{{Short description|Russian general (1946–2021)}} {{family name hatnote|Germanovich|Kazantsev|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix= |name= Viktor Kazantsev |image= Viktor Kazantsev 2001 (cropped).jpg |caption= Kazantsev in 2001 |office=Presidential Envoy to the [[Southern Federal District]] |president=[[Vladimir Putin]] |term_start=May 2000 |term_end=9 March 2004 |predecessor=''Office established'' |successor=[[Vladimir Yakovlev (politician)|Vladimir Yakovlev]] |birth_date= {{birth date|df=y|1946|02|26}} |death_date= {{death date and age|df=y|2021|09|14|1946|02|26}} |birth_place={{ill|Kokhanovo (urban settlement)|ru|Коханово (городской посёлок, Витебская область)|lt=Kokhanovo}}, [[Vitsebsk Voblast]], [[Belarusian SSR]], Soviet Union |death_place= [[Krasnodar]], Russia |nickname= |allegiance=Soviet Union (to 1991)<br>Russia |branch=[[Soviet Army]] (to 1991)<br>[[Russian Ground Forces]] |service_years=1963–2000 |rank=[[General of the army (Russia)|General of the Army]] |unit= |commands= |battles=[[Soviet–Afghan War]]<br>[[First Chechen War]]<br>[[War of Dagestan]]<br>[[Second Chechen War]] |relations= |awards=[[Hero of the Russian Federation]] }} [[Army general (Russia)|General of the Army]] '''Viktor Germanovich Kazantsev'''{{efn|{{lang-rus|Ви́ктор Ге́рманович Каза́нцев|p=ˈvʲiktər ˈɡʲermənəvʲɪtɕ kɐˈzantsɨf}}}} (26 February 1946 – 14 September 2021) was a Russian military officer and politician who was the [[envoy (title)|envoy]] of the [[President of Russia|Russian president]] to the [[Southern Federal District]] from 2000 to 2004. He performed primary negotiations between the Russian government and the [[Chechnya|Chechen]] opposition. Decorated with the [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] title,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311150046/http://www.gateway2russia.com/art/Current%20Topics/Efficacy%20of%20Putins%20plenipotentiary%20representatives_277534.html Efficacy of Putin`s plenipotentiary representatives]</ref> he was involved in coordinating the government responses to various violent actions in [[Chechnya]]. Kazanstev was also involved in coordinating the rescue attempt during the [[Moscow theater hostage crisis|Moscow theatre hostage situation]], which took place in October 2002.<ref>[https://www.rferl.org/subscribe.html Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]</ref>
==Education== Kazantsev completed the [[Yekaterinburg Suvorov Military School|Sverdlovsk Suvorov Military School]] in 1963, the {{ill|Saint Petersburg Higher Combined Arms Command School|ru|Санкт-Петербургское высшее общевойсковое командное училище|lt=Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School}} in 1966, the [[Frunze Military Academy]] in 1970 and the [[Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia|Soviet General Staff Academy]] in 1987.<ref>[https://xn--b1ag8a.xn--p1ai/news/munnews/13665 В гостях у генерала Казанцева]</ref>
==Military service==
===Soviet Union=== Kazantsev began his career as a platoon commander in 1966 and served in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Afghanistan (1979) and with the [[Central Group of Forces]] in [[Czechoslovakia]]. He commanded the [[17th Army Corps (Soviet Union)]] in 1988-90, located at Frunze, which then became [[Bishkek]] in the former [[Kyrgyz SSR]]. He was military advisor to the government of Kazakhstan in 1991.
===Russia=== From 1991 to 1993, Kazantsev was First Deputy Chief of Staff, and then deputy commander of the [[Transbaikal Military District]] for combat training. From April 1993 to February 1996 he was Chief of Staff and first deputy commander of the [[Transbaikal]] Military District. From February 1996 to July 1997 he was First Deputy Commander of the [[North Caucasus Military District]], and then from July 1997 to May 2000 Commander of the [[North Caucasus]] Military District.
From August 1999 to April 2000, Kazantsev was Commander of the Allied Group of Federal Forces in the North Caucasus, while maintaining the post of commander of the North Caucasus Military District.<ref>[[Anna Politkovskaya]]. [http://politkovskaya.novayagazeta.ru/pub/2003/2003-110.shtml Солдат Слесаренко, погибший за генерала]</ref> In January 2001, he became a member of the Operational Headquarters for the management of counterterrorism actions in the North Caucasus region, created by decree of the President of the Russian Federation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.coast.ru/referats/librery1/ngo/mright/book3/53.htm |title=Дело Н. Н. Власьева О компенсации морального вреда за гибель Армавирского спецназа в Чечне |access-date=2021-09-14 |archive-date=2015-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205220/http://www.coast.ru/referats/librery1/ngo/mright/book3/53.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Political activity== In May 2000, Kazantsev was appointed the President's representative to Russia's [[Southern Federal District]]. On 9 March 2004, he was dismissed from this post and replaced by former Deputy Prime Minister [[Vladimir Anatolyevich Yakovlev|Vladimir Yakovlev]].
==Honours and awards==
===Soviet Union=== * [[Order of the Red Star]] * [[Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR]] 2nd and 3rd classes * [[Medal for Battle Merit]] * [[Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"]] * [[Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"]] * [[Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"]] * [[Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"]] * [[Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"]] * [[Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"]] * [[Medal "For Impeccable Service"]] 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes
===Russian Federation=== * [[Hero of the Russian Federation]]<ref>[http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=3683 Биография Казанцева на сайте «Герои страны»]</ref> * [[Order of Military Merit (Russia)|Order of Military Merit]] * [[Jubilee Medal "300 Years of the Russian Navy"]] * [[Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"]]
== See also == *[[List of Heroes of the Russian Federation]]
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==Sources== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Viktor Germanovich Kazantsev}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Fyodor Kuzmin]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander of the [[55th Guards Rifle Division|30th Guards Rifle Division]]|years=1982–1985}} {{s-aft|after=[[Yuri Viktorovich Kuznetsov|Yuri Kuznetsov]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Anton Terentyev]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief of Staff of the [[Transbaikal Military District]]|years=1993–1996}} {{s-aft|after=[[Vladimir Boldyrev]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Vladimir Chilindin]]}} {{s-ttl|title=First Deputy Commander of the [[North Caucasus Military District]]|years=1996–1997}} {{s-aft|after=[[Konstantin Pulikovsky]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Anatoly Kvashnin]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander of the [[North Caucasus Military District]]|years=1997–2000}} {{s-aft|after=[[Gennady Troshev]]}} |- {{s-non|reason=Position established}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus|years=1999–2000}} {{s-aft|after=[[Aleksandr Baranov (general)|Aleksandr Baranov]]<br>{{small|Acting}}}} {{s-off}} |- {{s-non|reason=Position established}} {{s-ttl|title=Presidential Envoy to the [[Southern Federal District]]|years=2000–2004}} {{s-aft|after=[[Vladimir Yakovlev (politician)|Vladimir Yakovlev]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Russian presidential envoys to the federal districts}}{{Army Generals (Russia)}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazantsev, Viktor}} [[Category:1946 births]] [[Category:2021 deaths]] [[Category:People from Talachyn district]] [[Category:Generals of the army (Russia)]] [[Category:Heroes of the Russian Federation]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd class]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia)]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Friendship (South Ossetia)]] [[Category:Frunze Military Academy alumni]] [[Category:Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni]]