The birthday of the North Caucasian Military District “missed” the Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. The calendar proximity of events and geographic coincidences, as a rule, are not accidental. So the main height of the country - Mamayev Kurgan - is located on the territory of the most combat district of Russia. And, probably, it is natural that the best motorized rifle division of the North Caucasian Military District, the 20th Guards, is deployed in Volgograd ... Historical memory, like invisible reinforcement, holds together the past, present and future of the country and its divisions. It will continue to be so.
The margin of safety and the worthy future of the guards formation are also determined by the favorable deployment in the South of Russia and the considerable funds invested in the development of infrastructure.
Two garrisons located at a distance of 200 km are a feature that determines the complexity and multidimensionality of the organization of combat training (two regiments of constant readiness are deployed in the Kamyshin garrison, one in Volgograd). However, in the matter of combat readiness, everything is decided not so much by distances or other geographical features as by people, military teams.
AT ground forces ah, only the 20th motorized rifle division has an air assault regiment of constant readiness in its composition. And this is the pride of the connection. The regiment was completely transferred to the contract method of manning, which significantly increased its combat effectiveness. The regiment's mobile reserve is on hourly readiness to perform tasks in any direction by parachute or landing method. Paratroopers are engaged in the field for 10-12 hours a day. A unique airborne training complex has been created at the point of permanent deployment.
No less pride of the division is a separate company of the Guard of Honor. Over 40 years ago, on Mamaev Kurgan, soldiers of a separate rifle company, formed in connection with the opening of the memorial to the Heroes of Battle of Stalingrad". And to this day, at any time of the year, in any weather, at the main height of the country, the military personnel of the Guards unit carry out the Watch of Memory.
The capabilities of powerful, full-blooded motorized rifle regiments are impressive. However, first things first.
Armor is strong
The beginning of April is the time of regular shooting for tankers. The first tank battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Ryabtsev to shoot at the district firing range. And I happened to see this beautiful combat work.
The polygon morning turned out not to be hot in April. The sun added heat to the atmosphere of combat training. The tankers were preparing to perform the third control firing exercise, according to which it was necessary to hit several emerging and moving targets on the move from the tank.
HISTORY REFERENCE. The 20th Motorized Rifle Carpathian-Berlin Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Division originates in October 1942 in the city of Kalinin, where a mechanized corps was formed. In full force, the corps immediately joined the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front. A year later, in October 1943, for successful fighting on the Kursk Bulge he was awarded the rank of guards.
The 8th Guards Corps became Carpathian for distinction during the Dniester-Carpathian operation. Berlin - for participation in the storming of the capital Nazi Germany. For the liberation of their native land, and then - the cities and villages of enslaved Poland (do they remember this in Poland?), the corps was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner and Suvorov, II degree.
During the Great Patriotic War, 90 soldiers and officers of the mechanized corps became Heroes Soviet Union.
In the summer of 1945, the corps was reorganized into a division. And in March 1957, the division became the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division ...
For many years, the connection remained at the forefront, in the Group Soviet troops in Germany. Relocated to Volgograd in April 1993.
December 1994 - March 1995 the division carried out combat missions to restore constitutional order in the North Caucasus. In 1999-2000 participated in the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of Dagestan and the Chechen Republic. At the same time, 13 servicemen of the unit became Heroes of Russia, six of them - posthumously ...
In 2000, the division was awarded the pennant of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation "For courage and military prowess." According to the results of combat training in 2006 and 2007. recognized as the best in the North Caucasian Military District.
In 2008, the connection completes the transition to a contract method of recruitment, construction and reconstruction of military camps.
The exercise is difficult. For example, three artillery shots are fired to hit a “tank” target, and an “enemy” appears for only 1 minute. 20 sec. For moving targets - RPGs and "recoilless guns" - only 35 machine gun rounds are given. For an excellent assessment (and the professionals should not have another) it is necessary to hit all targets in a matter of minutes on the move. At the same time, the "tank" - at least twice ... The criteria are tough, and yet the guardsmen, Lieutenant Colonel Ryabtsev, did not bother. Skills allowed to confidently perform the task on "good" and "excellent".
Before my eyes, the crew of the deputy battalion commander, Major Yuri Chaikin, hit the “tank” three times with high-explosive fragmentation shells and destroyed the “recoilless rifle” three times with machine-gun fire. Sniper work!
