Draft:Valentin Bobryshev

Valentin Sergeyevich Bobryshev (Russian: Валентин Сергеевич Бобрышев; 5 March 1945 – 30 November 2022), was a Russian army officer who had commanded the Leningrad Military District from 1997 to 2005.

He was last ranked the General of the Army in 2003.

Biography
Valentin Bobryshev on 5 March 1945 to a military family.

He graduated from the Kiev Suvorov Military School in 1963,, and joined the Soviet Army by the same year.

He graduated from the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School named after S. M. Kirov in 1966.<ref name=ceo.spb.ru/ In the same year in September, he served in the 131st Pechenga Motorized Rifle Division of the 6th Army of the Leningrad Military District in Murmansk. , and in November 1966, he became the commander of a reconnaissance platoon.

In September 1969, he was the commander of a motorized rifle company.

In October 1971, he was the deputy battalion commander. In November 1972, he was promoted as a battalion commander.

In August 1974, he studied at Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze.

In June 1977, after which he graduated from the academy, he was the commander of the 123rd Guards Motorized Rifle Division from the Far Eastern Military District.

From September 1979, he became the chief of staff of the 123rd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, a position he took until August 1981.

In July 1983, after graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces named after K. E. Voroshilov. , he became the commander of the 19th Guards Tank Nikolaev–Budapest Division of the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary.

In September 1985, he was the 1st Deputy Commander of the 14th Guards Army of the Odesa Military District.

In June 1987, he was the chief of staff of the 1st Guards Army of the Kyiv Military District.

In May 1988, he was promoted to commander of the 1st Guards Army.

In August 1991, Bobryshev was the Chief of Staff of the Baltic Military District. In November 1991, he was the Chief of Staff of the North-Western Group of Forces in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In September 1994, he was the commander of the CIS collective peacekeeping forces in Tajikistan.

In May 1995, Bobyshev was part of the CIS summit in Tajikistan amidst of the Tajik Civil War.

In June 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed Bobryshev as commander of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Tajikistan.

In December 1995, Bobryshev became the Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the Leningrad Military District. ,

On 18 December 1996, after the district commander, Colonel General Sergey Seleznyov, died in a plane crash, Bobryshev was appointed acting commander of the Leningrad Military District.

On 4 March 1997, he was confirmed as commander of the district. He was promoted colonel general in May 1997.

On 1 December 2000, he was awarded with honors and the certificate by the CIS Military for his courage of the Tajik civil war.

On 5 March 2002, despite the Chechen incidents and setbacks, he was part of formations of the 76th Guards Airborne-Desant Division at Pskov, with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov as part of the military reforms.

Borbyrshev was promoted as the General of the Army by decree of the President of Russia on 21 February 2003.

In 5 March 2005, Bobyrshev was awarded the Order of Honor. .

On 10 March, due to his age, Bobryshev, aged 60, has been replaced by his successor, Igor Puzanov. According to the law “On Military Duty and Military Service,” the age is limited for performing active military service with the rank of an army general. While the President could extend the commander’s service life if the general himself wanted it, with the appropriate decision of the president, the law allows for service up to 65 years. However, at a press conference at the end of February, Bobryshev admitted to reporters that at the beginning of February he “submitted his resignation due to reaching retirement age.”

He retired from the army in 2010.

He died on 30 November 2022 at the age of 77. He was buried at the Nikolskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg.

Personal life
He lived in Saint Petersburg, and had worked as deputy head of the Oktyabrskaya Railway of Russian Railways OJSC in 2009.

He was married and had a son and daughter.