In April 1992 he was appointed in command of Russian Far Eastern Military District. In December 1995 an initiative group of voters nominated General Viktor Chechevatov as a presidential candidate for the 1996 Russian presidential election, but Chechevatov soon withdrew his nomination in favor of Boris Yeltsin. Earlier in 1995 there was information that he was offered a post of First Deputy Commander of Russian Ground Forces in place of the sacked Eduard Vorobyov. Also, there was an incident with his son Andrei Chechevatov (also military officer) who was involved in street shooting as part of road rage which led to casualties, but no prosecutions against Andrei. Yeltsin met with Chechevatov in May 1996 when he was on official trip to China. Following the presidential elections in July 1996 President of Russia Boris Yeltsin personally has invited Chechevatov to Kremlin when an issue has been raised about appointing a candidate to the post of Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation after dismissal of Pavel Grachev due to the First Chechen War. At that time mass media have informed about offer to Chechevatov to take the post of minister and his refusal from it. After the meeting with Yeltsin, the post of minister was given to Igor Radionov.