Copyright 1998 ABC-CLIO, Inc.  
Kaleidoscope

COUNTRY: Russia

PERSON: Aleksandr Korzhakov

HEADLINE: Biographies

 


Russia's former chief of presidential security and the president's longtime drinking buddy, Aleksandr A. Korzhakov enjoyed unrivaled access to President Boris Yeltsin during and after his rise to power. Many claimed he was the most powerful man in the Kremlin behind Yeltsin. Sacked at the height of Yeltsin's 1996 reelection campaign, Korzhakov has since secured a parliamentary seat as part of a campaign to reenter the Kremlin through legitimate channels.  


Born in Moscow in 1951, Korzhakov completed military training in 1970 and joined the KGB's security service division. He became Yeltsin's bodyguard in 1985 and in 1988, when Yeltsin was exiled from the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he dropped out of the KGB to work for Yeltsin without pay. A former automobile mechanic, he has served in the Afghanistan war and has a law degree he earned through a course in the mail. In 1992, Yeltsin promoted him to major general. In 1993, Korzhakov persuaded Yeltsin to storm the Russian White House when it was the scene of a parliamentary uprising. Afterwards Yeltsin granted independent status to his 4,000-member security unit, one of the largest such guard units in Russian history. In mid-1995, Yeltsin promoted Korzhakov to Lieutenant General, a position that placed him in charge of the "safety" of all public officials. Korzhakov was stripped of his command of security troops in the frantic days leading up to the reelection of Yeltsin in July 1996.  


Critics of Korzhakov, such as Anatoly Chubais, ascribed to him a sinister role in state affairs. These critics pointed to the timing of Yeltsin's mysterious nose surgery and the decision to invade Chechnya as suspicious indicators of his behind-the-scenes control of the executive branch. Furthermore, he has a reputation for interfering in public affairs and was the object of controversy when it was reported he had put pressure on Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin in December 1994 to cancel Moscow's agreement to liberalize the oil market. He has since allied himself politically with Aleksandr Lebed.  


[Source: The New York Times]

LOAD-DATE: February 18, 1998


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