 12th Gumo fired? Igor Kolesnikov: “They are laying a “Special Route”.” 1st battalion SN

15.02.2024

By his decree, President Vladimir Putin dismissed the head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUMO), Lieutenant General Yuri Sych, from his post. The resignation took place at the request of the general, citing health problems. Mr. Sych’s deputy, Major General Igor Kolesnikov, was appointed acting head of the GUMO. According to Kommersant, he can become the head of the main department on a permanent basis. The 12th Main Command is responsible in the Ministry of Defense for the storage, maintenance and preparation for combat use of all nuclear weapons.

A source close to the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported to Kommersant that Yuri Sych was relieved of his post as head of the 12th Main Directorate, followed by his dismissal from military service. According to him, some time ago the general wrote a report with the wording “for health reasons,” and on July 5, Vladimir Putin granted his request by a closed decree. In a conversation with Kommersant, General Sych confirmed that he would leave his post for health reasons, but assured: “I’ll still work for a few months.” He emphasized that he does not intend to talk about his successor, since this issue “is not within his competence.”

Yuriy Sych was transferred to work at GUMO in December 2010, before which he headed the Department of State Supervision over Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry of Defense. A few months before the appointment of Yuriy Sych, the commander-in-chief found himself at the center of a scandal: President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the commander of military unit 39995 (Irkutsk region), Viktor Gaidukov (see Kommersant, September 29, 2010). Major General Gaidukov became the first Russian military and civil servant to be dismissed by the head of state for false information in his income declaration. Subsequently, a criminal case was initiated against him under Part 4 of Art. 290 (receiving a large bribe) and Part 1 of Art. 285 (abuse of official powers) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation established that in 2006–2010, military facilities were built on the territory of the military unit entrusted to him, including by a company founded by his wife - her company received more than 20 million rubles transferred under contracts. A number of media outlets associated the resignation of the then head of the 12th GUMO, Vladimir Verkhovtsev, with this incident. However, after his dismissal, he found a job in the nuclear industry, and General Gaidukov was acquitted by a jury (see Kommersant, August 29, 2012).

According to Kommersant’s military sources, in the eyes of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, General Sych established himself as a leader who managed to establish “smooth operation” of the 12th GUMO: during his work, not a single serious emergency was recorded at the arsenals (as of March 1, 2017, Russia 1,765 strategic nuclear charges alone were deployed, the number of tactical ones and the total number of stored special ammunition were not disclosed). Glavk is considered one of the most important in the structure of the Ministry of Defense: it includes central and military bases for storing nuclear weapons, a research institute, an interspecific training center, a test site on Novaya Zemlya, as well as a special control service (carries out constant monitoring of nuclear weapons tests on foreign testing grounds). Mr. Sych was also involved in negotiations: in close cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry, he participated in discussions on issues of ensuring nuclear and radiation safety, as well as the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. In February 2016, Vladimir Putin awarded him the rank of lieutenant general.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, by order of the minister, Major General Igor Kolesnikov was appointed as the acting head of the main department. According to Kommersant, he will be given a probationary period of several months and if he passes it, then the proposal for his appointment as head of the 12th GUMO will be sent to the president for signature.

Bolshoy Znamensky lane, 19

Commanders Acting commander

Patch 12 GUMO

The explosion of the first Soviet nuclear device at the Semipalatinsk test site on August 29, 1949, 10 hours 05 minutes.

12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, 12th Main Directorate, 12th Main Directorate)- the military control body of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - Russia, responsible for nuclear technical support and security.
During the Soviet period, it was called the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (12GU MO USSR).
The license plate code for vehicles of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian Armed Forces is 39.

Management

The head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is Colonel Yu. G. Sych.

Deputy head of the department - Colonel P. A. Shushpanov.