If only they would give the guardsmen new tanks. With the prescribed 11,000 km of run before overhaul (provided that they were stored in a box), almost all the tanks of the division covered 5-7,000 km and two Chechen campaigns. Years under the open sky, burning either with the sun or with frost, take their toll. Today, equipment is operated at the limit of resource and professional capabilities.
Tankers believe that they will soon receive new weapons. In the meantime, in constant readiness, they methodically “nail” a conditional enemy and do not lose heart.
Observing the confident work of his subordinates, the division commander, Colonel Gennady Zhidko, noted with satisfaction:
- Not a bad start. And yet, a real tanker must go through “fire, water and copper pipes”, that is, full-time shooting, underwater driving and a parade ... Only after successfully overcoming all three stages will he be considered a truly trained professional ...
The blue sunny sky and the dry yellowish-brown soil of the Prudboy training ground for some reason reminded me of April last year, the same colors of the Ashuluk and Kapustin Yar training grounds, where the 20th division, as always, turned out to be on top. Then, in the course of a large-scale interspecific exercise with live firing and the involvement of about 8 thousand military personnel of the North Caucasus Military District, the anti-aircraft regiment of the formation with two Buk and Tor batteries successfully fired at four targets. He did not act according to a simplified scenario, immediately after rocket launches, moving to new starting positions ... The motorized rifle units also adequately completed their tasks.
One of the most interesting elements was the bilateral tactical exercise of an air assault regiment of constant readiness integrated into a single plan for the entire operation under the leadership of the division commander (a battalion from motorized rifle regiment the same connection). The landing schedule assumed the coordinated actions of the reconnaissance and advanced groups, the forward detachment, the main forces and the formation of the battle formation so as to complete the task in the shortest possible time with maximum intensity.
The regimental command and two air assault battalions parachuted from Il-76 planes, the rest of the units - by landing from Mi-8 helicopters, followed by advancement and occupation of an advantageous firing line. The landing force of the mock enemy strove in the shortest direction to top speed advance to the central command post to destroy it. However, the subordinates of Colonel Igor Timofeev did not leave the enemy a single chance. The air assault regiment of the 20th Guards Division at the stage of the active phase of the exercise set a spectacular victory point.
So on the day of my arrival at Prudboy, the division quite naturally flashed the tank edge of combat readiness.
Strokes to the portrait of the commander
In his office, the commander of the Guards Division, Colonel Gennady Zhidko, is somewhat reminiscent of a top manager of a reputable corporation, who, behind a barrier of a rustling laptop, two mobile phones and several alternately ringing telephones, manages to keep in touch with reality, without raising his voice to talk with his subordinates, to receive with lightning speed solutions, regulating the huge flows of human energy. Gennady Valeryevich was born on September 12, 1965, on the Day of the tanker. Perhaps this is fate. In 1987 he graduated from the Tashkent Higher Tank command school. He went from platoon commander to division commander without missing a single rung of the career ladder. He received the rank of captain and colonel ahead of schedule. Graduated from the Academy of Armored Forces and the Military Academy General Staff Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (VAGSh).
He has been in command of the 20th motorized rifle division since August 2007. Before studying at the VAGSh, he gave many years of service to the 27th guards division of constant readiness in Totsk. Knows well all motorized rifle formations of constant readiness. However, he considers the 20th division to be special. And there are good reasons for this.
For example, such a widespread misfortune as the separation of the life of commanders from the life of subunits is unusual for a formation. This happened during the work of the former divisional commander, Major General Alexander Lapin. And Colonel Gennady Zhidko does not lower the organizational level. He considers the main methods of mastering the situation in military collectives, the condition for constant contact with soldiers and junior officers to be conversations, questionnaires, questions and answers evenings.
An important role is played by the “hotline”. Any soldier can apply to the division commander by mobile phone(number - in each location on the stand). And Gennady Valeryevich's telephone is full of sms-messages. They write about things...
Private N-sky motorized rifle regiment Alexei Zadorozhny wants to sign a contract with the air assault regiment, because he always dreamed of serving in the Airborne Forces. And, of course, the division commander will help make the dream come true.
Colonel Gennady Zhidko's reaction to reports of injustice is even more substantive and sharper, whether it is the non-observance by individual commanders of the working day or the desire to live well at someone else's expense ... Service "zeal" in the form of an unreasonable lengthening of the working day, endless drill training, formations after midnight, as well as attempts to bring into the life of the unit some kind of "market" mechanisms of relationships today no longer go unpunished. As a rule, the call of "bespredelshchikov" (both sergeants and officers) for a conversation with the division commander (sometimes even 200 km away) has a very sobering effect. And in two cases, in the wake of disturbing sms-messages, criminal cases were initiated... Life is life.
