Valery Gerasimov | |
|---|---|
Валерий Герасимов | |
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Chief of the General Staff | |
| Assumed office 9 November 2012 | |
| President | Vladimir Putin |
| Minister | Sergei Shoigu Andrey Belousov |
| Deputy | Nikolai Bogdanovsky |
| Preceded by | Nikolai Makarov |
| Commander of theCentral Military District | |
| In office 26 April – 8 November 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Vladimir Chirkin |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Dvornikov |
| First Deputy Chief of the General Staff | |
| In office 23 December 2010 – March 2012 | |
| Chief | Nikolai Makarov |
| Preceded by | Alexander Burutin |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished Nikolai Bogdanovsky(2014) |
| Commander of the Joint Group of Forces in theSpecial Military Operation zone | |
| Assumed office 11 January 2023 | |
| Deputy | Sergey Surovikin Oleg Salyukov Alexei Kim |
| Preceded by | Sergey Surovikin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-09-08)8 September 1955 (age 70) Kazan,Tatar ASSR, Soviet Union |
| Alma mater | General Staff Academy |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
|
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1977–present |
| Rank | General of the Army[1] |
| Commands | |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov[a][b] (born 8 September 1955) is a Russianarmy general serving as theChief of the General Staff of theRussian Armed Forces and First DeputyMinister of Defence.
He was appointed by presidentVladimir Putin on 9 November 2012, replacingNikolai Makarov,[5][6][7] and currently serves as the commander of all Russian forces in Ukraine. He is considered one of the most powerful men in Russia, and one of three people to hold access to Russia's nuclear weapons, alongside Putin andDefense MinisterAndrey Belousov.[8] Gerasimov has been described as a loyal follower of Putin.[9][10] He is reportedly the one who conceived theGerasimov Doctrine.[11]
In 2024, theInternational Criminal Court issued anarrest warrant for Gerasimov on charges ofwar crimes for his role in theRussian invasion of Ukraine.
Gerasimov was born in a working-class family inKazan,Tatar ASSR on 8 September 1955.[12] Interested in the army from a young age, Gerasimov grew up on the stories of his veteran uncle, a former tank company commander, and avidly read the books ofKonstantin Simonov. After fourth grade Gerasimov's father sent his documents for admission to theKazan Suvorov Military School, but that year the military school programs were reduced to two years' duration. Nonetheless, Gerasimov entered the military school four years later in 1971. Graduating from the Suvorov military school in 1973 with a gold medal, Gerasimov was admitted to theKazan Higher Tank Command School for officer training.[13]
Having graduated from the four-year school with honors in 1977, he began his service in Poland as a tank platoon commander in the 80th Tank Regiment of the90th Guards Tank Division of theNorthern Group of Forces.[13] Gerasimov rose to tank company commander and tank battalion chief of staff before being transferred to the5th Combined Arms Army of theFar Eastern Military District in 1982. He served there as chief of staff of a tank battalion of the 185th Tank Regiment of the29th Motor Rifle Division, and was promoted to command the tank battalion of the 231st Motor Rifle Regiment of the40th Motor Rifle Division. Gerasimov was admitted to theMalinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in 1984 for advanced officer training. Graduating with honors in 1987, he was posted to theBaltic Military District, serving as chief of staff of and then commanding the 228th Tank Regiment of the144th Guards Motor Rifle Division. After being promoted to chief of staff of the division, Gerasimov took command of the 144th Guards,[14] supervising its withdrawal to Russia.[13]
Having demonstrated his command abilities in this, Gerasimov was selected to attend theMilitary Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia in 1995.[7] Graduating with honors in 1997, he was appointed first deputy commander of the1st Guards Tank Army and then sent to take the same position with the58th Combined Arms Army in 1998.[14] The title of Gerasimov's position was changed to army chief of staff and he served in this position whileVladimir Shamanov was army commander. Gerasimov took part in theSecond Chechen War in this post, and when Shamanov left to begin his political career acted as army commander from late 2000.[13] He was confirmed in this position in February 2001 and remained in command until March 2003.[7] His involvement in the arrest ofYury Budanov led to praise from journalistAnna Politkovskaya.[6][7]
Gerasimov was promoted to chief of staff of theFar Eastern Military District in March 2003, and was appointed chief of the Main Combat Training and Service Directorate of theGeneral Staff in April 2005. In 2006 he was sent back to the North Caucasus as chief of staff of theNorth Caucasus Military District, and in December 2006 appointed commander of theLeningrad Military District, a significant promotion. Gerasimov was transferred to command theMoscow Military District in 2009 and on 23 December 2010 appointed deputy chief of the General Staff.[7] He briefly commanded theCentral Military District between April and November 2012. After the dismissal ofAnatoly Serdyukov as defense minister, his successorSergei Shoigu nominated Gerasimov to be the next Chief of the General Staff, replacingNikolay Makarov. Putin approved Gerasimov's nomination on 9 November.[15][14]