Story

The founding date of the 12th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense is considered to be September 4 - the day of the formation of the Special Department of the General Staff (GS) of the Armed Forces of the USSR, whose tasks were the creation of the first test site (Semipalatinsk test site), the study of the damaging factors of nuclear explosions and the development of means and methods of anti-nuclear protection of troops (forces) and population. Colonel General V. A. Bolyatko was appointed head of the special department, and Major General N. P. Egorov was appointed his deputy.
On September 20, the Special Department of the General Staff was transformed into the 6th Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, which was entrusted with the functions of coordinating research work, developing special requirements for the combat use of troops (forces) in conditions of the use of nuclear weapons, organizing and conducting nuclear testing weapons, control of the activities of special departments in the armed forces.
By March 1, the arsenal of atomic weapons of the Soviet Union had 15 atomic bombs of the RDS-1 type.
The storage of atomic bombs was carried out on the territory of nuclear “facility No. 550” (KB-11) in a specially constructed underground storage facility. The bombs were stored in a disassembled state; components and parts were also located in reinforced concrete above-ground (covered with earth) storage facilities.
On January 1, KB-11 already contained 35 atomic bombs:

The preparation of the Air Force for the use of nuclear aircraft bombs began at the end of 1951, when, by decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated August 29, 1951 No. 3200-1513, the Military Ministry began forming the first aviation bomber regiment with the code name “Training Unit No. 8" as part of 22 Tu-4 combat carrier aircraft. The regiment was staffed by personnel from the 45th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division. Colonel V.A. Trekhin was appointed commander of the regiment.
The issue of creating an infrastructure for the storage and operation of nuclear weapons has become acute. For obvious reasons, the Special Committee assigned this task to the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
In 1951, departments were created in the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR:

accounting and storage of special products;
special acceptance of parts, assemblies, mechanisms and materials for “501” products (that is, nuclear weapons);
Department of construction of special facilities.

At the end of 1950, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to create central storage bases for nuclear weapons - TsBH, that is, organizations that assemble and store nuclear weapons produced at the factories of the USSR Ministry of Medium Engineering (Ministry of Medium Machine Building of the USSR, MSM USSR).
First central storage bases (objects “C”) were in the south of Crimea military unit (V/U) No. 62047 (Simferopol-10 or Feodosia-13) “Object 712” - commander M.V. Nemirovsky, in Western Ukraine Military Unit No. 51989 (Ivano-Frankovsk-16) “Object 711” - commander A. M. Yakovenko, Military Unit No. 52025 - Moscow region, Mozhaisk-10 (Moscow, K-510) “Object 714” - commander P. A . Krylov, in the central part of Russia, Military Unit No. 71373 (Novgorod-18) “Object 713” - commander B. N. Filippov.
On August 29, 1951, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided No. 3200-1513 to begin construction of the first military depots - nuclear bases designed for storing and preparing for the use of atomic bombs, at four Long-Range Aviation airfields located in the settlements of Stryi, Soltsy, Bagerovo , Machulishche. These military nuclear bomb depots were given a code name - repair and technical bases (RTB). These first bases were headed: in Western Ukraine (Stry) - commander Zaika, in Crimea (Bagerovo) - commander Kuzovatkin I.I., in Belarus Military Unit No. 75367 (Machulishchi) - commander Gusev, in the north-west of Russia - V/ Ch No. 75365 (Soltsy, Novgorod region) - commander Shirshov.
