Captain First Rank Gennady Petrovich Lyachin (, (1 January 1955–12 August 2000) was the commanding officer of the Russian submarine Kursk when the vessel suffered a series of explosions and sank on 12 August 2000. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation to Lyachin posthumously "For courage and heroism, during performance of sailor's duties".