The last Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, died at the age of 79. This was reported by Izvestia. According to a TASS source in medical circles, the cause of Shaposhnikov’s death was the coronavirus. He is the last person in the history of the USSR to be awarded a military rank with the word “marshal”.
Since 1959, Shaposhnikov served in the Air Force of the USSR Armed Forces as a fighter pilot, later commanded a flight in the Carpathian Military District and worked in various management positions.
Shaposhnikov was the Minister of Defense of the USSR from August to December 1991. He was appointed to this post by the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev at the suggestion of Boris Yeltsin. In his post, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov eliminated the control of the CPSU over the army, as well as the institution of deputy commanders of divisions for political affairs.
In the same year he was awarded the rank of Air Marshal. After the collapse of the USSR, he became the Minister of Defense of the CIS, but did not stay in office for long – it was abolished. On June 11, 1993, Yeltsin was appointed Secretary of the Russian Security Council, but the Supreme Soviet did not approve this decision, and Shaposhnikov submitted a report asking him to remove him from this post.
From November 1995 to March 1997, he served as CEO of Aeroflot. From March 1997 to March 2004, Shaposhnikov was Assistant to the President of Russia, and since 2006 – President of the Flight Safety Partnership.
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