In Memory Of Fedor I. Ladygin

MOSCOW, DECEMBER 13, 2021. PIR PRESS. “I was lucky enough to have known Fedor Ivanovich for decades. After his retirement, he joined PIR Center Advisory Board, and for many years he was a friend of our organization. Passionarium. A bright speaker. A deep connoisseur. That’s how I knew Fedor Ivanovich. And I am sure, that’s how the young PIRovets remembered him. We often argued. Often our views diverged. But a dispute with a professional who is acutely worried about the fate and safety of his Homeland is the kind of dispute that always inspires, gives food for thought,” Founder & Director of PIR Center Vladimir Orlov.

On December 11, Fedor I. Ladygin, a member of PIR Center Advisory Board member, Colonel General (ret.), former Chief of the Main Intelligence Administration of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff (1992 – 1997) passed away. Fedor Ivanovich was 84 years old.

Fedor I. Ladygin was a Soviet and Russian military and statesman. For more than 40 years he worked in the structures of the Armed Forces of the USSR and Russia. He served in the Research Institute of the Russian Federation, in the Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR, in 1990-1992 headed the International Administration of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. From 1992 to 1997 he was Chief of the Main Intelligence Administration of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff. During his military career, Fedor Ivanovich contributed to the drafting of international treaties and agreements in the field of arms control and disarmament, such as the Treaty on the Limitation of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE, 1990), the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-I, 1991), the Treaty on Open Skies (1992), the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (CWC, 1993). As the Founder & Director of PIR Center Vladimir Orlov remembers, colleagues of Fedor I. Ladygin noted: «The representative of the Russian military elite, Colonel-General Ladygin, unlike many of his colleagues, possesses such qualities as modesty and lack of scruples and arrogance». And Fedor Ivanovich, according to Vladimir Orlov, considered himself just a military intelligence officer. As he loved to repeat, «Any military intelligence specialist comes once and stays there forever».

In 2002, Fedor Ivanovich, already in retirement, joined PIR Center Advisory Board. A long-time friend of PIR, he actively participated in the expert events of the organization, openly shared his experience and knowledge with younger generations of specialists in the field of nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and global security. Thus, in 2014, Fedor Ladygin’s article “Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms: The History and Lessons of the First Treaty” was published in the PIR Center Security Index (issue 4 (111), vol. 20). In 2017, Fedor Ivanovich, as an advisor to the Director-General of Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company, participated in the session Concept of a Disarming Strike in a New Era within the framework of the International Seminar Breakthrough Technologies, Future containment and challenges to strategic stability (organized by the PIR Center, the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Edmund Walsh School of Diplomatic Service of Georgetown University, USA). In 2019, he made comments at a joint PIR Center and Center for Strategic International Studies (USA) seminar on the topic “How to Reduce the Risks of Nuclear Confrontation in the Face of Increasing Great Power Rivalry”. In 2019, he made a presentation to the Center for Strategic International Studies (USA). «”Well, Ladygin rocks!” – joked then his colleagues», – remembers Vladimir Orlov.

There is such a profession – to defend the Motherland: Fedor Ivanovich was a true professional of his work and became an example for those who, like him, took the path of defending the national interests of his country. In 2021, PIR Center worked on the preparation of an interview with Fedor Ladygin for the project Open Collar. We did not make it. Veterans leave. «Do not delay the conversation with them, about the past and about life», – calls Vladimir Orlov. In order to preserve the memory of Fedor Ivanovich Ladygin and to pay tribute to the talented statesman, PIR Center prepares to place on its site the Gallery of Memory of Colonel-General Fedor Ladygin. There will be placed his scientific publications and essays, which have been published under the auspices of PIR Center, as well as photos from the archive of PIR Center and memories of his colleagues and friends. 

For all questions related to the Fedor I. Ladygin Memory Gallery, please contact the Executive Secretary of PIR Center Advisory Board Elena Karnaukhova by mail edu@pircenter.org