Chaus Oleg Petrovich Biography

General Peter Chaus gives the banner of the guards motorized rifle brigade. Photo: Personal archive. As after the collapse of the Union, the Belarusian authorities accepted the American delegation, which they asked each other and how thousands of military adapted to peaceful life - in our project “History of Independence”, the first military Minister Petr Chaus said.

The question arose acutely what to do with the many thousands of the army and nuclear weapons remaining in our territory. The Americans also became interested in the situation ... - Pyotr Grigoryevich, what for you, as the Minister of Defense, was the main problem when Belarus became independent? I gave good. The armed forces were the main power of the USSR, it was necessary to deal with them to the end.

Ukraine announced that it creates national armed forces, subordinates all troops in Ukraine, including central subordination. They announced that all Ukrainians, wherever they served, must return to their homeland. The question of what to do with the armed forces, and in Belarus stood sharply. Previously, no one was planning in the field: how to arm, how to dress, how to feed, what training events to conduct?

Everything came from the center, from Moscow. We had a Belarusian military district, there were troops of central subordination, including three divisions of strategic missile forces, 81 launcher installation of the Topol mobile missile systems capable of using nuclear weapons. I ask: “Vyacheslav Frantsevich, why is Baker come? Kebich contacted Shushkevich: “Stanislav Stanislavovich, why does Baker come to us?

Shushkevich called us to his place, I enlightened them, why Baker arrives, and also told how much and what nuclear weapons we have. They gathered on the ground floor, and Baker says: “You still sit here, and the three of us - he, Kebich and Shushkevich - will rise to the second floor.” They talked for two hours, we are below too. The Americans asked how we would build the armed forces.

I expressed my opinion: Belarus will be a nuclear, neutral state. When they went down, Baker said that the Americans want Blovezhsky agreements to be extended to Central Asia and the Caucasus, and ask the Belarusian side to help in resolving this issue. Our delegation agreed with this. In the end, Baker asked: “Who has questions? Kebich asked to send assistance to the Union Republics, including Belarus, directly.

Baker recorded our requests, promised to create a commission, study issues and make a decision. We flew by a complete delegation: Shushkevich, Kebich, all ministers from the new cabinet, Zenon Poznyak with his delegation from the Supreme Council. By this time, Yeltsin was already cheerful and announced: “The leaders of the republics and we had conferred and came to the conclusion that there would be no Soviet Union as such, but there will be independent states.” After that, the topical issues of each republic were discussed, first of all, food issues.

Yeltsin replied: "We will solve these issues." Someone asked: “And what about the president of the Soviet Union Gorbachev? After that, there was a signing of the protocol on the cessation of the existence of the USSR. During the return road on the plane, everyone had oppressed condition: “Who are we? What next? Gradually, the situation was discharged: they drank on a glass, rustled.

Shushkevich sits ahead of the table, opposite Kebich, talk. Shushkevich rose, went along the aisle, and talked along the course of the delegation. Poznyak sat in his place, began to solve issues with Kebich, they talked vividly, even fun. When Shushkevich returned, Zenon did not think to give him a place. A laugh went on the plane: Poznyak tries to the chair of the head of the Supreme Council ...

“The Supreme Council of Belarus refused to obey the wishes of Moscow” - after the collapse of the USSR, a huge army remained in Belarus, how was its fate decided? Our delegation often went to Moscow to develop a common position on armed forces. There was no certain opinion in the republic on this subject, the most difficult issue was to provide on the eve of winter.

We talked, reported the situation. He flew away, and two days later the commander of the Belarusian Military District Anatoly Kostenko issued an order that was published in the newspapers: "Send an airborne division from Vitebsk to a hot point-to Transnistria." The Supreme Council was indignant, decided to hear me, I said from the rostrum: “The order is unlawful, we should not fulfill it.

The division is ours and will be in Belarus. ” The Supreme Council unanimously voted: to leave the division and not comply with the order of Kostenko. During the discussion of the order of Kostenko, it was decided to create the Ministry of Defense of Belarus. After that, by resolution of the Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kebich, I was appointed and. At this time, the question arose that another division of Soviet troops from Germany should come to us.

