Yevgeny Semyon "Eugene" Vindman^[1][2] (Ukrainian: Євген Семенович Віндман; born June 6, 1975) is a retired United States Army colonel and a national security and international law expert. He was a deputy legal advisor for the United States National Security Council (NSC) until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020.^[3]

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Eugene Vindman
Personal details
Born	Yevgeny Semyonovich Vindman (1975-06-06) June 6, 1975 (age 48) Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Political party	Democratic
Relatives	Alexander Vindman (brother)
Education	Binghamton University (BA) Central Michigan University (MS) University of Georgia (JD) Judge Advocate Generals Legal Center and School (LLM)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1998–2022
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel

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Vindman came to national attention in October 2019 when his twin brother, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, testified before the United States Congress regarding the Trump–Ukraine scandal. Yevgeny received the report of President Trump's phone call from Alex and reported the call to senior White House Lawyers. Alex's testimony provided evidence that resulted in a charge of abuse of power in the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Yevgeny Semyon Vindman (né Yevgeny Semyonovich Vindman) and his identical twin brother Alexander were born in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union to a Jewish family.^[4][5] After the death of their mother, the three-year-old twins and their older brother Leonid were brought to New York in December 1979 by their father, Semyon (Simon). They grew up in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach neighborhood. The twins appear briefly with their maternal grandmother in the 1985 Ken Burns documentary The Statue of Liberty.^[6][7] Vindman speaks fluent Russian. He graduated in 1992 from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Vindman graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton in Binghamton, New York with a bachelor of arts degree in history.^[8] He took part in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps while in college and received a second lieutenant's commission in the Army's Infantry Branch in January 1997. He later received a Master of Science degree from Central Michigan University in General Administration, a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2006, and a Master in Legal Letters (LLM) from the Judge Advocate Generals Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS).^{[citation needed]}

Vindman completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning in 1998 and was sent to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, NC, where he led both airborne infantry and airborne anti-armor platoons. In addition to an overseas assignment to Germany, Vindman is a combat veteran of the Iraq War. He served in Iraq from January 2011 to June 2011 in Operation New Dawn. He was promoted to Major in 2006, to Lieutenant Colonel in 2016, and to Colonel in 2021.^{[citation needed]}

During his Army career, Vindman earned the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Parachutist Badge, as well as three Army Achievement Medals, three Army Commendation Medals, one Joint Service Commendation Medal, and six Meritorious Service Medals.^{[citation needed]}

Vindman served in a variety of roles in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps, including senior policy attorney-adviser for the labor and employment division at the Pentagon, senior prosecutor (DA equivalent) for Fort Hood, and operational law attorney for U.S. Forces-Iraq. He served for 12 years as an infantry officer, including an assignment as an airborne infantry platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division. He is an expert in the law of armed conflict, military law, government ethics, and national security law. He is the author of multiple articles on national security, cyber, and international relations featured in Foreign Affairs magazine, Foreign Policy magazine, Lawfare, and Just Security blog.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 2012, Vindman became an Army Judge Advocate. In this capacity, he served as a brigade judge advocate in Germany and senior trial counsel/ chief of justice for Fort Hood, Texas, at the time the busiest court martial judication in the world. As senior trial counsel, he tried 7 serious felony cases including kidnapping, sexual assaults, and fraud. Returning to Washington, D.C. he was then a senior labor attorney-advisor for the Department of the Army. Vindman was on the Army Staff at the Pentagon from July 2016 to July 2018.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2018, Vindman accepted an assignment with the National Security Council. In his role on the NSC, Vindman became a deputy legal advisor. He was later promoted to agency ethics official on the NSC and became the senior ethics official on the NSC. While he was assigned to the NSC, his portfolio included work with international organizations such as NATO, the International Criminal Court, African affairs, emerging technologies, international humanitarian law, human rights, and ethics.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2022, Eugene has held the position of Director of Military Analysis and Prosecution Support for the Atrocity Crimes Advisory (ACA) group.^[16] The ACA was formed by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom as an operational hub coordinating assistance to the Office of the Prosecutor of Ukraine. This collaboration aims to investigate and prosecute those responsible for war crimes committed on Ukrainian soil.^[16] During his tenure at ACA, Eugene visited various war crime sites in Ukraine alongside Ukrainian prosecutors.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2023, Eugene Vindman, together with his twin brother Alexander Vindman, initiated the Trident Support project. Its primary goal is to set up a weapon maintenance and training facility within Ukraine.^[17] Within Trident Support, the Vindman brothers aim to enlist 100-200 adept Western contractors. These professionals will collaborate with Ukrainian forces close to the front lines, offering training on mending battle-affected equipment provided by Western countries.^[17] The project's end goal is to hasten the repair of military gear, which currently requires transportation from Ukraine to Poland or other NATO country.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2023, it was reported that Vindman plans to run for Congress in Virginia's 7th District, where Rep. Abigail Spanberger is not seeking reelection.^[18][19]

Vindman is married to Cindy Vindman, née Groff. The couple has two children, a son born in 2004 and a daughter born in 2010. His identical twin is Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. Vindman has an older brother, Leonid Vindman, who also served in the Army.^{[citation needed]}

Vindman's awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with silver oak leaf cluster (6th award); Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters (3rd award); Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters (3rd award); National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon (2nd award); Army Reserve Overseas Training Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal; Valorous Unit Award; and Joint Meritorious Unit award. He earned the Expert Infantryman Badge; Air Assault Badge; Basic Parachutist Badge; Presidential Service Badge; and the Army Staff Identification Badge. Vindman was also awarded the Badge of Honor by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine in 2023.^{[citation needed]}