The construction and formation of the first four RTBs was completed in 1954. Construction of the first two central storage bases (711 and 712) was completed in 1955.
In 1954, serial production of aviation atomic ammunition (RDS-3, RDS-4) began, and in 1955, their first laying was carried out at facilities “C” and at repair and technical base facilities.
Subsequently, the construction of central and military storage bases continued.
Behind each central several nuclear weapons storage bases were assigned military storage bases that were supplied from it with nuclear weapons. TsBH carried out technical control and technical support for the repair and technical bases of the Air Force and Navy, mobile repair and technical bases of the strategic military and air forces and air defense, and the repair and technical bases of the Strategic Missile Forces were also provided by the management.
The assembly of products was determined by the complete list (VK). Initially, nuclear munitions arrived from manufacturing plants in disassembled form (according to VK-1 configuration sheets). At the central bases, the components of the nuclear weapon were checked and assembled into the body. Only starting from the second half of the year, the Ministry of Medium Engineering of the USSR organized the storage of nuclear weapons at central bases to a higher degree of readiness.
At central bases, atomic bombs were laid according to the VK-2, VK-3, VK-4 equipment lists, and at military bases - according to the VK-4 equipment lists (later - to the level of readiness of SG-4) and higher.
A feature of 1955-1956. was that the military stock of nuclear ammunition at the repair and technical bases was kept without nuclear charges, neutron sources, etc. Their delivery to the repair and technical bases was planned in a special period by the assembly teams of objects “C”, where, together with the assembly teams of the latter, it was to be carried out final preparation of nuclear weapons for combat use.
The military assembly brigades included in the military nuclear bases for storing nuclear weapons were subordinate to the Ministry of Medium Engineering (Military Unit No. 04201 - the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which became the Ministry of Medium Engineering in 1953) and only on the instructions of its leadership could begin preparation nuclear bombs and issuing them for suspension on carrier aircraft.
On March 12, 1956, a resolution was adopted by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which instructed the Ministry of Medium Engineering and the Ministry of Defense to make proposals until July 15, 1956 on the transfer in 1956 to the Ministry of Defense of assembly brigades and nuclear bombs located at the military bases of the Ministry of Medium mechanical engineering, and by the end of 1956, develop and submit a proposal on the timing and procedure for transferring from the Ministry of Medium Engineering to the Ministry of Defense the function of accepting, storing and operating nuclear weapons. A decree of the USSR Government dated September 23, 1957 ordered the transfer of two central nuclear weapons storage bases to the Ministry of Defense by February 1, 1958. The transfer of the remaining central bases for storing nuclear weapons was carried out by decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated January 9, 1958. Before June 1, 1958, all nine central bases with nuclear weapons and personnel stored in them were transferred by the Ministry of Medium Engineering to the Ministry of Defense.
From that moment on, the operation of nuclear weapons was carried out by central storage bases, military bases of nuclear weapons of branches of the Armed Forces, mobile bases of nuclear weapons of branches of the Armed Forces and military units for combat use.
Until December 31, 1961, work on the assembly of nuclear weapons was carried out in the following military units:

