State awards to servicemen who distinguished themselves during the operation in Syria. The ceremony was held in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
Colonel General Sergey Surovikin
Born October 11, 1966 in Novosibirsk. Graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms command school, Military Academy. Frunze, Military Academy of the General Staff. He commanded motorized rifle battalions, the 149th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (Kulyab, Tajikistan), the 34th Simferopol Motorized Rifle Division (Yekaterinburg), the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Chechnya), and the 20th Guards Army (Voronezh).
Since 2008, he headed the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, in 2010 he took the post of chief of staff - first deputy commander of the troops of the Central Military District (TsVO). Headed working group on the creation of bodies of the military police of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2012 he was appointed Chief of Staff, then Commander of the Eastern Military District (VVO). Since May 2017, he has led the Russian grouping of troops in Syria. On November 22, 2017, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
rear admiral Valery Varfolomeev awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Graduated from Higher naval school scuba diving them. Lenin Komsomol (Leningrad, now - St. Petersburg). He served as the commander of the nuclear submarine missile fire control group (Zapadnaya Litsa, Murmansk region), commanded the K-266 Orel nuclear submarine of project 949A Antey. Commands the 11th division of submarines of the Northern Fleet (Zaozersk) and at the same time is the head of the Zaozersky garrison.
Major General Gennady Zhidko awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Born September 12, 1965. He graduated from the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School, the Academy of Armored Forces and the Military Academy of the General Staff. He commanded the 92nd Motorized Rifle Regiment (Dushanbe, Tajikistan), the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Volgograd). Since September 2016 - Commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army (Samara) in the Central Military District. He served as chief of staff of the Russian group in Syria. In November 2017, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces.
Major General Alexander Matovnikov awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
In the 1980s, he served in the anti-terrorist unit "A" of the KGB of the USSR (now - Directorate "A" of the Central Security Service of the FSB of Russia, special unit "Alpha"). Member of a number of special operations, including in the North Caucasus. He served as the first deputy head of Alpha, after which he continued to serve in the Forces special operations(MTR) RF Armed Forces.
Major General Rustam Muradov awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
He graduated from the Higher Combined Arms Command School (St. Petersburg), the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Military Academy of the General Staff. He commanded a reconnaissance company of a separate guards 136th motorized rifle brigade (Buinaksk, Dagestan). Participated in the second Chechen campaign. Later he commanded the 242nd regiment of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (Kamyshin, Volgograd Region), the 36th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 29th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District in Borza (Transbaikal Territory).
Led the District training center Central Military District (Elansky village, Sverdlovsk region), served as First Deputy Chief of Staff of the 41st Combined Arms Army (Novosibirsk). In 2016, as a representative of the Russian Federation, he was a member of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Line of Demarcation between the Parties in Donbass. In December 2017, he was appointed to the post of commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army (Samara).
corporal Denis Portnyagin awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Serviceman of the MTR of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Previously not mentioned in the media.
Lieutenant General Alexander Lapin awarded the order Saint George IV degree.
Born on January 1, 1964 in Kazan. He graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command School, the Military Academy of the Armored Forces, the Military Academy of the General Staff. He commanded a tank platoon, a company, a battalion in units of the 26th Army Corps (Arkhangelsk), the 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory), and the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division.
Later he served as deputy commander of the 58th combined arms army (Vladikavkaz), commander of the 20th guards combined arms army (Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Region). In 2014, he took the post of Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Air Defense Forces. In 2017, he led the headquarters of a group of troops in Syria, then was appointed head of the Combined Arms Academy of the Russian Armed Forces. On November 22, 2017, he took over as commander of the Central Military District.
Lieutenant colonel Denis Kletenkin awarded the Order of St. George IV degree. Previously not mentioned in the media.
Colonel Arthur Luft awarded the Order of Courage. Head of the Regional Directorate of the Military Police for the Eastern Military District.
Major Maxim Makolkin awarded the Order of Courage. Military pilot, senior pilot-instructor.
Captain Alexander Zakharov awarded the medal "For Courage". Serves in the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army of the Central Military District. Previously not mentioned in the media.
Sergeant Anton Kiryushin awarded the Zhukov medal. The commander of the engineer-sapper department of the platoon of engineering barriers of the engineer-sapper brigade, in Syria, he worked on the clearance of mines.
Staff Sergeant Tatyana Kovaleva was awarded the Suvorov medal.
Chief nurse of the 35th separate airmobile medical detachment of the Airborne Troops (Pskov). In Syria, the detachment carried out humanitarian tasks and was stationed at the Khmeimim airbase. The detachment's mobile teams worked in the war-affected settlements of the provinces of Latakia, Hama and Homs.