The practice of constant contact generates trust personnel to command. The soldiers are now hiding nothing. The new contractual reality dictates other methods of working with people.
Officers and contract soldiers
There are many worthy officers in the division, such as the commander of a motorized rifle regiment, Colonel Rustam Muradov, the commander of an anti-aircraft missile regiment, Colonel Evgeny Meshcheryakov, the battalion commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Semenov and Major Alexander Korshikov. Does this mean that the heavy roller of the past 20th anniversary did not fundamentally harm the quality of the officer corps as a whole? Colonel Gennady Zhidko believes that harm is still visible - in the insufficient number and low quality of platoon and company officers.
The lack of competition between platoon commanders in the appointment to a higher position is an urgent problem. After all, there was a time when a company commander was chosen from five to six applicants. It mobilized many. Today, the division commander has to deal with the search for the company commander personally.
- Personnel officers are not supplied enough. Of the existing ones, not everyone is able to lead the team and lead according to the principle: “Do as I do!” For example, the commander of a motorized rifle company has not been in one of the regiments for more than a month. The underlying reason for this situation is the low status of the officer in society. Often, not the most worthy young people go to a military university. Having put on the lieutenant's epaulettes, they still need a lot of "refinement". And this raises the age bar, - Gennady Valeryevich reflects.
Military educational institutions do not give sufficient practice, the opportunity to fully form commanding qualities. Only in the army, having been in an environment as close as possible to combat, participating in exercises, young officers fully acquire knowledge and experience, become real professionals. Unfortunately, not everyone remains in the service - the temptations of civilian life are too great and the assessment of military labor is too modest.
Conscripted lieutenants, yesterday's students of civilian universities, are of great help to the division, and yet this category of military personnel is unlikely to ever become the core of the officer corps. Most conscript officers do not have an active motivation for impeccable, and even more so, long-term service. "Jackets" are simply torn out of their usual, comfortable and prosperous "civilian" world for a while. They have already chosen a path in life, a profession and, importantly, the level of material prosperity.
For example, one of my interlocutors, a lieutenant, graduated Faculty of Economics Volgograd State Pedagogical University and before being drafted, he managed to work as a manager in one of the firms. With an average salary of 25 thousand rubles (that is, at the level of the deputy commander of the district troops). As a deputy company commander in a permanent readiness regiment, he receives about 12,000 rubles a month. He likes a lot in military service, but an economist by profession and a married man is absolutely clear in which area he should invest his life. After all, officers become for decades ...
Contractual realities in the division are encouraging to a greater extent. 19-year-old guys are patriotic and still romantic enough to fuel the contract service system with their destinies. It is gratifying that patriotism is laid down by parents and school.
The experience of the division shows that the very idea of transferring to a contract method of manning is very good. And with appropriate material support behind the contract - the future of the Armed Forces (or at least parts of constant readiness).
- Already today there are fighters in the unit, which you look at, and your heart rejoices. These are people who constantly improve their skills in combat training and mastery of equipment. It's great that there are young people in the country who are ready to defend their homeland, give their health and life for it, regardless of material incentives. Without such guys, we would hardly have completed our units of constant readiness by 70 percent and would have maintained this level for six months, - says Colonel Zhidko.
A lot of different opinions have been expressed on the issue of contracting. The fact remains: a contract serviceman is superior to a "conscript" in terms of level vocational training. After all, the first one perfectly understands why and for what he sheds sweat at the training ground.
The same goes for discipline. The contractor is an adult. Actions are done in a meaningful way. And if you create really worthy conditions of service, he will truly value his status. In the meantime, most contractors are not going to devote a significant part of their lives to the service.
However, the material component of military service is also changing for the better. In addition to a relatively small, but still increase in salaries, recently 44 people in the division received new apartments due to the mortgage-accumulative system (lieutenants and military personnel who signed a second contract). This is reassuring. And it makes every day of combat training more meaningful and intense.
Salt of the earth
According to the commander of the North Caucasian Military District, General of the Army Alexander Baranov, in the 20th motorized rifle division there is a constant readiness for verification. What explains this? Of course, not by constant checks by the Main Command of the Ground Forces or the Military Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense. Rather, by the very purpose of the connection. All military personnel, from the division commander to the private, know that at any moment it is the 20th Guards that can be involved in combat missions. And they treat it with understanding.
