Leonid Ivashov
Leonid Grigoryevich Ivashov is a higher Russian military and public official. He is President of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems and a retired Colonel-general.
In 1964 Ivashov graduated from Tashkent Suvorov Military School and later in 1974 from the Frunze Military Academy.
Between 1976 and 1984 he worked as a senior aide to the Soviet Minister of Defense Dmitriy Ustinov. In 1987 he became chief of the department for general affairs in the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Defence.
From 1996-2001 he was chief of the military cooperation department at the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Defence. He was in charge of military co-operation between members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
General Ivashov was one of the organizers of the march of Russian paratroopers to Pristina in 1999.
After his retirement in 2001 Leonid Ivashov wrote extensively on military affairs and geopolitics. Between
2004 and 2014 he was President of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems. After a year break he was reelected president of the Academy end of March 2015.
He was reportedly involved in the Foundations of Geopolitics, a book by Alexander Dugin.
On December 5, 2011 he notified his intention to participate in the presidential race through self-nomination. But the Central Election Committee refused his nomination for administrative reasons.
In October 2016 general Ivashov explained in Russian Channel One that Russia's engagement in the Syrian conflict was critical to prevent construction of hydrocarbon pipelines from Middle East, which would be catastrophic for Gazprom and, in turn, for the budget of Russian Federation.