IA SakhaNews. Colonel General who led the Russian grouping of troops in Syria Sergey Surovikin appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation. Surovikin became the first head of the Air Force / Aerospace Forces of Russia and the USSR since the 1920s, who did not have experience in flying and working in aviation, the Krasnaya Zvezda publication reports.
It is also noted that Hero of Russia Vice Admiral Alexander Moiseev, who previously held the post of Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet, and Major General Gennady Zhidko, who previously commanded the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District and previously held the post of chief of staff of the Russian group of troops in Syria, TASS reports.
Reference:
Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich was born on October 11, 1966 in Novosibirsk.
In 1987 he graduated from the Omsk Higher All-Arms Command School (with a gold medal), in 1995 - the command faculty of the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze (with honors), in 2002 - the Military Academy General Staff Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (with honors).
In the late 1980s he served in the Limited contingent Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
Then he commanded a motorized rifle platoon, a company in the 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Taman Order October revolution Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division named after M. Kalinin. This division stationed in the Moscow region was unofficially considered one of the "elite" units of the Soviet Army.
In 1989, during an exercise, he stole an infantry fighting vehicle on fire with ammunition from a congestion of military personnel, for which he was awarded a medal.
In 1991 - chief of staff, acting commander of the 1st battalion 15 motorized rifle regiment. In August, the division was involved in maintaining the state of emergency in the capital, introduced by the State Emergency Committee. On the night of August 21, a military column commanded by Sergei Surovikin was blocked by protesters, as a result of a clash three people died (these were the only victims during the putsch), and an infantry fighting vehicle was burned. After that, Surovikin was arrested, but in December 1991 the Moscow prosecutor's office dropped the criminal case against him and other servicemen "due to the absence of signs of a criminally punishable act." According to the recollections of participants in the events, the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin personally gave the order to release Captain Surovikin.
In 1995, he was sentenced to one year of suspended liberty for "assisting in the acquisition and sale of firearms" and violating the rules for carrying it, but then the conviction was canceled, and in 2012 the sentence was canceled "due to the absence of corpus delicti in the acts."
Since 1995, he served in the 201st Gatchina motorized rifle division twice Red Banner stationed in Tajikistan (now - 201 military base, headquarters - Dushanbe), providing cover for the border of Tajikistan with Afghanistan, where continued Civil War. He held the posts of commander of a motorized rifle battalion, chief of staff, commander of the 149th Guards Motorized Rifle Czestokhov Red Banner, Order of the Red Star Regiment (Kulyab), chief of staff of a division.
Since 2002, in the Volga-Urals Military District, he commanded the 34th Simferopol Order of Suvorov Red Banner Motorized Rifle Division. Sergo Ordzhonikidze (Yekaterinburg).
Since June 2004 - commander of the 42nd Evpatoria Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the Red Banner, stationed on the territory of the Chechen Republic. This formation was the basis of the grouping of the Ministry of Defense in the zone of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus and repeatedly took part in clashes with Chechen fighters. Commanding both divisions, Surovikin gained a reputation as a tough and demanding military leader. During his service in Chechnya, his public promise to "destroy three militants for every dead soldier" gained wide resonance.
Then he served in the 20th Guards Red Banner Combined Arms Army (headquarters - Voronezh): from November 2005 - deputy commander, from May 2006 - chief of staff - first deputy commander, from April 2008 - army commander.
Since November 2008 - Head of the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (responsible for planning and command and control of troops). He worked under the leadership of Anatoly Serdyukov (Minister of Defense since February 2007) and Nikolai Makarov (Chief of the General Staff since June 2008).
Since January 2010 - Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Volga-Urals Military District (Pur.VO, headquarters - Yekaterinburg).
In September 2010, PurVO, together with the western part of the Siberian Military District, became part of the newly formed Central Military District, CMD).
In December 2010, he took up the post of chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Central Military District.
Since the spring of 2011, he headed the working group on the creation of military police bodies of the RF Armed Forces, then acted as head of the newly created Main Directorate of the Military Police of the Ministry of Defense.
On July 7, 2011, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told reporters that the structure "will be headed by Lieutenant General Surovikin." However, the appointment was opposed by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky, who pointed out that the candidate had a criminal record. As a result, Surovikin was never appointed head of the military police.
In October 2012, he became chief of staff - first deputy commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District (VVO, headquarters - Khabarovsk).
In October 2012, he was the only military man on the list of the 100 most authoritative people in Russia, compiled by the All-Russian Center for the Study public opinion(VCIOM) and the Russian Reporter magazine.
In October 2013, he was appointed Commander of the Air Defense Forces. In this position, in particular, he was actively involved in the creation of military infrastructure in the Kuril Islands and in the Arctic.
