MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen Military Commandant Grigory Fomenko has been promoted to lieutenant general, Colonel Vasily Panchenkov, chief of the Russian Interior Ministry Force's press service, said on Tuesday.
Fomenko was born in the Voronezh region in 1949, Panchenkov told Interfax-Military News Agency. He graduated from the Ordzhonikidze Higher Joint-Arms Command College in 1970 and Frunze Military Academy in 1980. He joined the Interior Ministry Force in 1972 and climbed through all command positions, from company commander to division commander. He was commissioned the rank of major general in 1995.
Fomenko participated in both Chechnya campaigns. In 1998, he became deputy commander of the North Caucasus district of the Interior Ministry Force. He was appointed Chechnya's military commandant in November 2003.
Kerim Abdulin, deputy commander of an Interior Ministry Force unit, was promoted to lieutenant general, too, Panchenkov said. Six more officers were promoted to major generals.