He commanded the annualVictory Day Parade onRed Square four times from 2009 to 2012.[6]
Gerasimov was alleged to have conceived the "Gerasimov doctrine" – combining military, technological, information, diplomatic, economic, cultural and other tactics for the purpose of achieving strategic goals.[11] The author of the original paper,Mark Galeotti, claimed it was a speech which, due to translation errors, was misinterpreted in the American press as a belligerent, rather than defensive strategic proposal.[16][17][18]
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Gerasimov was appointedChief of the General Staff following the dismissal of Defence MinisterAnatoly Serdyukov on 6 November 2012.[citation needed] The previous Chief of General Staff, Army General Nikolay Makarov, was seen as close to Serduykov and was seen by commentators as likely to be replaced by new Defence MinisterSergei Shoigu. It has been reported that Makarov resigned, but he was formally dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.[5][19][20][21]
Other changes were the dismissal of Alexander Sukhorukov from the position of First Deputy Defence Minister and his replacement by Colonel GeneralArkady Bakhin, formerly commander of theWestern Military District.Aerospace Defence Forces commander Colonel GeneralOleg Ostapenko was also promoted to Deputy Defence Minister. He was promoted to the highest rank in the Russian Army, General of the Army, as of 2014.[5][19][20][21]
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According to theSecurity Service of Ukraine, Gerasimov was the general commander of all elements of Russian forces and the pro-Russian insurgents during their decisive strategic victory in theBattle of Ilovaisk in 2014, where over 459 Ukrainian military personnel were killed and another 478 were injured.[2] On 15 September 2016, he andTurkish chief of staff GeneralHulusi Akar conducted a meeting on the future of Syria in theAnkara headquarters of theTurkish Armed Forces.
As reported in her book on Gerasimov regarding his 2019 involvement with Syria, Anna Borshchevskaya wrote:
By March 2019, Valeriy Gerasimov announced that Moscow had been pursuing a strategy of 'limited action' in Syria, and one that it hopes will guide future military action.[22] By that point it was a description of actions that had already taken place in the previous years, and more to the point, this strategy reflected a return to Soviet and tsarist methods of 'limited wars'".[23][24]
On 9 December 2021, Gerasimov issued a warning to the Ukrainian government against attempting to settle thewar in Donbas using force.[25] Gerasimov said that "information about Russia's alleged impending invasion of Ukraine is a lie."[26] According to Gerasimov, "Kyiv is not fulfilling the Minsk Agreements. The Ukrainian armed forces are touting that they have started to employ US-supplied Javelin anti-tank missile systems in Donbas and are also using Turkish reconnaissance/strike drones. As a result, the already tense situation in the east of that country is further deteriorating."[27]
In 2021, Gerasimov explained his doctrine to theFinancial Times.[28] On 23 December 2021, he discussed regional security issues with his British counterpart Admiral SirTony Radakin,Chief of the Defence Staff.[29]
On 11 February 2022, Gerasimov met with Tony Radakin and denied that Russia wasplanning to invade Ukraine.[30]
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Gerasimov was involved in the planning of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[31][32] The sources say the decision to invade Ukraine was made by Vladimir Putin and a small group ofwar hawks around him, including Gerasimov, Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Putin's national security adviserNikolai Patrushev.[33] During the invasion,The Moscow Times considered Gerasimov to have disappeared from public view since around 12 March 2022, when he talked with theChief of the Turkish General Staff, and 4 March, when he talked withFrench Chief of the Defence StaffThierry Burkhard. Other seniorsiloviki (key Russian security officials), including Sergei Shoigu,Igor Kostyukov andAlexander Bortnikov, disappeared around the same time.[34]
According to British author and policy analystAnatol Lieven, "Not only did Shoigu and Gerasimov plan and conduct the invasion of Ukraine with monstrous incompetence, recklessness and indifference to civilian deaths and suffering, but since they have both held their present positions since 2012, they bear direct personal responsibility for the logistical chaos, lack of coordination, and generally lamentable condition of the Russian armed forces."[35]
On 27 April 2022, Ukrainian publicationDefense Express claimed that Gerasimov arrived inIzium to personally command the Russian offensive in the region.[3] According to theUkrainian Independent Information Agency, Gerasimov was wounded on 1 May 2022 near Izium.[36][37] Two US officials confirmed Gerasimov had been in the region but a Ukrainian official denied Ukraine was specifically targeting Gerasimov and said that when the command post was attacked, Gerasimov had already set off to return to Russia.[38] The US reportedly prevented Ukraine from killing Gerasimov.[39]
Gerasimov discussed security issues with American counterpart GeneralMark Milley in a phone call on 19 May.[40]