Since March 2017, he led the Russian group of troops in Syria. During this period, the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian military, was able to conduct a number of strategic operations, taking control of most of the country's territory, the main transport communications, oil fields, etc.
Was wounded three times.
He was awarded the Orders of the Red Star, "For Military Merit", as well as three Orders of Courage, medals of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I and II degrees, medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For Distinction in Guard state border" and etc.
AT Russian army the largest rotation of military leaders in ten years took place. Generals were appointed to a number of key posts, including the positions of commander-in-chief of the VKS and two commanders of districts, in whose biographies there is one common point: they all gained experience in combat operations in Syria. According to experts, these reshuffles are the result of the new personnel strategy of the Ministry of Defense. Combat experience has now become the main criterion for promotion to new positions.
The most notable were the appointments of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces - he became the commander of the group Russian troops in Syria, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin - and the new commanders of the Central and Eastern Districts - they were led by Alexander Lapin and Alexander Zhuravlev.
Against this background, a very important personnel innovation in the headquarters went unnoticed. Navy. For the first time in the history of the Navy, the post of Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Ground and Coastal Forces was introduced. The emergence of a new staff unit has become a necessity - for last years the ground component of the fleet was significantly strengthened. Today, the Navy has several army corps.
It is noteworthy that the combined-arms commander, Lieutenant General Oleg Makarevich, became the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, who, in terms of experience and charisma, is second only to General Surovikin. The decisive and tough disposition of a military leader, who is able to sharply put a subordinate who has made a mistake in his place, is well known in military circles.
General Makarevich graduated from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School (1984), served in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, then entered the Frunze Academy. In 2002-2004, he commanded the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division stationed in Chechnya. Then he served in various command positions in the Western and Eastern military districts.
As military historian Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia, Oleg Makarevich faces very serious tasks, which considerable combat experience will help him solve.
– Marines, coastal and ground forces, which are part of the fleets, are designed to provide reliable protection of the coast in strategic directions, in particular, in the Crimea and Kaliningrad, - said Dmitry Boltenkov. – It is important to debug them organizational structure organize combat training.
Simultaneously with Oleg Makarevich, Major General Gennady Zhidko, commander of the 2nd Combined Arms Army, which is part of the Central Military District, was promoted. As Izvestia was told in the military department, in the near future he will be appointed to a new position. The general went on business trips to Syria several times, where he served as the chief of staff of the Russian group and showed himself well. It was during Syrian operation he was promoted to major general.
Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, noted that the military department is pursuing a systematic personnel policy.
- The Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff have long said that the highest command staff different types and branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must be tested by the experience of real management of military operations in Syria. And it was done,” Viktor Murakhovsky told Izvestia.
According to the expert, generals and officers who have proven themselves in practice eventually occupy leadership positions at the level of military districts and operational-strategic commands, the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, and higher military educational institutions.
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They fought for Syria
11 Russian generals distinguished in the Arab Republic
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, today there is not a single locality or an area under the control of the Islamic State terrorist organization. About the Russian military leaders who took the most active part in the Syrian war - in the material "Kommersant". More
Dvornikov Alexander VladimirovichRank: colonel general. Position before Syria: Position after Syria: Commander of the Southern Military District
He was seconded to Syria from the very beginning of Operation Retribution (September 29, 2015), stayed there for nine months. During this time, Palmyra was liberated for the first time, an offensive was carried out in the east of Aleppo and in the province of Latakia, and battles were fought for the provinces of Sheikh Miskin and for Deir ez-Zor. According to the official version of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, at the time the militants controlled more than 70% of the territory of Syria. Under him, Vladimir Putin for the first time announced the reduction of forces and means of the grouping of Russian troops in Syria. On March 17, 2016, Vladimir Putin awarded General Dvornikov the title of Hero of Russia. In an interview " Russian newspaper"He said that" he considers "the increased morale of the Syrian people in general and government troops in particular" to be "a very important result of the military operation."
In addition to the state award, General Dvornikov first became acting, and from September 20, 2016, commander of the troops of the Southern Military District. The promotion was a recognition of his merits in Syria: before the trip, he held the positions of Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District and First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District. Fought in Chechnya. It is on the EU sanctions list due to participation in the operation to annex Crimea to Russia.
Photo: Alexey Druzhinin
Zhuravlev Alexander Alexandrovich
Rank: colonel general. Position before Syria: First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District. Position after Syria: Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (since January 2017), Commander of the Eastern Military District (since November 2017)
Arrived in Syria in September 2015, having received the post of chief of staff of the group. When General Dvornikov returned from the republic in September 2016, General Zhuravlev led the group. He remained in this position until December. During this time, the VKS participated in the attack on Aleppo, but at the same time, the radical Islamists managed to recapture Palmyra. According to the totality of his merits, Alexander Zhuravlev was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Subsequently, he received promotions: first he became deputy chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, and nine months later - commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District. On the Far East he served from the mid-90s, where he went from chief of staff of a tank regiment to commander motorized rifle division. In 2008-2010 - Chief of Staff of the 58th Combined Arms Army (Vladikavkaz), since 2010 he commanded the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army (Samara). In 2015, he was First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District, then transferred to the Southern Military District. He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland IV degree and the Order of Suvorov.
