Alexander Lebed was born in the Cossack town of Novocherkassk , in the Rostov Oblast , in 1950 . In his youth he was not a bad student but preferred boxing and chess . He grew up in poverty , the son of a carpenter who spent several years in a Stalin era labor camp , and witnessed the Novocherkassk massacre in 1962 . During that time he worked at a factory . He was determined to become a paratrooper and joined the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1969 , becoming a cadet platoon and company commander while he was there . In 1982 , as an officer of the Soviet Airborne Troops , Lebed became a battalion commander in Afghanistan during the Soviet war there . During his time in Afghanistan , Lebed became popular with the troops under his command . He held this position until 1982 at which point he attended the Frunze Military Academy . Among his duties was being a member of the funeral department during the period of many deaths among the Soviet gerontocracy , including three Soviet rulers
Novocherkassk massacre
Novocherkassk massacre
Alexander Lebed