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Vladimir Kazantsev (Russian: Владимир Казанцев; 1953 – 17 December 2001) was a Russian Airborne Forces major general who held multiple senior posts. From 1997 to 2000 he was Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Peacekeeping Forces, and from 2000 to 2001 he commanded the Russian military contingent in Kosovo. He was was supposed to become Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Military Training, but shortly after his return to Moscow from Kosovo, he died by falling from the window of his apartment building.

Biography

Vladimir Kazantsev was born in 1953 and served in the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV). He was a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War and, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the First Chechen War. He rose to prominence in October 1996, when he was removed from his position in the Russian Airborne Forces by President Boris Yeltsin for openly criticizing the General Staff for its plan to merge the independent service with the Russian Ground Forces. However he was restored to his post within a year. In 1997 he succeeded Nikolai Staskov as Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Peacekeeping Forces.

Kazantsev commanded the VDV Group deployed in the Second Chechen War. In January 2000, during that conflict, he was involved in a helicopter crash in Chechnya and survived.

On 30 October 2000 he was appointed as commander of the Russian military contingent in the Kosovo Force. He arrived at Pristina International Airport to take up his post in early November. His post of Deputy Commander for Peacekeeping Forces went to Major General Aleksandr Popov. Kazantsev was commander of Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo until 25 October 2001, when he was succeeded by Major General Nikolai Kriventsov of the Russian Ground Forces. Kazantsev was to be assigned as the Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Military Training.

About a month after returning from Kosovo, on 17 December 2001, Kazantsev died after falling from the eighth floor of his Moscow apartment building, at the age of 48. The Moscow garrison military prosecutor's office opened an investigation into his death. Two theories about his death emerged, one that it was an accidental death and another that it was murder.

References

1. ^ "Airborne Troops". Federation of American Scientists. 11 September 2003.
2. ^ Topol, Sergey (18 December 2001). "Генерала-десантника подвела страховка" [General-paratrooper let down by his insurance]. Kommersant (in Russian).
3. ^ "Погиб бывший командующий российским контингентом в Косово" [Former commander of Russian contingent in Kosovo died] (in Russian). RBK Group. 17 December 2001.
4. Mukhin, Vladimir (18 November 2000). "Косово: больше года без войны" [Kosovo: Over a year without war]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian).
5. "Бывший командующий российским миротворческим контингентом в Косово генерал Владимир Казанцев погиб в результате несчастного случая у себя дома" [Former commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo general Vladimir Kazantssev died as a result of unfortunate incident at his home]. RIA Novosti (in Russian).
6. ^ "В Косово убит российский миротворец" [Russian peacekeeper killed in Kosovo] (in Russian). RBK Group. 25 October 2001.
7. "В Москве погиб бывший командующий российскими миротворцами в Косово" [Former commander of Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo died in Moscow]. Lenta.ru (in Russian). 17 December 2001.

• 1953 births
• 2001 deaths
• Russian Airborne Forces personnel
• Russian major generals
• Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War
• People of the Chechen wars
• Personnel of the Soviet Airborne Forces