The media reported that by the end of 2017 he would have to return to Syria again (to reduce the group that completed the tasks), but so far this information has not received official confirmation.
Photo: Andrey Pronin
Rank: colonel general. Position before Syria: Commander of the Western Military District. Position after Syria: Commander of the Western Military District
He commanded a grouping of Russian troops in Syria from December 19, 2016 to March 1, 2017. He took part in the development of a plan to return Palmyra under the control of government forces. In an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel, the general admitted that not only Russian aviation played a special role in the liberation of Palmyra, but also the soldiers of the special operations forces, who conducted reconnaissance and hit the most important objects. By the beginning of Operation Retribution, he headed the main operational management General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (responsible for planning the use of the army), after which he was promoted to commander of the Western Military District. After that he was seconded to Syria.
On February 16, 2015, he was included in the "sanctions list" by the European Union, whose members are subject to asset freezes and visa restrictions. He also has a large number of awards, including the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (with swords), the medal "For the return of Crimea", the medal "For participation in the counter-terrorist operation" of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, as well as the Order of Merit for Karachayevo - Circassian Republic. General Kartapolov often spoke in public: he gave an interview at the beginning of 2015, where he promised Russian military bases in Syria, talked about a business trip in the Arab Republic, and after returning to Russia he hosted a parade of troops from the St. Petersburg garrison in honor of the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic war May 9 at Palace Square.
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Rank: colonel general. Position before Syria: Commander of the Eastern Military District. Position after Syria: Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces
Located in Syria since March 2017. He arrived there in the status of commander of the Eastern Military District, but already in November he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, becoming the first combined arms general to lead this type of troops. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that under the command of General Surovikin it was possible to achieve a significant turning point in the fight against the terrorists of the "Islamic state" and to liberate over 98% of the territory of Syria, including the cities of Deir ez-Zor and Meyadin. The media widely covered the story of the release of 28 military policemen who were surrounded by Islamists in September 2017 in Idlib. "Severe", as General Surovikin's colleagues call him, was able to qualitatively increase the level of interaction between ground forces, aviation, air defense and space groupings to fulfill the assigned tasks. According to colleagues, Sergei Surovikin is a tough and principled commander who does not hesitate to defend his point of view. Initially, his business trip to Syria was supposed to last 3 months, but he still remains the commander of the grouping of Russian troops in the republic. According to some reports, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad personally asked to leave him in this position, believing that it was under the command of the "Severe" government forces that managed to achieve maximum success in the fight against the "Islamic State".
He was awarded numerous orders and medals, was wounded three times (he took part in the Second Chechen war and in the armed conflict in Afghanistan). In October 2012, he was the only military man on the list of the 100 most authoritative people in Russia according to VTsIOM.
Photo: Roman Danilkin
Rank: major general. Position before Syria: Commander of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District. Position after Syria: Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (since November 2017)
He was seen in Syria in September 2016, when he commented on the importance of the departmental festival "Army of Russia" then taking place: then the media called him the chief of staff of the group of Russian troops in Syria. Prior to his trip to the republic, he was the commander of the 2nd combined arms army of the Western Military District (Samara), in 2015 he was the chief of staff of the 2nd army, and previously served in the 27th guards division of constant readiness (Totsk) and the 20th motorized rifle division (Volgograd).
On October 26, 2017, he was entrusted with speaking at the presentation ceremony in the Kremlin for officers appointed to senior command positions. The ceremony was attended by Vladimir Putin. By presidential decree of November 22, 2017, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. The appointment was received with surprise among the troops, since career(from the commander of the formation immediately to the leadership of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) was too harsh. However, formally, he passed all the official steps necessary for the appointment. The top leadership of the Ministry of Defense remembered during the Zapad-2017 exercises, when its units were able to quickly transfer personnel and military equipment from Samara to the Kola Peninsula. General Zhidko has departmental awards. Tankman - just like his new chief, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov.
Photo: Evgeny Pereverzev
Rank: lieutenant general. Position before Syria: First Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District. Position after Syria: Commander of the Central Military District
He was sent to Syria together with Sergey Surovikin in March 2017, where he was the chief of staff of the group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces. He worked with General Surovikin before: in 2014, he was appointed chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District. Following the results of the Syrian business trip on November 22, 2017, the president appointed General Lapin to the post of commander of the troops of the Central Military District, for him such an appointment means an increase in both position and rank. He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (with swords), the Order of Military Merit, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class, and other awards.
