Soviet military service Lebed was born in the city of
Valga,
Estonia. He joined the
Soviet Army in 1981 starting his military service in
Airborne Troops. He first trained in the 44th Airborne Division in
Gaižiūnai in the
Lithuanian SSR and later served in the 57th Independent Air Assault Brigade in
Taldykorgan in the
Kazakh SSR. Opting for a career change, he entered the Lomonosov Military Aviation Technical School graduating as a
flight engineer in 1986. He served on combat operations in
Afghanistan in 1986–87 as an aircrew member in a helicopter regiment. often engaging in the ground action himself. After his return from Afghanistan, he served successively in the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, in the
Trans-Baikal and
Siberian military districts in the 329th Transport & Combat Helicopter Regiment and in the
337th Independent Helicopter Regiment. In 1999, he went to the
North Caucasus as a volunteer in the combined militias after purchasing his own equipment and flying to
Makhachkala in
Dagestan. When military operations moved into
Chechnya in October 1999, he went to Moscow and re-enlisted in the service signing a contract with the
Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and immediately returned to Chechnya to participate in counter-terrorism operations. From 1999 to 2007, he made over 10 trips to Chechnya and participated in special operations in the areas of the cities of
Gudermes and
Argun, as well as in the suburbs of
Grozny and the
Vedeno region. He then held the rank of captain. His actions during the
2008 South Ossetia war earned him the honour of becoming only the second Knight of the
Order of St. George 4th class. During the October 1, 2008 award ceremony, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said of Lebed: "Among us there is a Special Forces officer, a Hero of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Vyacheslavovich Lebed. He always led from the front during combat operations, always displaying the epitome of personal courage itself". An avid
biker, on April 27, 2012, in Moscow, Lebed was killed in a motorcycle accident. == Awards ==