Gennady Lyachin

Who was Gennady Lyachin?

Captain First Rank Gennady Petrovich Lyachin was the commanding officer of the Russian submarine Kursk when the vessel suffered a series of explosions and sank on 12 August 2000.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation to Lyachin posthumously "For courage and heroism, during performance of sailor's duties".

Lyachin was born in Sarpinsky in Volgograd Oblast. He entered the Navy in 1972 and graduated from the Submarine Navigation Higher Naval School in Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in 1977 and was commissioned as an officer. He served as a weapons officer aboard the diesel-electric Juliett class cruise missile submarine K-58. From 1984 to 1986, as Captain 3rd Rank, he served as the executive officer of the K-77, also a Juliett Class. In 1986 he attended Advanced Special Officers' Classes during which time he was promoted to Captain 2nd Rank.