Combat training is the basis of the unit's daily activities. It is possible that the word “standard” will seem to someone too high, but here they are constantly striving for exemplary indicators. Every year is a new step of improvement.
Polygon criteria of truth are the most reliable. The two training grounds at the disposal of the division - the Kamyshinsky divisional and the district near Volgograd - make it possible to engage in combat training with full dedication. The advantageous proximity of the Prudboy district training ground, one of the best in the Ground Forces today, provides ample opportunities for combat training. Almost all facilities here are equipped according to modern requirements, equipped with equipment of the 21st century. The material base of the Kamyshinsky training ground is also slightly inferior, allowing the regiments to conduct exercises up to and including battalion coordination.
Regimental exercises - only at the district training ground, and this largely determines the high march training of the two Kamyshin regiments stationed 200 km from Prudboy.
In the connection, they are always ready to demonstrate how to perform a particular task. For example, the readiness for action on the intended purpose of the mobile reserve of the commander of the North Caucasus Military District - an airborne assault regiment in full force - does not exceed several hours. And in each motorized rifle regiment there are similar battalion tactical groups of two to four hours of readiness. A special "North Caucasian" responsibility charges the entire unit with constant readiness.
At one of the military councils of the North Caucasus Military District, it was said: "In 2005-2006, the intensity of combat training in the 20th division increased by 2.5 times." With the transition in 2008 to a new 11-month combat training program, the pace is adjusted. Training activities are reduced in quantity, but emphasis is placed on quality. Single training was completed in January, and control exercises showed that the fighters are confident in weapons and equipment.
Combat firing squads and platoon tactical exercises were successfully completed. And recent regimental tactical exercises have confirmed that soldiers, squads, crews and platoons have all the skills of modern combat. The indicators of fire training in the unit have increased significantly. Against the backdrop of the recent divisional command and staff exercise, I was pleased with the quality of shooting within the framework of battalion and regimental tactical exercises.
Progress is also noticeable in relation to military personnel for technical training. If in 2007, after regimental tactical exercises, about 30% of the equipment returned to the park in tow, then this year, all far from new equipment went into the field and returned to the park under its own power. And this is an indicator of the quality of training of drivers, commanders and crews.
At the final stage winter period training in the unit passed command and staff exercises on the ground in order to determine the degree of field training and coherence of the troops. About five thousand military personnel and more than a thousand units of military equipment were involved. The idea was to conduct a counterattack against the "enemy" with the use of tactical air assault as part of one of the battalions of the air assault regiment. The winged guards of Colonel Igor Timofeev again confidently completed the task of seizing a bridgehead on the right bank of the Don River, destroying the main command post of a mock enemy.
Before the counterattack of motorized riflemen on the defense of the “enemy”, artillery worked effectively. At the request of the division commander, fire support helicopters operated.
The forcing of the Don was successful. The bridgehead on the shore of the "enemy" was captured on time.
At the control sessions and summing up the results of the training period, the deputy division commanders, heads of military branches and services note the increased level of personnel training compared to last year's indicators. Every soldier understands that the more sweat is shed at the training grounds, the less blood will be shed in a real battle.
A touch of achievement
When a soldier's heart touches the feat, it is easier for commanders to work. The division is stationed in Volgograd, where every inch is saturated with the blood of soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. This, even today, helps to carefully preserve traditions, to learn military science in a real way, to give everything one hundred percent. Such an attitude without words asks and demands the sacred land itself.
Traditions are not just a memory. Here is just one example from the life of a connection. At a recent exercise, fighters equipped a battalion defense area at the Prudboy training ground and discovered an unknown mass grave of Soviet soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. A burial was dug up very close German soldiers... Such finds are not uncommon here, therefore, according to a well-established scheme, the defense area was moved, specialists from the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and search engines were called. The main thing is that today's soldiers saw the face of war and the price of peace with their own eyes. One can imagine with what dedication they will now study military affairs on this land in order to be worthy of the memory of those who defended native land from the enemy at the cost of his own life.
In Volgograd, the people and the army are truly united. From year to year, the interaction of the command of the 20th division with the city and regional administrations is growing stronger. Great attention is paid to the soldiers-guards, in particular, by the deputy governor for work with "power" structures, Alexander Tretyakov.
The unit has developed stable contacts with veterans and schoolchildren - participants of the Great Patriotic War are invited to every solemn event in military teams.