Military unit No. 04201 - (PGU under the USSR Council of Ministers, which became MSM in 1953)
Military unit No. 25026 Liepaja RTB BF
Military unit No. 31759 Chelyabinsk-115
Military unit No. 40274 Lesnoy (Sverdlovsk-45)
Military unit No. 41013 Trekhgorny-1
Military unit No. 41065 Svobodny-21
Military unit No. 51966 Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk-26)
Military unit No. 51989 Ivano-Frankivsk-16
Military unit No. 52025 Mozhaisk-10
Military unit No. 62047 Feodosia-13 (Simferopol-32)
Military unit No. 62834 Olenegorsk-2 RTB SF
Military unit No. 71373 Valdai (Novgorod-17)
Military unit No. 81388 Danube village (Shkotovo-22) RTB Pacific Fleet
Military unit No. 90989 Balaklava (Sevastopol) RTB Black Sea Fleet

The number of central nuclear weapons bases doubled in the ten years after their transfer from the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building to the Ministry of Defense.
The Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) created their own storage bases (RTB) to interact with missile divisions of intercontinental missiles. Their assembly brigades were entrusted with the function of independently preparing nuclear weapons for combat use (in the 1950s, this task was carried out jointly with the assembly brigades of central bases).
In 1958, the Nuclear Explosion Control Service was created as part of the 6th Directorate (since 1960 - the Special Control Service).
In January-February 1958, the Main Directorate of Procurement of the Ministry of Medium Engineering of the USSR was transferred to the Ministry of Defense of the USSR and transformed into the Main Directorate of Special Weapons of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In April 1958, it was renamed the 12th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense (military unit 31600, Moscow Znamensky lane, 19). Then the 6th Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces was included in its composition.
Initially, the 12th Main Directorate of the Moscow Region was created as a structure of the Strategic Missile Forces, but on November 28, 1974, the 12th Main Directorate was removed from the Missile Forces, and instead of it, the 6th Directorate was formed in the Strategic Missile Forces.
In 1988, the Nuclear Safety Inspectorate was created on the basis of the department of the Nuclear Weapons Operation Directorate in the 12th State Medical Directorate. In the same year, the formation of the professional emergency rescue service 12 GUMO began, which then became the basis for the deployment in the Russian Ministry of Defense of a system for responding to possible accidents with nuclear weapons. Since 1994, the functions of the Nuclear Safety Inspectorate have been expanded, and it was transformed into the Directorate of State Supervision over Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
On the eve of the collapse of the USSR (1989-1991), 12 GUMO carried out the return of tactical nuclear weapons from the Warsaw Pact countries and the union republics of Transcaucasia and Central Asia to the territory of Russia, and in 1992-1996. - removal of nuclear weapons from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to facilities of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In 1992, to carry out measures to implement international treaties on the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons, the Directorate for the Elimination and Disposal of Nuclear Munitions and Means of Their Operation was created. Modern nuclear weapons were subject to priority reduction under international obligations, and Russia was forced to store older nuclear weapons, removed from service due to the expiration of warranty periods, until they were dismantled beyond the time limits established by safety conditions. All nuclear weapons storage facilities were overfilled.
On April 3, 1995, agreements were concluded between the US and Russian ministries of defense in the field of security of storage of nuclear weapons and in the field of their transportation. The American side supplied 150 super containers to Russia to protect nuclear weapons. In 1996-1997 With the help of the United States, the physical protection and thermal resistance of 115 railway cars for transporting nuclear weapons was improved. To improve the physical protection of nuclear weapons storage sites, alarm systems, video cameras, etc. were supplied from the United States.
In 1997, by order of the Russian Minister of Defense, all military bases of nuclear weapons (except for the bases of the Strategic Missile Forces) were transferred to the 12th Main Directorate of the Moscow Region. and in 2002, a number of nuclear weapons bases of the Strategic Missile Forces were also transferred to the 12th Main Directorate.
Since 1996, the 12th GUMO has been participating in the creation of the international monitoring system provided for by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
In 1997, the Center for Nuclear Technical Support of the Russian Armed Forces was created as part of the GUMO.
Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 31, 2006 No. 549 established a professional holiday for nuclear support specialists, which is celebrated annually on September 4.

Subordinate structures

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Information must be verifiable, otherwise it may be questioned and deleted.
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This mark is set August 8, 2012.

Center for Nuclear Safety - Moscow B. Znamensky per., 15 from 1

Arsenals (CBH - Central Storage Bases or objects “C”)

(1990 - more than 20 pieces, 2005 - 14 pieces)
At the time of the collapse of the USSR, nuclear weapons of six types were stored at central storage bases:- Air Force nuclear bombs - aerial bombs and warheads of air-launched cruise missiles
- nuclear warheads of the strategic military forces of the SV - tactical combat units ( TR) and operational-tactical missiles ( OTR), special artillery rounds ( CAB) - artillery shells and mortar mines
- Nuclear warheads of the Strategic Missile Forces - warheads and missile warheads
- Navy nuclear warheads - warheads and warheads of sea-based missiles and coastal missile systems, warheads of anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles, combat charging compartments and warheads of torpedoes and torpedo missiles, anchor and bottom mines, coastal artillery shells, depth charges and " diving" aerial bombs
- nuclear warheads for air defense - warheads of air defense and missile defense missiles
- nuclear warheads of engineering troops - stationary and portable engineering mines

Special Control Service

Emblem of the Special Control Service

military unit 11111 (Moscow Rubtsovsko-Dvortsovaya, (also Matrosskaya Tishina St., 10)), formed on May 13, 1958 in the GRU system Formal name: 170th Operational Coordination Center (170th OKTs) of the Special Control Service of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In 1992, the SSC included 11 separate and 3 radioseismic laboratories, 4 automated and 3 automatic stations, 5 autonomous seismic points and 10 remote groups. In addition, sea- and air-based control equipment and space assets were used. 4 laboratories were formed in 1954. There are 18 laboratories in the Russian Federation. The following equipment is used to detect nuclear explosions:

Nuclear explosion detection station K-612-0 - produced by Tomsk JSC REATON
Complex K-802-GEO
Spectrometric equipment of SPC "Aspect"
ASSC "Materik" - auto seismic control system (Research Institute of Pulse Technology, Moscow)

