Army reform is just a fire
The correspondent met with Lieutenant Colonel Biront, who dared to challenge the decision of the High Command.
Recall a fire based on the logistics of the Naval fleet near Kolomna occurred on July 29. The damage caused by the elements, the Ministry of Defense estimated at about 4 billion rubles. The President made incomplete official compliance with the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and ordered the dismissal of a number of high-ranking officers, including the commander of the directly burned down unit No. 13180.
But the commander is still in service.
Lieutenant Colonel Biront meets me on his “top five” on the outskirts of Kolomna, and we are going to his unit. The scale is amazing - the territory of 115 hectares. Burnt tall trees around the perimeter, meters along 20 — 30 tall, ditches were dug on the ground, dug in the summer to stop ground fire. Now they are covered in snow.
Part No. 13180 is engaged in sending by train in all four Russian fleets everything necessary for the functioning of the sea aviation: that is, spare parts for aircraft, uniforms for pilots, etc. Before the fire, there were stored both parts for old brands of aircraft that have already been decommissioned and are not in service with our troops, as well as new expensive equipment. For example, a few days before the fire, two of the latest expensive aircraft engines arrived here from the defense plant through the procurement line of the Ministry of Defense. The cost of each is estimated at about 50 million rubles.
“Since July 19, we and all the personnel took part in extinguishing forest fires in the Kolomna district,” says Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Biront. - We had 14 satchels with sprayers for extinguishing. No more equipment - no respirators, no protective suits.
Dangerous foci near the Navy base found July 29 in the morning 6. Already 10 days, as officers and sailors worked on irregular schedule, helping rescuers and volunteers in fighting fires. By the way, the personnel in the unit was just 40 people - 8 officers, 11 contract soldiers and 21 conscript sailor. That is how many people, according to the new post-reform staffing, were to ensure the functioning of the naval base. And, it turns out, just as many people had to fight with the fire element.
- We coped with the work, I think it's good. For the year they sent about 70 echelons to the fleet, - says Viktor Biront. - Before the fire, I was in office only two months and 25 days. Nevertheless, we had a solid, good team, competent officers.
Property, according to estimates of the Ministry of Defense, burned down by about 4 billion rubles
Inspect the objects of the military unit. We managed to defend the barracks, the headquarters, the boiler room, the dreary, dilapidated, dilapidated house where the officers' apartments are located. In addition, the military managed to protect the warehouse of fuels and lubricants from fire, there were four tanks with fuel. Each is 25 thousand liters. If these 100 thousands of liters of fuel exploded, the scale of the victims and destruction even difficult to imagine.
On the basis of the Navy there is no fire-fighting equipment. There was one old, decommissioned fire engine, after vain requests for help, when the fire was already very close, Lieutenant Colonel Biron gave the order to his subordinates to start it. Although it was illegal, there was no choice (on the basis of the instructions of the General Staff No. XXUMX / 314, the fire brigade consisting of a 4572 man and two fire trucks was disbanded). When the fire was already on horseback and the tragedy became obvious and inevitable, the district authorities decided to disconnect the military unit from the gas in order to avoid an explosion, and at the same time from electricity and water.
A week before the fire, Lieutenant Colonel Biron called the Navy headquarters, reported on the situation and sent faxes. Zero reaction. Meanwhile, even the wood in the part of the hack was prohibited. The previous commander tried to cut down trees on the territory, but he was fined 540 thousand rubles. However, the court softened the demands and decided that the commander should for his money buy and plant as many saplings as trees were cut down. And also pay the state about 30 thousand rubles a fine. In addition, trees could not be cut down due to camouflage considerations.
A hurricane began on 16.00 on July 29, a powerful wind spread fire at a speed of 18 meters per second. The flames had already gone on top, and the burnt branches began to fall on the ground and buildings. A wooden lookout house caught fire right on the water tower. Byront decided to evacuate first weapon, “Secret”, civilian personnel and members of families of military personnel.
- At some point, our three were in a bag of fire, they managed to escape from there, - says sailor Yevgeny Novoselov. - Sailor Nikipelov just burned a little, our company commander then took him to the “rayonka”. Generally it was very wild. It is terrible when the temperature is 1200 degrees and you see with your own eyes how the metal melts. We then another week with some kind of black slime coughing all over. The officers forced us to drink milk three times a day.
Rynda is a fire bell. One of the few fire extinguishing equipment left over from the reform
Two officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Biront, had their feet burned during the fire. By nine in the evening, the 89 property stores had already burned 16.
- We then, during a fire at one contractor, the car burned down. And in it were a suit, salary and two wedding rings. The next day he was supposed to marry, says the company commander, Major Alexei Ermolov. “He put out the fire with us.” The wedding had to be canceled.
Everything burned out by midnight. It was then that General Bulgakov, together with his retinue, came to the unit of the Deputy Minister of Defense.
“The first thing General Bulgakov told me was:“ you wish Biront himself burned down here, ”says the lieutenant colonel. - He also demanded from my phone to dial the head of the district Emergencies Ministry, but he shouted and sent him away, did not know that it was the general who was calling him, and there were fires around after all. I thought Bulgakov would hurt my phone. Then he from his office began to call Shoigu and confer. And he told us to provide him with a reference report, and we were still piling over the paper all night. Sleep went to 6 in the morning.
It looked like a naval base after the fire
By the way, along with General Bulgakov from the Navy headquarters arrived Major Storchak. And the most interesting thing - after some time, for his heroic actions during the salvation of military property from fire, he received the Order of Courage.
After the fire, investigators opened a criminal case. The wine of Biront and other officers was not established. But they were all the same expelled, and one of the dismissed military was in office for just a week. Lt. Col. Biront served in the army 26 years, and in all this time he has not had a single penalty. After all this stories for the first time in his life he went to the hospital. Heart, nerves.
- The city administration of Kolomna rewarded all the personnel for the courage shown during the extinguishing of fires in the summer of 2010. They just saw what the hell was there and what everyone really had to go through. After all, we were on fire, and not those who fired us, sighs Major Yermolov. - I, for example, intend to seek full recovery in the service. I want to command a company again.
Victor Biront and his colleagues were taken hostage to circumstances. In addition to the officers of the burned-down base, who defended it to the last, no one was injured in terms of personnel. They were made the scapegoats. But the court decided otherwise. The acquittal of the lieutenant colonel was given on the hands of December 8. Military justice is now faced with the task to file a cassation within 10 days. And then, with the administrative resource turned on, the second decision may not be in favor of Biront and his colleagues. I asked the officer what he expected from the future.
- Justice. Just want to restore my name. We are not criminals, we did our work from the beginning to the end. Thank God that everyone was alive, not a single zinc was sent. But I still, after all this, will not stay in the army. I want to quit normally, but we have now been thrown out onto the street. This apartment, where we live, is an office, at any moment they can be thrown out. I even have a pension, but from here Major Hidayatov was also fired without trial, who until the retirement had only 5 months left, he has 19,5 years of service. And what should he do now? All my life is a mess ... And I will have to start looking for work in civilian life.
- Fearfully?
- There is some. But I can handle it.
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