In September 2022, Gerasimov, Sergei Shoigu and Vladimir Putin attended theVostok 2022 military exercises in the Russian Far East.[41] Beyond Russian troops, the exercises also included military forces fromChina,India,Mongolia,Algeria and severalpost-Soviet states, among others.[42]
On 11 January 2023, Russian Defence MinisterSergei Shoigu appointed Gerasimov in place ofSergey Surovikin as overall commander of war against Ukraine. Surovikin will serve as Gerasimov's deputy.[43] His first notable battle order in the Ukrainian theatre was to deploy theBlack Sea Fleet out ofPort of Novorossiysk for parts unknown on 11 January.[44]
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TheUK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update that Gerasimov has been "attempting to clamp down on non-regulation uniform, travel in civilian vehicles, the use of mobile phones, and non-standard haircuts. The Russian force continues to endure operational deadlock and heavy casualties; Gerasimov's prioritization of largely minor regulations is likely to confirm the fears of his many skeptics in Russia."[45]
In April 2023, American military analystMichael Kofman said that Gerasimov is "exhausting the force with an ill-timed, feckless set of offensive operations, whose gains will not change the strategic picture for Russia, but could leave Russian forces more vulnerable."[46]
In May 2023, Gerasimov and Shoigu were accused byWagner Group chiefYevgeny Prigozhin of incompetence.[47] On 5 May 2023, Prigozhin blamed them for "tens of thousands" of Wagnercasualties, saying "Shoigu, Gerasimov, where … is the ammunition? They came here as volunteers and are dying so you can sit like fat cats in your luxury offices."[48]
On 23 June 2023, Prigozhin launched a short-livedWagner Group rebellion, marching towardsMoscow fromRostov-on-Don.[49] On 8 July, milblogger Rybar reported that Gerasimov was replaced byMikhail Teplinsky in command of the troops in Ukraine while remaining chief of the general staff.[50]
In July 2023, Major GeneralIvan Popov claimed that Gerasimov dismissed him because of his concerns about troops fighting without rest and criticism of Russian battlefield strategy.[51] Popov indirectly accused Gerasimov and Defense MinisterSergei Shoigu of betraying Russian soldiers on the battlefield by failing to provide sufficient support and raised questions about "the lack of counter-battery combat, the absence of artillery reconnaissance stations and the mass deaths and injuries of [Russian soldiers] from enemy artillery."[52][53]
As of August 2023, U.S. officials estimated the total number of Russian and Ukrainian soldierskilled or wounded during the Russian invasion of Ukraine to be nearly 500,000.[54]
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In late May 2024, Gerasimov's Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff, Lieutenant GeneralVadim Shamarin was arrested for corruption. This came after the arrest ofTimur Ivanov shortly before thefifth inauguration of Vladimir Putin on 7 May and consequent shuffle of Shoigu, causingNewsweek to speculate on a purge in the military.[55]
On 25 June 2024, theInternational Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Gerasimov, on charges of allegedwar crimes formissile strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.[56][57]
According toNATO and Western military officials, about 1,200 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in Ukraine every day on average in May and June 2024, mainly due to the use ofSoviet tactics ofhuman wave attacks.[58][59] In June 2024, it was estimated that approximately 2% of all Russian men between the ages of 20 and 50 may have been killed or seriously wounded in Ukraine since February 2022.[60]
Gerasimov reportedly ignored intelligence warnings that Ukrainian troops were massing near theRussia–Ukraine border ahead of a cross-borderincursion into the Kursk region.[61] On 7 August 2024, Gerasimov told Putin that about 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers took part in the attack and that their advance in the Kursk Oblast had been halted.[62] According to a Western official, about 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded daily in the fighting in Kursk and Donbas in August 2024.[63]
Gerasimov is married and has a son.[66]
Gerasimov was sanctioned by the British government in 2014.[67] In April 2014, Gerasimov was added to the list of persons against whom theEuropean Union introducedsanctions "in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine".[68] In May 2014, Canada,Liechtenstein, and Switzerland added Gerasimov to their sanctions listed because ofRussian interference in Ukraine and his responsibility for the massive Russian troop deployment next to theRussia–Ukraine border and his inability to reduce the tensions with Ukraine which are associated with these Russian troop deployments.[69] In September 2014, Australia placed Gerasimov on their Ukraine related sanctions list.[69]
On 25 February 2022, the United States added Gerasimov to theSpecially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[70]
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces 2012–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Commander of theCentral Military District 2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces 2010–2012 | Vacant Title next held by Nikolai Bogdanovsky |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