However, the formation itself solves important tasks of the military-patriotic education of young people in the Volgograd region. Mamaev Kurgan itself is not just a place of service of one of the units of the 20th division, a company of the Guard of Honor, but also a monument of all times and peoples, which leaves a mark on every soul.
The guardsmen of Colonel Zhidko regularly hold meetings with schoolchildren, introduce them to military units. Recently, the garrison hosted the traditional Conscript's Day, which was attended by thousands of Volgograd youths. And of course, the formation holds Victory parades in Volgograd, the educational value of which is difficult to overestimate. Find mutual language with the younger generation, the head of the Volgograd garrison is not difficult.
- You have to hear different things about young people, and yet, when I speak to them, I see only genuine interest and enthusiasm in their eyes. Schoolchildren are well aware that many of them will soon go to serve, and this will be a new and important stage in their lives, - says Colonel Gennady Zhidko.
The history of the sacred land and the best connection of the most combat district of the country continues. So, as before, Russia will not surrender the main heights.
Tankers of the 20th motorized rifle division at the Prudboy training ground.
Commander of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division of the Guards Colonel Gennady ZHYDKO.
At the Prudboy training ground.
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 of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (with honors).
In the late 1980s, he served as part of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces 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 of the 15th 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 has headed working group on the creation of military police bodies of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, then he 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.
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".
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 group 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 / 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. On the Far East he served from the mid-1990s, where he rose from chief of staff of a tank regiment to 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 Russia-24 TV channel, the general admitted that not only Russian aviation, but also fighters of the forces played a special role in the liberation of Palmyra. special operations 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 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"For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (with swords), the Order "For Military Merit", the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree and other awards.
AT track record General Lapin - the second Chechen War and several counter-terrorism 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.
Prior to 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. 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 / 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. Last official position - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the 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 Donbass: he headed the Russian group in the joint center for monitoring and coordinating ceasefire issues in Soledar and Debaltsevo ( 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.
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 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 SafronovCommander of the Eastern Military District.
Hero of the Russian Federation. Lieutenant General.
Gennady Zhidko was born on September 12, 1965 in the village of Yangiabad, Uzbekistan. After school, he entered the Tashkent Higher Military Tank Command School, which he graduated with honors in 1987. He went from platoon commander to division commander without missing a single rung of the career ladder.
He served in the 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Volga Military District in the village of Totskoye, Totsky District, Orenburg Region. He received the rank of captain and colonel ahead of schedule. Graduated from the Military Academy of Armored Forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. Malinovsky and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Russian Federation. He received encouragement for organizing fire training from the commander of the troops of the P-UrVO, Colonel-General Alexander Baranov.
From August 2007 to July 2009 he was commander of the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the North Caucasian Military District based in Volgograd. During his stay in this post, Major General Alexander Lapin continued the work of establishing trusting relationships with military teams, improving combat and technical training. He also proceeded to transfer the division to the "contract".
Further, he was appointed deputy commander of the 20th Guards Army of the Moscow, then the Western military districts with headquarters in Voronezh. From January 2011 to January 2012, he served as chief of staff - first deputy commander of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District based in St. Petersburg. He participated in the formation of this formation, for his organizational skills he was noted by the commander of the 6th Army, Major General Yevgeny Ustinov, the commander of the Western Military District, Arkady Bakhin.
From 2015 to 2016, he was chief of staff - first deputy commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army, and then until November 2017, commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District with headquarters in Samara.
A participant in the Russian military operation in Syria, in 2016, Major General Zhidko served as chief of staff of the grouping of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Syria. The non-standard and skillful military leadership thinking of the military adviser Zhidko was noted by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov.
At the end of February 2016, he was awarded the military rank of Major General.
The army under the command of Zhidko repeatedly took part in sudden exercises and checks, during which they showed high combat readiness and mobility. During the military exercises "West-2017", army units were quickly transferred from Samara to the Kola Peninsula.
On May 9, 2017, Gennady Valerievich hosted a parade on Kuibyshev Square in Samara dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. At the end of November of the same year, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
By Decree of the President of Russia dated November 12, 2018, Gennady Zhidko was appointed to the post of Commander of the Eastern Military District based in the city of Khabarovsk.
More, incl.
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 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". 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 with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 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. He served in the Far East from the mid-1990s, where he rose from chief of staff of a tank regiment to 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
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 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.
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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 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
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).
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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.
Prior to 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. 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
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. The last official position was Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces (appointed by presidential decree in July 2013), the penultimate one was 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.
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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.