MOSCOW, August 24 (AVN) - Major General Nikolai Artyukhin, new chief of the General Staff department on control over treaties implementation, took office on Friday, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry HR bodies told the Military News Agency.
Artyukhin was appointed to the post by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The chief of the department automatically becomes chief of the Defence Ministry national centre on nuclear threat reduction. Artyukhin replaced Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Romanov who was fired upon reaching the retirement age.
Artyukhin was born in the town of Bogorodsk, Gorky region, in 1950. He graduated from the Moscow higher general college in 1972 and served in motorised rifle and tank units of the Turkestan military district for 10 years. Artyukhin graduated from the Armoured Troops Academy in 1985 and General Staff Academy in 1993. Before the current appointment he was subdepartment chief in the General Staff main operations department.