Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces
| Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces | |
|---|---|
| Главнокомандующий Сухопутными войсками России | |
 Flag of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces | |
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| Russian Ground Forces | |
| Member of | General Staff of the Armed Forces |
| Reports to | Chief of the General Staff |
| Appointer | President of Russia |
| Formation | 9 August 1812 (historical) 10 June 1992 (current form) |
| Deputy | Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief |
| Website | Official website |
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Главнокомандующий Сухопутными войсками России) is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Ground Forces. He is appointed by the President of Russia. The position dates to the period of the Russian Empire. The current Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces is Colonel General Andrey Mordvichev, in office since 15 May 2025.[1]
From 1998 to 2001 the position was briefly called the Chief of the Main Directorate of the Ground Forces.
List of Commanders
† denotes people who died in office.
Red Army (1918–1946)
- Commander-in-Chief
| No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Komandarm 2nd rank Jukums Vācietis (1873–1938) | 6 September 1918 | 8 July 1919 | 305 days | |
| 2 | Komandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936) | 8 July 1919 | 28 April 1924 | 4 years, 295 days |
- Chief of Staff
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major General Mikhail Frunze (1885–1925) | April 1924 | January 1925 | 9 months | |
| 2 | Komandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936) | January 1925 | November 1925 | 10 months | |
| 3 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937) | November 1925 | May 1928 | 2 years, 6 months | |
| 4 | Komandarm 1st rank Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | May 1928 | April 1931 | 2 years, 11 months | |
| 5 | General Vladimir Triandafillov (1894–1931) [a] | May 1931 | 12 July 1931 † | 2 months | |
| 6 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Ilyich Yegorov (1883–1939) | July 1931 | September 1935 | 4 years, 2 months |
- Chief of the General Staff
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Ilyich Yegorov (1883–1939) | September 1935 | 10 May 1937 | 1 year, 8 months | |
| 2 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | 10 May 1937 | August 1940 | 3 years, 2 months | |
| 3 | Army General Kirill Meretskov (1897–1968) | August 1940 | January 1941 | 5 months | |
| 4 | Army General Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) | February 1941 | 29 July 1941 | 5 months | |
| (2) | Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | 29 July 1941 | 11 May 1942 | 286 days | |
| 5 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | 26 June 1942 | February 1945 | 2 years, 7 months | |
| 6 | Army General Aleksei Antonov (1896–1962) | February 1945 | 22 March 1946 | 1 year, 1 month |
Soviet Ground Forces (1946–1992)
- Commander-in-Chief
| No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) | March 1946 | 9 June 1946 | 5 months | ||
| 2 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev (1897–1973) | 1946 | 1950 | 3–4 years | ||
| Position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1950–55 | ||||||
| 2 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev (1897–1973) | 1955 | 1956 | 0–1 years | ||
| 3 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky (1898–1967) | March 1956 | 26 October 1957 | 1 year | ||
| 4 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko (1903–1976) | 1957 | 1960 | 2–3 years | ||
| 5 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Chuikov (1900–1982) | 1960 | 1964 | 3–4 years | ||
| Position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1964–67 | ||||||
| 6 | Army General Ivan Pavlovsky (1909–1999) | November 1967 | 1979 | 11–12 years | ||
| 7 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasiliy Petrov (1917–2014) | 1980 | January 1985 | 4–5 years | ||