We agreed to accept it, on the condition of building a residential town for officers in the elephant. The Germans have already helped us solve the housing problem.After the reunification of Germany, the USSR withdrew its troops from there, an agreement was signed by which the Germans had to help us. It turns out that they could, without the knowledge of the leadership of Belarus, launch nuclear ammunition to anywhere in the world, and what could we?

We did not have the management funds, but the situation was peaceful, no one was going to attack anyone. But Moscow proposed creating the same suitcases Shushkevich, Nazarbayev and Kravchuk for direct communication with Yeltsin to resolve the issue of the use of nuclear weapons. In Moscow, this issue was discussed, and I went to Shushkevich, reported that he should have such a suitcase in the workplace, in the car, at home, in the country, on the plane.

Shushkevich, how he heard that he needed to manage nuclear weapons, asked: “But Navoshta to me? .. We needed it for moral reasons: on the one hand it guaranteed calmness, even though the button was at Yeltsin, on the other, authority. But in the end, the decision to take it from the Belarusian territory was made in the year. How did you solve the question with them? There were gathered near the Belarusian generals and officers who studied or served in Moscow.

The question was raised: “How can we continue to serve and where? I do not promise that you will immediately receive positions, maybe there are not enough posts for everyone, but we will hold a competition among those who serve in Belarus, and those who arrive there will determine who can fulfill their duties in what capacity. ” In Belarus, they did not quite understand me, besides, neither Shushkevich, nor Kebich, nor other officials in the skin of the military visited, they did not accept the oath.

Shushkevich only said to me: "You think next." We compiled lists, but in the management of the personnel of the Belarusian military district sometimes we did not want to take visitors even to those positions that were free. There were retraining courses, the military had to start life again: former pilots were settled by technicians, tankers retrained to the tractor drivers, and someone went to the warehouse, which was the warehouse head of the warehouse service, security guard, and so on.

At the beginning, parents began to be indignant: why are our children, Belarusians, protect strangers and continue to fight in hot spots? The Supreme Council decided to send delegations to hot spots, to Tajikistan and the Caucasus, and take Belarusian soldiers and officers from there. I was directed in Dushanbe, I served there and knew those parts well. They flew in, Russian correspondents rushed to us from all sides: “Do you want to expose our borders?!

You are a Soviet general yesterday, where is your conscience?! They are in the mountains at the outposts and in border detachments. I knew the local authorities, said that we had an instruction, the document showed. But our document is not a decree. I said: we will eat border posts, who will express a desire - we will take away who does not want - let it stay.

In two weeks they gathered Belarusians, somewhat refused, there were Negrouts, from Smolensk, Bryansk, who wanted to fly with us, took them. They were going to fly home, but there is no kerosene in Tajikistan, there is nothing to refuel. They had to raise old ties, found kerosene in Turkmenistan, reached Ashgabat, at night, so as not to raise the noise, they refuel us there ...

“He came on Saturday to the Government House - and there is nobody” - Pyotr Grigoryevich, why did you think the USSR fell apart? In the year, I graduated from the Academy of the General Staff in Moscow, even then there were vodka in line and fights. And by a year, some flies flew in stores ... I also compared the onset of independence in Latvia and in Belarus.

Since the year, I have been the chief of staff of the Baltic Military District, worked in the center of Riga. The windows went to the headquarters of the Latvian Popular Front, there were meetings around the clock, the work was in full swing day and night. When I arrived in Minsk, I was Saturday, the first thing I came to the government of the government. And there - nobody.

The duty officer asks: “What did you come, comrade general? We have a day off, Kebich will be on Monday at 9 am, Shushkevich - to Tie. ” Only the BNF worked ... On Monday, I came to Kebich and said directly: "Vyacheslav Frantsevich, we have some kind of plump atmosphere, we will fill up the whole thing here." Kebich was calm: “Why are we wearing? Everything is fine with us!