Boris Vasilievich Snetkov was a Soviet Army and briefly Russian Ground Forces Army General.
20 Facts About Boris Snetkov
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Boris Snetkov commanded the 1st Guards Tank Army and served as first deputy commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany during the 1970s.
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Boris Snetkov led the Siberian Military District and the Leningrad Military District in the 1980s and in 1987 became commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, which in 1989 became the Western Group of Forces as the Cold War wound down.
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Boris Snetkov was removed from command of the group in December 1990 and transferred to the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense, before retiring in 1992.
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Boris Snetkov was born on 27 February 1925 in Saratov, and graduated from Pugachyov's School No 2.
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Boris Snetkov was drafted into the Red Army in 1942 and in October 1943 graduated from accelerated courses at the 2nd Kiev Self-Propelled Artillery School as a junior lieutenant.
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Boris Snetkov became adjutant to the regimental commander, and was promoted to Senior Lieutenant.
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Boris Snetkov became its chief of intelligence and assistant chief of staff for intelligence, and ended the war with the rank of captain.
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Between 1946 and 1950, Boris Snetkov was assistant chief of staff for operations of a regiment, and then entered the Military Academy of the Armored Forces, graduating in 1953.
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Between 1965 and 1966 Boris Snetkov was chief of staff of a division, and in 1968 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff.
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Boris Snetkov was promoted to major general in 1972, and would serve in the GSFG for the better part of the decade.
12.
Boris Snetkov was appointed commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army in August 1973, after which he was promoted to lieutenant general in 1974, and became First Deputy Commander in July 1975.
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Boris Snetkov left East Germany to command the Siberian Military District in January 1979, and was promoted to colonel general that year, moving westwards again to lead the Leningrad Military District in November 1981.
14.
On 7 May 1986, Boris Snetkov was promoted to army general.
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In November 1987, Boris Snetkov was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the GSFG, which became the Western Group of Forces in June 1989 when it was shifted to a defensive role.
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Boris Snetkov opposed the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, and stated in multiple early 2000s interviews with Russian military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda that his opposition to a Soviet pull-out was the reason for his dismissal from command of the WGF later that month.
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Boris Snetkov retired in May 1992 after the elimination of the Group of Inspectors General.
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Boris Snetkov lived in Moscow and died there on 18 September 2006.
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Boris Snetkov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1945 and was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union at its tenth and eleventh convocations, which lasted from 1979 to 1989.
20.
Boris Snetkov was a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1986 and 1990.