SSK Laboratories

Malin Ukrainian laboratory SSK Zhytomyr region.
Military unit No. 14167 Makarov-1 Ukrainian 12 laboratory SSK Kiev region.
Maili-Sai Kyrgyz laboratory SSK sf. in 1974 in military unit 54286
Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory, SSK laboratory, branch of military unit 11111. Facility coordinates.
Khabaz village, ASP
military unit 22158 Borovoe village, Kazakh laboratory SSK since 1974
military unit 76515 Ulaanbaatar Mongolian laboratory SSK (Expeditionary Group) since 1974, disbanded
military unit 86665 Bilibino, ChAO
military unit 14024 Kamenets-Podolsky-16, from 1994 to 2004 Ukrainian laboratory SSK, since 2004 - PN, Khmelnitsky region
military unit 14053 Semipalatinsk Kazakh laboratory SSK
military unit……. Aktyubinsk - Kazakh separate group of SSK
military unit 14169 Balta Ukr laboratory SSK Odessa region (training center)
military unit 41007 Ussuriysk, Primorsky Territory, posts - village. Grigorievka, s. Utesnoe. zonal special control laboratory (ZLSK).
Cuba, Lourdes - autonomous seismic station of the SSC.
Antarctica - 2 autonomous seismic stations of the SSC.
ARVO with RD

626th SN battalion?

Not available for 2011 due to technical reasons.

Military storage bases - RTB (repair and technical bases) and PRTB (mobile repair and technical bases)

As of 1989, the republics of the USSR had strategic and tactical nuclear warheads

RFSFR - 12320
Ukraine - 2345
Belarus - 1180
Kazakhstan - 330
Lithuania - 325
Latvia - 185
Turkmenistan - 125
Uzbekistan - 105
Moldova - 90
Georgia - 320
Estonia - 270
Armenia - 200
Tajikistan - 75
Azerbaijan - 75
Kyrgyzstan - 75

In the USSR there were more than 200 military special facilities for storing nuclear warheads (nuclear ammunition)
RTB (Strategic Missile Forces, Air Force, Navy, Engineering Troops) and PRTB (RVNA NE, Air Defense) were directly subordinate to the 6th Directorates of the Armed Forces, and the 12th Main Directorate of the Moscow Region was only “supervised” (controlled). In the early 80s. PRTB and RTB outside the USSR were removed from the subordination of the 6th directorates of the military branches and reassigned to the 12th GUMO directly, and the rest were reassigned under the Russian Federation in the second half of the 90s.
A feature of the “foreign” military storage bases was that some of them also stored nuclear warheads, which were to be transferred in the event of the outbreak of hostilities in terms of combat use (air force and missile forces) of the allied countries under the Warsaw Pact (in Czechoslovakia - plan “ Yavor", in Poland - the Vistula plan, GDR, Hungary, Bulgaria).

RTB Strategic Missile Forces

When the Strategic Missile Forces were formed, each regiment (brigade) was assigned its own PTB (for ground launch) or RTB (for a silo version or a stationary one), providing the regiments (brigades) with combat units in nuclear equipment.
When the Strategic Missile Forces switched to OS-type missile systems (separate launch), each missile division was left with one RTB, providing all missile regiments of the division.

PRTB RVA ground forces

The educational center- Kolomna military unit 01543 (41 UC)
During the Soviet era, according to their subordination, they distinguished between district (front-line) and army (corps) mobile repair and technical bases for missile forces and ground forces artillery. District PRTBs were part of the RV (missile forces) of the ground forces of the districts (groups of forces outside the USSR) and provided nuclear warheads for the first and subsequent launches of the missile brigades of the district subordination (armed with OTR complexes: 8K11, 9K72 "Elbrus", 9K76 "Temp- S", 9K714 "Oka" and S-5 cruise missiles). A district (group of forces) could include several PRTBs.
Army PRTBs were part of the M&A set of ground forces of armies (army corps) and provided nuclear ammunition to OTR missile brigades (operational-tactical missiles) of army subordination, separate missile divisions (ORDN) of tactical missiles (TR) of tank and motorized rifle divisions (later part of ORDN TR were consolidated into missile brigades TR of army subordination, provided by the same army PRTB), high-power artillery brigades, armed with 152-mm and 203-mm artillery systems and 240-mm mortars.
There were specialized PRTBs, which provided only one brigade and, accordingly, had nuclear warheads of only one nomenclature (usually district PRTBs), and mixed PRTBs, which provided combat units with various types of nuclear warheads (for example: OTR, TR, SAV).
It should be mentioned that among the mixed PRTBs in groups of troops (outside the USSR) there were even PRTBs that provided the corresponding units with aviation nuclear warheads (separate assembly brigades within them performed the functions of aviation RTBs).
Mobile repair and technical bases, which included technical batteries, provided combat units (missile brigades and individual missile divisions) not only with nuclear warheads, but also with the corresponding carriers of the second, etc. strikes (the carriers of the first strike were stored in units for combat use) - that is, they served as mobile missile and technical bases.