| 8 | Army General Yevgeni Ivanovski (1918–1991) | 5 February 1985 | January 1989 | 3 years | ||
| 9 | Army General Valentin Varennikov (1923–2009) | 5 January 1989 | 22 August 1991 | 2 years | ||
| – | Colonel General Mikhail Kolesnikov (1939–2007) Acting | 22 August 1991 | 31 August 1991 | 0 years | ||
| 10 | Colonel General Vladimir Semyonov (born 1940) | 31 August 1991 | August 1992 | 0 years | ||
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Russian Ground Forces (1992–present)
- Commander-in-Chief
| No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Army General Vladimir Semyonov (born 1940) | August 1992 | April 1997 | 4 years, 8 months |
- Chief of the Main Directorate
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the Main Directorate | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | Colonel General Yuri Bukreyev (born 1941) Acting | January 1998 | 9 May 1998 | 4 months | |
| 1 | Colonel general Yuri Bukreyev (born 1941) | 9 May 1998 | March 2001 | 2 years, 9 months |
- Commander-in-Chief
| No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Army General Nikolai Kormiltsev (born 1946) | 28 March 2001 | October 2004 | 3 years, 6 months | |
| 2 | Army General Aleksei Maslov (1953–2022) | 5 November 2004 | 31 July 2008 | 3 years, 8 months | |
| 3 | Army General Vladimir Boldyrev (born 1953) | 31 July 2008 | January 2010 | 1 year, 5 months | |
| 4 | Colonel General Aleksandr Postnikov-Streltsov (born 1953) | 11 January 2010 | 26 April 2012 | 2 years, 3 months | |
| 5 | Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin (born 1955) | 26 April 2012 | 2 December 2013 | 1 year, 7 months | |
| – | Colonel General Sergey Istrakov (born 1959) Acting | December 2013 | March 2014 | 2 months | |
| 6 | Army General Oleg Salyukov (born 1955) | 2 March 2014 | 15 May 2025 | 11 years, 2 months | |
| 7 | Colonel General Andrey Mordvichev (born 1976) | 15 May 2025 | 3 months |
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![Sergey Istrakov [ru]](./_assets_/Sergey_Istrakov_(2017).jpg)
Deputies and chiefs of staff
First deputy commanders
- Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief
- Aleksandr Grinkevich (1981–1990)
- Mikhail Kolesnikov (1990–1991)[2]
- Boris Gromov (1991–1992)
- Yuri Bukreyev (1992–1994)
- Eduard Vorobyov (1994–1995)
- Anatoly Golovnyov (1995–1998)
- Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate
- Nikolai Rogozhkin (1998)
- Gennady Kotenko (1998–2001)[3]
- Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief
- Aleksandr Morozov (2001–2008)[4]
- Nikolai Bogdanovsky (2008–2009)[5]
- Sergey Skokov (2009–2011)
- unknown
- Sergey Istrakov (2013–2015)
- Aleksey Dyumin (2015)
- Vladimir Popov (2016–2018)
- Vasily Tonkoshkurov (2018–2022)
- Alexei Kim (2022–2023)
- Aleksandr Lapin (2023–2024)
- Rustam Muradov (2024–present)
Deputy commanders
- Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces
- unknown
- Vladimir Moltenskoy (2002–2003)[6][7]
- Vladimir Bulgakov (2003–2006)
- Valery Yevnevich (2006–2009)
- Aleksandr Studenikin (2009–2010)
- unknown
- Alexander Lentsov (2013–2020)
- Aleksandr Matovnikov (2020–present)
Notes
- ^ Died in a plane crash.
References
- ^ "Генерал-полковник Мордвичев назначен главнокомандующим Сухопутными войсками ВС РФ". Izvestia (in Russian). 15 May 2025.
- ^ Колесников Михаил Петрович (in Russian). MGIMO Center of Military-Political Studies.
- ^ Котенко Геннадий (in Russian). MGIMO Center of Military-Political Studies.
- ^ Поручено Сухопутным войскам... (in Russian). 28 December 2001. Krasnaya Zvezda.
- ^ Назначен новый начальник главного штаба Сухопутных войск (in Russian). 11 January 2008. RBK.
- ^ Молтенской сдает командование ОГВ и переходит в штаб Квашнина (in Russian). 25 September 2002. Lenta.ru.
- ^ Пути-дороги генерала Молтенского (in Russian). 5 August 2020. Rosniva.ru.
Further reading
- 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).
External links
Leadership of the Russian Ground Forces | ||
|---|---|---|
Chief of the Main Directorate (1998–2001) | | |
| Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate (1998–2001) | ||
| Deputy Commander-in-Chief |
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