Chief_of_the_General_Staff_(Russia)
Chief of the General Staff (Russia)
Highest ranking officer of the Russian Armed Forces
The Chief of the General Staff (Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба) is the head of the General Staff and the highest ranking officer of the Russian Armed Forces or is also the senior-most uniformed military officer. He is appointed by the President of Russia, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The position dates to the period of the Russian Empire. The current Chief of the General Staff is Army General Valery Gerasimov.
Quick Facts Type, Member of ...
Chief of the General Staff | |
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Начальник Генерального штаба (Russian) | |
General Staff of the Armed Forces | |
Type | Chief of staff |
Member of | |
Reports to | Minister of Defence of Russia President of Russia (sometimes) |
Seat | General Staff Building, Znamenka 14/1, Moscow |
Appointer | President of Russia |
Formation | 9 August 1812 (historical) 10 June 1992 (current) |
First holder | General-Adjutant Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin [ru] |
Deputy | First Deputy Chief of the General Staff |
Website | www.mil.ru |
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† denotes people who died in office.
Imperial Russian Army (1812–1917)
Director of the Inspection Department of the Ministry of War
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No. | Portrait | Director of the Inspection Department of the Ministry of War | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Gagarin, PavelGeneral-Adjutant Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin [ru] (1777–1850) | 9 August 1812 | 13 December 1814 | 2 years, 126 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
2 | Kleinmikhel, AndreyLieutenant General Andrey Kleinmikhel [ru] (1757–1815) | 13 December 1814 | 25 June 1815 | 194 days | Imperial Russian Army |
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Chief of the Main Staff
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the Main Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Geyden, FyodorLieutenant General Fyodor Geyden (1821–1900) | 1 January 1866 | 22 May 1881 | 15 years, 141 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
2 | Obruchev, NikolaiLieutenant General General of the Infantry Nikolai Obruchev (1830–1904) | 10 June 1881 | 31 December 1897 | 16 years, 204 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
3 | Sakharov, ViktorLieutenant General Viktor Sakharov (1848–1905) | 20 January 1898 | 11 March 1904 | 6 years, 51 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
4 | Frolov, PyotrLieutenant General Pyotr A. Frolov [ru] (1852–?) | 11 March 1904 | 28 June 1905 | 1 year, 109 days | Imperial Russian Army |
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Chief of the General Directorate of the General Staff
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Directorate of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Palitsyn, FyodorGeneral of the Cavalry Fyodor Palitsyn (1851–1923) | 28 June 1905 | 2 December 1908 | 157 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
2 | Sukhomlinov, VladimirGeneral of the Cavalry Vladimir Sukhomlinov (1848–1926) | 2 December 1908 | 11 March 1909 | 99 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
3 | Myshlayevsky, AlexanderGeneral of the Infantry Alexander Myshlayevsky (1856–1920) | 11 March 1909 | September 1909 | 5 months | Imperial Russian Army | |
4 | Gerngross, EvgenyLieutenant General Evgeny Gerngross [ru] (1855–1912) | September 1909 | 22 February 1911 | 1 year, 5 months | Imperial Russian Army | |
5 | Zhilinskiy, YakovGeneral of the Cavalry Yakov Zhilinsky (1853–1918) | 22 February 1911 | 4 March 1914 | 3 years, 10 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
6 | Yanushkevich, NikolaiMajor General Nikolai Yanushkevich (1868–1918) | 5 March 1914 | 1 August 1914 | 149 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
7 | Belyaev, MikhailMajor General Mikhail Belyaev (1863–1918) | 1 August 1914 | 10 August 1916 | 2 years, 9 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
8 | Averyanov, PyotrLieutenant General Pyotr Averyanov [ru] (1867–1937) | 10 August 1916 | 15 May 1917 | 278 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
9 | Romanovsky, IvanLieutenant General Ivan Romanovsky (1877–1920) | 18 July 1917 | 26 September 1917 | 134 days | Russian Army (1917) | |
10 | Marushevsky, VladimirMajor General Vladimir Marushevsky (1874–1952) | 26 September 1917 | 23 November 1917 | 58 days | Russian Army (1917) |
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Council of People's Commissars on War and Navy Affairs (1917–1918)
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Potapov, NikolayMajor General Nikolay Potapov (1871–1946) | 23 November 1917 | 8 May 1918 | 166 days | Red Army |
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Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (1918–1921)
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Red Army (1921–1946)
Chief of the Staff
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Lebedev, PavelMajor General Pavel Lebedev (1872–1933) | 10 February 1921 | April 1924 | 3 years, 1 month | Red Army | |
2 | Frunze, MikhailMajor General Mikhail Frunze (1885–1925) | April 1924 | January 1925 | 9 months | Red Army | |