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Twelfth Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (12 GUMO)

The central military control body for the implementation of the military nuclear-technical policy of the state and nuclear support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Created on April 29, 1958 on the basis of the Main Directorate of Special Weapons of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In February 1959, the 6th Directorate of the Ministry of Defense was included in the 12 GUMO, maintaining its name, created in 1949. This ensured a more targeted and centralized implementation of technical policy in the field of nuclear weapons within the Ministry of Defense.

The 12 GUMOs were assigned the following tasks: control of developments, ensuring testing of nuclear weapons, organizing their storage and operation; accounting of nuclear weapons adopted for service; planning the supply of nuclear weapons to both central and military bases of nuclear weapons of the Armed Forces, including during a special period; planning the supply of nuclear weapons components upon expiration of their warranty periods. The bodies of the special military mission that controlled the development and production of nuclear weapons, as well as special military units, were transferred to his subordination.

By government decree of December 17, 1959, the 12th GUMO was included in the newly formed branch of the Armed Forces - the Strategic Missile Forces. The head of the department was included in the Military Council of the Missile Forces. In connection with the achievement of strategic parity and a significant expansion of the tasks of nuclear support for all branches of the Armed Forces, by government decree of November 28, 1974, the 12th GUMO was removed from the subordination of the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces and transferred to the direct subordination of the USSR Minister of Defense.

Chiefs of the 12th GUMO: Major General Egorov N.P. (from 09/22/1958 to 03/12/1959 - acting head of the 12th GUMO), Colonel General Bolyatko V.A. (03/12/1959 - 11/26/1965), Egorov N.P. (01/31/1966 - 02/08/1974), Marshal of Artillery Boychuk E.V. (02/08/1974 - 11/08/1985), Colonel General V.I. Gerasimov (08.11.1985 - 27.04.1992), Maslin E.P. (04/27/1992 - 09/08/1997), Valynkin I.N. (09/08/1997 - 2005), Verkhovtsev V.N. (since 2006).

As Kommersant learned, President Vladimir Putin, by his decree, dismissed the head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUMO), Lieutenant General Yuri Sych, from his post. The resignation took place at the request of the general, citing health problems. Mr. Sych’s deputy, Major General Igor Kolesnikov, was appointed acting head of the GUMO. According to Kommersant, he can become the head of the main department on a permanent basis. The 12th Main Command is responsible in the Ministry of Defense for the storage, maintenance and preparation for combat use of all nuclear weapons.

Yuriy Sych was transferred to work at GUMO in December 2010, before which he headed the Department of State Supervision over Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry of Defense. A few months before the appointment of Yuriy Sych, the commander-in-chief found himself at the center of a scandal: President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the commander of military unit 39995 (Irkutsk region), Viktor Gaidukov (see Kommersant, September 29, 2010). Major General Gaidukov became the first Russian military and civil servant to be dismissed by the head of state for false information in his income declaration. Subsequently, a criminal case was initiated against him under Part 4 of Art. 290 (receiving a large bribe) and Part 1 of Art. 285 (abuse of official powers) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation established that in 2006-2010, military facilities were built on the territory of the military unit entrusted to him, including by a company founded by his wife—her company received more than 20 million rubles transferred under contracts. A number of media outlets associated the resignation of the then head of the 12th GUMO, Vladimir Verkhovtsev, with this incident. However, after his dismissal, he found a job in the nuclear industry, and General Gaidukov was acquitted by a jury.