MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Chief-of-staff of the 76th airborne division Hero of Russia Colonel Gevorg Isakhanyan has been appointed chief of the combat training department in the Airborne Troops, Colonel Sergei Dragunov, acting chief of the Airborne Troops' HR department, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
Isakhanyan's predecessor Major General Vladimir Kazantsev died in Moscow on December 17 last year as a result of an accident.
Isakhanyan, 41, was born in the Tetri-Tskaro village in Georgia. He graduated from the Ryazan higher airborne command college in 1981 and Frunze Military Academy in 1993. He commanded a company, a battalion, was a regiment's chief-of-staff, headed the 234th paratrooper regiment and was appointed chief-of-staff of the 76th division in autumn 2000.
The colonel participated in combat operations in Afghanistan and in both Chechnya campaigns. He was awarded the title of Hero of Russia in May 2000 for courage and heroism demonstrated in combat operations in Chechnya.