3 | Kamenev, SergeiKomandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936) | January 1925 | November 1925 | 10 months | Red Army | |
4 | Tukhachevsky, MikhailMarshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937) | November 1925 | May 1928 | 2 years, 6 months | Red Army | |
5 | Shaposhnikov, BorisKomandarm 1st rank Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | May 1928 | April 1931 | 2 years, 11 months | Red Army | |
6 | Triandafillov, VladimirGeneral Vladimir Triandafillov (1894–1931) [lower-alpha 1] | May 1931 | 12 July 1931 † | 2 months | Red Army | |
7 | Yegorov, AlexanderMarshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Yegorov (1883–1939) | July 1931 | September 1935 | 4 years, 2 months | Red Army |
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Chief of the General Staff
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Yegorov, AlexanderMarshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Yegorov (1883–1939) | September 1935 | 10 May 1937 | 1 year, 8 months | Red Army | |
2 | Shaposhnikov, BorisMarshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | 10 May 1937 | August 1940 | 3 years, 2 months | Red Army | |
3 | Shaposhnikov, BorisArmy General Kirill Meretskov (1897–1968) | August 1940 | January 1941 | 5 months | Red Army | |
4 | Zhukov, GeorgyArmy General Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) | February 1941 | 29 July 1941 | 5 months | Red Army | |
(2) | Shaposhnikov, BorisMarshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | 29 July 1941 | 11 May 1942 | 286 days | Red Army | |
5 | Vasilevsky, AleksandrMarshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | 26 June 1942 | February 1945 | 2 years, 7 months | Red Army | |
6 | Antonov, AlekseiArmy General Aleksei Antonov (1896–1962) | February 1945 | 22 March 1946 | 1 year, 1 month | Red Army |
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Soviet Armed Forces (1946–1991)
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Vasilevsky, AleksandrMarshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | 22 March 1946 | November 1948 | 2 years, 7 months | Soviet Army | |
2 | Shtemenko, SergeiArmy General Sergei Shtemenko (1907–1976) | November 1948 | June 1952 | 3 years, 7 months | Soviet Army | |
3 | Sokolovsky, VasilyMarshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Sokolovsky (1897–1968) | June 1952 | April 1960 | 7 years, 10 months | Soviet Army | |
4 | Zakharov, MatveiMarshal of the Soviet Union Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | April 1960 | March 1963 | 2 years, 11 months | Soviet Army | |
5 | Biryuzov, SergeyMarshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Biryuzov (1904–1964) [lower-alpha 1] | March 1963 | 19 October 1964 † | 1 year, 7 months | Soviet Army | |
(4) | Zakharov, MatveiMarshal of the Soviet Union Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | November 1964 | September 1971 | 6 years, 9 months | Soviet Army | |
6 | Kulikov, ViktorMarshal of the Soviet Union Viktor Kulikov (1921–2013) | September 1971 | 7 January 1977 | 5 years, 4 months | Soviet Army | |
7 | Ogarkov, NikolaiMarshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Ogarkov (1917–1994) [1] | 7 January 1977 | 6 September 1984 | 7 years, 238 days | Soviet Army | |
8 | Akhromeyev, SergeyMarshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Akhromeyev (1923–1991) [1] | 6 September 1984 | 2 November 1988 | 4 years, 62 days | Soviet Army | |
9 | Moiseev, MikhailColonel General Army General Mikhail Moiseev (1939–2022) | December 1988 | 23 August 1991 | 2 years, 8 months | Soviet Army | |
10 | Lobov, VladimirArmy General Vladimir Lobov (born 1935) | 25 August 1991 | 25 December 1991 | 122 days | Soviet Army |
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Russian Armed Forces (1992–present)
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No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Dubynin, ViktorArmy General Viktor Dubynin (1943–1992) | 10 June 1992 | 22 November 1992 † | 165 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
2 | Kolesnikov, MikhailArmy General Mikhail Kolesnikov (1939–2007) | 22 November 1992 | 18 October 1996 | 3 years, 331 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
3 | Samsonov, ViktorArmy General Viktor Samsonov (born 1941) | 18 October 1996 | 22 May 1997 | 216 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
4 | Kvashnin, AnatolyArmy General Anatoly Kvashnin (1946–2022) | 22 May 1997 | 19 July 2004 | 7 years, 58 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
5 | Baluyevsky, YuriArmy General Yuri Baluyevsky (born 1947) | 19 July 2004 | 3 June 2008 | 3 years, 320 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
6 | Makarov, NikolaiArmy General Nikolai Makarov (born 1949) | 3 June 2008 | 9 November 2012 | 4 years, 159 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
7 | Gerasimov, ValeryArmy General Valery Gerasimov (born 1955) | 9 November 2012 | Incumbent | 11 years, 196 days | Russian Ground Forces |
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- Garthoff, Raymond L. (1994). The Great Transition: American-Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. p. 186. ISBN 0-8157-3060-8.
The decision was taken at the regular Politburo meeting [on 6 September] and appeared to have been sudden
- V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945–91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 (for Soviet era list of CGSs).