AT track record General Lapin - the second Chechen war and several counter-terrorist operations in Dagestan. “My life does not belong to me. And I myself do not belong to myself - ever since I went to serve the Motherland, the Fatherland, the people, ”the general said in an interview with Voenternet in 2013. After graduating from the armored academy, he was sent to the 58th Combined Arms Army of the North Caucasian Military District, where he served as commander of a separate tank battalion. Since 1999, he became chief of staff, then commander of a separate 429th motorized rifle regiment of the 19th motorized rifle division, stationed (Mozdok, North Ossetia).
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Rank: major general. Position before Syria: Head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Headquarters of the Western Military District. Position after Syria: seriously injured, status unknown
Arrived in Syria with Commander Andrei Kartapolov in December 2016. He was responsible for the development of combat operations of Russian and Syrian units, supervised the implementation of tasks. He became the first Russian general to be seriously injured during the Syrian campaign. On February 16, 2017, together with five servicemen, he was moving in a Tiger armored car along the road from the Tiyas airfield towards Homs province. Military advisers had to assess the condition and training of the Syrian army fighters, which opposed the radical Islamists. The "Tiger" managed to drive away from Tiyas for 4 kilometers, but was blown up with the help of a radio-controlled land mine, in addition, the column itself, in which the "Tiger" was traveling, was fired upon by militants. Four of the six people who were in the armored car died, but Pyotr Milyukhin was among the survivors - as a result of the explosion, he lost both legs and one eye. He received first aid at the Khmeimim airbase, maintained his condition there for a week, and then was transferred to the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital, where he spent several months.
Before his trip to Syria, General Miliukhin was the head of the combat training department of the headquarters of the Western Military District. There is no information about whether he received any award for his actions in the republic.
Photo: Sergey Krasnoukhov
Rank: lieutenant general. Position before Syria: commander of the 5th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District. Position after Syria: died September 23, 2017
The highest-ranking officer whose death in Syria was officially recognized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. He died on September 23, 2017, when he came under mortar fire from Islamic State militants (banned in the Russian Federation) in the province of Deir ez-Zor. He was the head of a group of Russian military advisers. On that day, he was at the command post of the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps of the Syrian Arab Army, helping local commanders in planning and directing the operation to cross the Euphrates. Eyewitnesses said that "the general was literally torn to pieces, nothing was left of the person."
Prior to his assignment to Syria, Valery Asapov was commander of the 5th Red Banner Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District (Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai) in 2016–2017. He had combat experience (two campaigns in Chechnya, the conflict in the Kodori Gorge), was wounded on the battlefield. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, he was appointed to the post of deputy commander of a separate airborne regiment as part of the peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia. After graduating from the military academy of the General Staff, he became the commander of the 37th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 36th Army of the Air Defense Forces, which took part in three international exercises at once with the military from Mongolia and India. In 2013, President Vladimir Putin presented Valery Asapov with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree. Surname the deceased general repeatedly appeared in the media in connection with military operations in the Donbass. Ukrainian intelligence accused General Asapov of "participating in a military conflict in the southeast of Ukraine." He was posthumously presented to the Order of Courage.
Photo: Mikhail Voskresensky
Rank: colonel general. Position before Syria: Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces. Position after Syria: Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces
He arrived at the post of Deputy Commander for Commandant's Offices of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria on March 30, 2016. Last official position - Deputy Commander-in-Chief ground forces Russian Federation (appointed by presidential decree in July 2013), penultimate - deputy commander Airborne troops RF (2009-2013). General Lentsov was noted in many armed conflicts. For example, participated in Afghan war(he was an instructor in airborne training, in two years of commanding a reconnaissance group he did not lose a single fighter), in Bosnia (he was the commander of a unit of Russian peacekeepers).
Member of two Chechen campaigns, fought in South Ossetia in August 2008. Together with Alexander Vyaznikov, he was in the Donbass: he headed the Russian group in the joint center for monitoring and coordinating ceasefire issues in Soledar and Debaltseve ( Donetsk region). Has departmental and state awards RF and USSR. Officer of the American Order of the Legion of Merit, awarded "to members of the armed forces of friendly states, for exceptional and outstanding services and achievements in the service in an emergency." Got it before the events of 2014.
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Rank: lieutenant general. Position before Syria: Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Peacekeeping Operations and Collective Rapid Reaction Forces. Position after Syria: Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Peacekeeping Operations and Collective Rapid Reaction Forces
He took part in the Syrian campaign in the fall of 2017, holding a position in the center for the reconciliation of the warring parties. Officially, his presence there was not advertised. The media reported that he died on October 6, 2017, when a Russian Mi-28N attack helicopter crashed, but these data were not confirmed. The Ministry of Defense says that reports of his death are not true.
