Vladimir Shamanov Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov ( , born 1957 ) is a Colonel General with the Russian Armed Force , the Commander - in - Chief of the Russian Airborne Troops since May 2009 and a former Russia n politician . He has an image of an " over - the - top " ruthless man among the other Russian military leaders , with certain insurgency - related sources calling him the " Butcher of Chechnya . " Biography . Vladimir Shamanov is a recipient of the Hero of the Russian Federation decoration for his service in Chechnya , but has been strongly criticized by human rights groups for alleged war crime s committed by the federal troops under his orders during the First and Second Chechen War s . Shamanov was removed from duty in January 2000 , quoting health reasons , and for a period he was a civilian politician , becoming governor of the Ulyanovsk Oblast region of Russian Federation . As of 2007 , Shamanov was a counselor to Russia ' s defense minister , Sergei Ivanov , and co - chairman of the U . S - Russia Joint Commission on POW / MIAs ( USRJC ) which seeks to determine the fates of U . S . personnel who remain unaccounted - for from World War II and the Cold War Era . In November 2007 , his impending return to the military service has been announced . In August 2008 , he commanded the Russian forces in Abkhazia during the 2008 South Ossetia war with Georgia . On August 12 , 2008 he took control over 9 , 600 Russian servicemen in Abkhazia and led them during the fight with Georgian forces over the control over the Upper Kodori Gorge . On 26 May 2009 Vladimir Shamanov became the new commander of the VDV , replacing Lieutenant - General Valeriy Yevtukhovich who was being discharged to the reserve . Shamanov was appointed by Dmitry Medvedev to neutralize discontent over the cuts and reorganisations as a result of the 2008 reform programme . Although Shamanov supported the programme , he cancelled all cuts and changes in the VDV and announced that the airborne troops would be reinforced . Controversies . Already during the First Chechen War , the Chechen Insurgency claimed Shamanov to be the reincarnation of Alexey Yermolov , alluding to the Russian Imperial general of the 19th century Caucasian War , who was famous in his time , for his merciless policy towards the local rebel fighters and their supporters among civilians . As Gennady Troshev , another Russian commander in Chechnya , wrote in his book " My War " , Shamanov " was too hot - tempered and direct in his relations with the Chechen population " [ preferring ] " to choose the shortest way to victory ( . . . ) [ which ] resulted in numerous casualties among Russian soldiers . " Aslambek Aslakhanov , a retired MVD general who was Vladimir Putin ' s advisor on Chechnya , called Shamanov a " butcher " and a " one - man curse on the Chechen people " : " Chechens talk about Shamanov like a plague that has descended on their heads , a disease like AIDS . He is drowning in blood . He cynically believes that all Chechens – men and women , even children – are bandits . " The director of the Moscow office of Memorial , the human rights group founded by the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov , said : " His subordinates are definitely guilty of war crimes , and I believe a serious investigation would show Shamanov ’ s direct guilt in war crimes as well , that he ordered them . He has a serious xenophobic streak . He ’ s cruel , but it comes from his sense of duty . He ’ s honest about it , but that doesn ’ t make it less frightening . " In December 1999 Shamanov was awarded his second Hero of the Russian Federation medal for actions around the village of Alkhan - Yurt earlier that month . However , Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) have asked the Russian government to open an investigation into his role the incident in Chechnya , which HRW has declared a " massacre . " Shamanov was reported as threatening to shoot villagers who pleaded with him to halt the abuses . Later , he dismissed calls for accountability for the abuses , saying that the Russian soldiers were doing " a sacred thing " . In a " Novaya Gazeta " interview published in June 2000 , Shamanov eventually admitted there have been numerous cases of looting by the Russian military in Chechnya , but he also said he viewed his image as a " cruel general " as a compliment and that he believed the wives and children of rebel fighters to also be " bandits " who needed to be " destroyed " . Nevertheless , he denied the accusations of human rights violations in the foreign media . In the 2004 " The Washington Post " interview , Shamanov rejected the allegations as " fairy tales " and suggested that human rights groups had planted the bodies in Alkhan - Yurt and " fabricated " a slaughter . Shamanov ' s forces are also believed to have looted and pillaged and killed in the other places during the second Chechen campaign , among them at Katyr - Yurt ( in 2005 the European Court of Human Rights held Russia responsible for civilian deaths during the indiscriminate bombing of Katyr - Yurt ) , Shami - Yurt and Gekhi - Chu . In March 2000 , Shamanov exhibited strong sympathy towards the war crimes suspect Colonel Yuri Budanov . Budanov , Shamanov trumpeted , was one of his " best commanders " and offered this challenge : " Don ' t put your paws on the image of a Russian soldier and officer . " Later , Shamanov came to Rostov - on - the - Don to defend Budanov during trial and expressed his solidarity with him . Ultimately , Budanov was convicted for the March 2000 kidnapping and murder of the young Chechen woman Elza Kungaeva . On September 21 , 2004 , Shamanov , now the Ulyanovsk regional governor , backed a pardon for Budanov , sparking anger in Chechnya even among the pro - Moscow locals . In March 2007 Shamanov met in the White House with the U . S . President George W . Bush , which was criticised by human rights groups . " This isn ' t someone the U . S . president should be meeting with . This is someone the president should be calling for an investigation of , " HRW commented . Later , the White House explained that it was not aware of the allegations against the general before their meeting and that it is " unlikely " that Bush would have meet and pose to photo with Shamanov if he had been aware of the allegations . In September 2010 , MOD Serdyukov helped Shamanov out of a scandal when he tried to order a detachment from the VDV ’ s 45th Independent Reconnaissance Regiment to detain an investigator looking into the business of his son - in - law Anatoly " Glyba " Khramushin , a well - known criminal figure . Shamanov had to admit to " inappropriate behaviour " and only got a reprimand for this incident . He could easily have been dismissed . Car crash . On October 30 , 2010 in Tula , general Shamanov ' s BMW 525 was hit by a MAZ truck . The general ' s driver was killed on impact , while he and two passengers ( Shamanov ’ s assistant colonel Oleg Chernousand and colonel Alexei Naumets , the acting commander of the 106th Airborne Division ) were seriously injured and hospitalized . Vladimir Shamanov had a brain concussion and had his arm broken . The same evening the general was visited by Vladimir Putin at the Burdenko hospital in Moscow . General Shamanov was discharged from the hospital on 27 December 2010 .