Vladimir Ivanovich Bogdashin (; 14 March 1952 – 22 July 2021) was an officer of the Soviet and Russian navies. He reached the rank of rear admiral.
Bogdashin began his naval career with studies at the P. S. Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School, graduating in 1974 and beginning a career-long association with the Black Sea and the Black Sea Fleet. Rising through the ranks with service on the cruiser Nikolayev, frigate Bezzavetnyy and destroyer Reshitelnyy, he took command of the Bezzavetnyy in 1983. He would win particular fame as commander of the Bezzavetnyy during the 1988 Black Sea bumping incident, when he used his ship to bump against United States Navy vessels which had entered Soviet territorial waters. Though his ship was smaller than the US vessel he collided with, he was able to inflict damage, and the US warships subsequently left Soviet waters. The incident was divisive at a time of détente under Mikhail Gorbachev, but Bogdashin's actions were approved of by the Soviet leadership, and he continued to receive awards and postings.
After studying at the Grechko Naval Academy, Bogdashin went on to command the helicopter carrier Moskva and the missile cruiser Moskva. He then became deputy head of the navy's Central Command Post for Combat Control, prior to his retirement in 2007 with the rank of rear admiral. In civilian life he was deputy director general of the managing company "GazPromService", and worked in the administration of the Chertanovo Tsentralnoye District in Moscow's Southern Administrative Okrug. Between 2011 and his retirement in 2017 he headed the Training and Research Centre of the Moscow Federation of Trade Unions.
Early life and career
Bogdashin was born on 14 March 1952 into a Russian family in the town of Pugachyov, Saratov Oblast, in the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, in the Soviet Union. He worked for part of his youth on a collective farm, spending holidays visiting his mother's family who lived in Sevastopol, and here acquired a love for the sea and an interest in a naval career. In 1969 he entered the P. S. Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School, graduating in 1974. He was assigned to serve on warships of the Black Sea Fleet, starting as the commander of an anti-aircraft missile battery on the Kara-class cruiser Nikolayev. After five years' service he became an assistant to the ship's commander, and a year later took the command officers' courses, in preparation for an appointment as second in command of a warship. He was however considered too young for the role and was instead appointed to the Krivak-class frigate Bezzavetnyy as commander of a weapons position consisting of two 9K33 Osa anti-aircraft missile systems and two AK-726 guns.
After a year on the Bezzavetnyy Bogdashin was transferred to the Kashin-class destroyer Reshitelnyy, which was due for modernization. Bogdashin and Reshitelnyys crew were ordered to train Indian Navy crews in Poti for eight months. The Indian Navy was preparing to take delivery of an export version of the Kashin class. Bogdashin recalled how an arrangement was reached where the Soviet crew spent half a day instructing their Indian counterparts, and for half a day the Indian sailors assisted in repairing the Reshitelnyy. On the completion of the assignment he was appointed commander of his former ship, Bezzavetnyy, in 1983. He commanded her for the next five years, while also preparing to command one of the Moskva-class helicopter carriers.
1988 Black Sea bumping incident
Prelude
In 1986 the United States Navy cruiser and destroyer had entered Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea, testing an interpretation of the law of innocent passage that was disputed by the Soviets. The event had caused controversy with Soviet naval officers, who regarded it as insult, but there was uncertainty over how to respond because of the Cold War thaw and rapprochement initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev. When the command of the Black Sea Fleet received notification that Yorktown and Caron would return to the Black Sea, they began preparations to counter a probable repeat of the violation of Soviet territorial waters. Captain 2nd Rank Nikolai Mikheyev, who commanded a group of surface warships of the Black Sea Fleet, was instructed to first warn the US vessels not to enter Soviet territorial waters, and if they did not respond, to bump the ships, forcing them to change course.