Alexander Vyaznikov was the deputy commander of the Airborne Forces for peacekeeping operations and collective rapid reaction forces. In the early 2000s, he was the commander of the 108th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment (Novorossiysk), and after that, the 106th Guards Airborne Division (Tula). The Ukrainian media accused General Vyaznikov of organizing hostilities in Luhansk. But on December 17, 2014, he said that, under an agreement with the Ukrainian side, the rotation of a group of Russian representatives in southeastern Ukraine in the amount of 75 people "from the joint center for monitoring and coordinating issues of maintaining the ceasefire regime" was completed. “I would like to remind you that the entry of representatives of Russia into this center was due to the request of the Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine,” he noted.
No appointments of General Vyaznikov after 2013 were reported.
According to the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, today there is not a single settlement or area in Syria under the control of the Islamic State terrorist organization. About the Russian military leaders who took the most active part in the Syrian war - in the material "Kommersant".
Photo: Dmitry Azarov / Kommersant
Dvornikov Alexander Vladimirovich
Rank: colonel general
Position before Syria:
Position after Syria: Commander of the Southern Military District
He was seconded to Syria from the very beginning of Operation Retribution (September 29, 2015), stayed there for nine months. During this time, Palmyra was liberated for the first time, an offensive was carried out in the east of Aleppo and in the province of Latakia, and battles were fought for the provinces of Sheikh Miskin and for Deir ez-Zor. According to the official version of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, at the time the militants controlled more than 70% of the territory of Syria. Under him, Vladimir Putin for the first time announced the reduction of forces and means of the grouping of Russian troops in Syria. On March 17, 2016, Vladimir Putin awarded General Dvornikov the title of Hero of Russia. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he said that he considered “the increased morale of the Syrian people in general and government troops in particular” to be “a very important result of the military operation.”
In addition to the state award, General Dvornikov first became acting, and from September 20, 2016, commander of the troops of the Southern Military District. The promotion was a recognition of his merits in Syria: before the trip, he held the positions of Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District and First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District. Fought in Chechnya. It is on the EU sanctions list due to participation in the operation to annex Crimea to Russia.
Photo: Alexey Druzhinin / RIA Novosti
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlev (left), First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy (second left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right)
Zhuravlev Alexander Alexandrovich
Rank: colonel general
Position before Syria: First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District
Position after Syria: Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (since January 2017), Commander of the Eastern Military District (since November 2017)
Arrived in Syria in September 2015, having received the post of chief of staff of the group. When General Dvornikov returned from the republic in September 2016, General Zhuravlev led the group. He remained in this position until December. During this time, the VKS participated in the attack on Aleppo, but at the same time, the radical Islamists managed to recapture Palmyra. According to the totality of his merits, Alexander Zhuravlev was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Subsequently, he received promotions: first he became deputy chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, and nine months later - commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District. In the Far East, he served from the mid-90s, where he rose from the chief of staff of a tank regiment to the commander of a motorized rifle division. In 2008-2010 - Chief of Staff of the 58th Combined Arms Army (Vladikavkaz), since 2010 he commanded the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army (Samara). In 2015, he was First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District, then transferred to the Southern Military District. He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland IV degree and the Order of Suvorov.
The media reported that by the end of 2017 he would have to return to Syria again (to reduce the group that completed the tasks), but so far this information has not received official confirmation.
Photo: Andrey Pronin / Kommersant
Kartapolov Andrey Valerievich
Rank: colonel general
Position before Syria:
Position after Syria: Commander of the Western Military District
He commanded a grouping of Russian troops in Syria from December 19, 2016 to March 1, 2017. He took part in the development of a plan to return Palmyra under the control of government forces. In an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel, the general admitted that not only Russian aviation played a special role in the liberation of Palmyra, but also the soldiers of the special operations forces, who conducted reconnaissance and hit the most important objects. By the beginning of Operation Retribution, he headed the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (responsible for planning the use of the army), after which he was promoted to commander of the Western Military District. After that he was seconded to Syria.
On February 16, 2015, he was included in the "sanctions list" by the European Union, whose members are subject to asset freezes and visa restrictions. He also has a large number of awards, including the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (with swords), the medal "For the return of Crimea", the medal "For participation in the counter-terrorist operation" of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, as well as the Order of Merit for Karachayevo - Circassian Republic. General Kartapolov often spoke in public: he gave an interview at the beginning of 2015, where he promised Russian military bases in Syria, talked about a business trip in the Arab Republic, and after returning to Russia he hosted a parade of troops from the St. Petersburg garrison in honor of the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War on May 9 at the Palace Square.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich
Rank: colonel general
Position before Syria: Commander of the Eastern Military District
Position after Syria: Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces
Located in Syria since March 2017. He arrived there in the status of commander of the Eastern Military District, but already in November he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, becoming the first combined arms general to lead this type of troops. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that under the command of General Surovikin it was possible to achieve a significant turning point in the fight against the terrorists of the "Islamic state" and to liberate over 98% of the territory of Syria, including the cities of Deir ez-Zor and Meyadin. The media widely covered the story of the release of 28 military policemen who were surrounded by Islamists in September 2017 in Idlib. "Severe", as General Surovikin's colleagues call him, was able to qualitatively increase the level of interaction between ground forces, aviation, air defense and space groupings to fulfill the assigned tasks. According to colleagues, Sergei Surovikin is a tough and principled commander who does not hesitate to defend his point of view. Initially, his business trip to Syria was supposed to last 3 months, but he still remains the commander of the grouping of Russian troops in the republic. According to some reports, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad personally asked to leave him in this position, believing that it was under the command of the "Severe" government forces that managed to achieve maximum success in the fight against the "Islamic State".
He was awarded numerous orders and medals, was wounded three times (he took part in the Second Chechen War and in the armed conflict in Afghanistan). In October 2012, he was the only military man on the list of the 100 most authoritative people in Russia according to VTsIOM.
Photo: Roman Danilkin/63.ru
Zhidko Gennady Valerievich
Rank: major general
Position before Syria: Commander of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District
Position after Syria: Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (since November 2017)
He was seen in Syria in September 2016, when he commented on the importance of the departmental festival "Army of Russia" then taking place: then the media called him the chief of staff of the group of Russian troops in Syria. Prior to his trip to the republic, he was the commander of the 2nd combined arms army of the Western Military District (Samara), in 2015 he was the chief of staff of the 2nd army, and previously served in the 27th guards division of constant readiness (Totsk) and the 20th motorized rifle division (Volgograd).
On October 26, 2017, he was entrusted with speaking at the presentation ceremony in the Kremlin for officers appointed to senior command positions. The ceremony was attended by Vladimir Putin. By presidential decree of November 22, 2017, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. The appointment was taken with surprise among the troops, since career growth (from the commander of the formation immediately to the leadership of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces) was too sharp. However, formally, he passed all the official steps necessary for the appointment. The top leadership of the Ministry of Defense remembered during the Zapad-2017 exercises, when its units were able to quickly transfer personnel and military equipment from Samara to the Kola Peninsula. General Zhidko has departmental awards. Tankman - just like his new chief, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov.
Photo: Evgeny Pereverzev / Kommersant
Lapin Alexander Pavlovich
Rank: lieutenant general
Position before Syria: First Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District
Position after Syria: Commander of the Central Military District
He was sent to Syria together with Sergey Surovikin in March 2017, where he was the chief of staff of the group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces. He worked with General Surovikin before: in 2014, he was appointed chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District. Following the results of the Syrian business trip on November 22, 2017, the president appointed General Lapin to the post of commander of the troops of the Central Military District, for him such an appointment means an increase in both position and rank. He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (with swords), the Order of Military Merit, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class, and other awards.
The track record of General Lapin includes the second Chechen war and several counter-terrorist operations in Dagestan. “My life does not belong to me. And I myself do not belong to myself - ever since I went to serve the Motherland, the Fatherland, the people, ”the general said in an interview with Voenternet in 2013. After graduating from the armored academy, he was sent to the 58th Combined Arms Army of the North Caucasian Military District, where he served as commander of a separate tank battalion. Since 1999, he became chief of staff, then commander of a separate 429th motorized rifle regiment of the 19th motorized rifle division, stationed (Mozdok, North Ossetia).
Photo: luki.ru
Milyukhin Petr Ilyich
Rank: major general
Position before Syria: Head of the Combat Training Department of the Headquarters of the Western Military District
Position after Syria: seriously injured, status unknown
Arrived in Syria with Commander Andrei Kartapolov in December 2016. He was responsible for the development of combat operations of Russian and Syrian units, supervised the implementation of tasks. He became the first Russian general to be seriously injured during the Syrian campaign. On February 16, 2017, together with five servicemen, he was moving in a Tiger armored car along the road from the Tiyas airfield towards Homs province. Military advisers had to assess the condition and training of the Syrian army fighters, which opposed the radical Islamists. The "Tiger" managed to drive away from Tiyas for 4 kilometers, but was blown up with the help of a radio-controlled land mine, in addition, the column itself, in which the "Tiger" was traveling, was fired upon by militants. Four of the six people who were in the armored car died, but Pyotr Milyukhin was among the survivors - as a result of the explosion, he lost both legs and one eye. He received first aid at the Khmeimim airbase, maintained his condition there for a week, and then was transferred to the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital, where he spent several months.
Before his trip to Syria, General Miliukhin was the head of the combat training department of the headquarters of the Western Military District. There is no information about whether he received any award for his actions in the republic.
Photo: Sergey Krasnoukhov / RIA Novosti
Asapov Valery Grigorievich
Rank: lieutenant general
Position before Syria: Commander of the 5th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District
The highest-ranking officer whose death in Syria was officially recognized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. He died on September 23, 2017, when he came under mortar fire from Islamic State militants (banned in the Russian Federation) in the province of Deir ez-Zor. He was the head of a group of Russian military advisers. On that day, he was at the command post of the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps of the Syrian Arab Army, helping local commanders in planning and directing the operation to cross the Euphrates. Eyewitnesses said that "the general was literally torn to pieces, nothing was left of the person."
Prior to his assignment to Syria, Valery Asapov was commander of the 5th Red Banner Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District (Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai) in 2016–2017. He had combat experience (two campaigns in Chechnya, the conflict in the Kodori Gorge), was wounded on the battlefield. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, he was appointed to the post of deputy commander of a separate airborne regiment as part of the peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia. After graduating from the military academy of the General Staff, he became the commander of the 37th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 36th Army of the Air Defense Forces, which took part in three international exercises at once with the military from Mongolia and India. In 2013, President Vladimir Putin presented Valery Asapov with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree. The name of the deceased general has repeatedly appeared in the media in connection with military operations in the Donbass. Ukrainian intelligence accused General Asapov of "participating in a military conflict in the southeast of Ukraine." He was posthumously presented to the Order of Courage.
Photo: Mikhail Voskresensky / RIA Novosti
Lentsov Alexander Ivanovich
Rank: colonel general
Position before Syria:
Position after Syria: Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces
He arrived at the post of Deputy Commander for Commandant's Offices of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria on March 30, 2016. The last official position is Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces (appointed by presidential decree in July 2013), the penultimate one is Deputy Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces (2009-2013). General Lentsov was noted in many armed conflicts. For example, he participated in the Afghan war (he was an instructor in airborne training, he did not lose a single soldier in two years of command of a reconnaissance group), in the Bosnian war (he was the commander of a unit of Russian peacekeepers).
Member of two Chechen campaigns, fought in South Ossetia in August 2008. Together with Alexander Vyaznikov, he was in the Donbass: he headed the Russian group in the joint center for monitoring and coordinating ceasefire issues in Soledar and Debaltseve (Donetsk region). He has departmental and state awards of the Russian Federation and the USSR. Officer of the American Order of the Legion of Merit, awarded "to members of the armed forces of friendly states, for exceptional and outstanding services and achievements in the service in an emergency." Got it before the events of 2014.
Photo: RVVDKU
Vyaznikov Alexander Yurievich
Rank: lieutenant general
Position before Syria:
Position after Syria: Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Peacekeeping Operations and Collective Rapid Reaction Forces
He took part in the Syrian campaign in the fall of 2017, holding a position in the center for the reconciliation of the warring parties. Officially, his presence there was not advertised. The media reported that he died on October 6, 2017, when a Russian Mi-28N attack helicopter crashed, but these data were not confirmed. The Ministry of Defense says that reports of his death are not true.
Alexander Vyaznikov was the deputy commander of the Airborne Forces for peacekeeping operations and collective rapid reaction forces. In the early 2000s, he was the commander of the 108th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment (Novorossiysk), and after that, the 106th Guards Airborne Division (Tula). The Ukrainian media accused General Vyaznikov of organizing hostilities in Luhansk. But on December 17, 2014, he said that, under an agreement with the Ukrainian side, the rotation of a group of Russian representatives in southeastern Ukraine in the amount of 75 people "from the joint center for monitoring and coordinating issues of maintaining the ceasefire regime" was completed. “I would like to remind you that the entry of representatives of Russia into this center was due to the request of the Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine,” he noted.
No appointments of General Vyaznikov after 2013 were reported.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine, General Zavizion took part in the hostilities in the Donbass: in the spring of 2015, he allegedly led the 1st Army Corps of Russian troops in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. Officially Russian side these accusations were denied. Combined-arms commander: served as chief of staff of the 41st Army, was commander of the 136th separate guards motorized rifle brigade (Buinaksk). According to the WikiLeaks website, during his command of the 201st Russian military base in Tajikistan (2006-2009), he repeatedly “expressed in a rude manner to American diplomats his dissatisfaction with the fact that the United States is trying to achieve a closure Russian base". He took part in the second Chechen war. Awarded with nine medals.
Compiled by: Alexandra Djordjevic, Ivan Safronov