RIAU24.COM - Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov was appointed as the new commander of the Russian troops in "special military operations" in Ukraine. His position was confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

Gerasimov's election was part of a large-scale replacement that Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made in resuming operations in Ukraine already entering its eleventh month.

ZXC1

In addition to Gerasimov, there were several deputies appointed to serve in Ukraine, including General Sergey Surovikin, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force; General Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Army; and Colonel General Alexei Kim, deputy chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces.

Their appointment came amid reports of a change in Russia's military hierarchy, which also involved Colonel General Alexander Lapin as head of the country's ground forces.

Meanwhile, Surovikin was appointed one of Gerasimov's deputies, having previously commanded Russian forces in a "special military operation" in Ukraine last October.

"The increase in the level of leadership of special military operations related to the expansion of duties, the need for closer cooperation between the service and branches of the armed forces, as well as the improvement of the quality of all types of maintenance and efficiency to lead groups of troops," the Russian Ministry of Defense said, launching from the Anadolu Agency website, not long ago.

Who is Gerasimov?

Gerasimov was born in the city of Kazan in 1955 to a working-class family in the then Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, about 800 kilometers east of Moscow. He grew up with a military background.

After graduating from the Kazan Suvorov Military School with honors in 1973, Gerasimov attended the Kazan High Tank Command School.

He then attended the Malinovsky Military Armed Services Academy between 1984 and 1987, and thereafter continued training at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and graduated in 1997.

During the period, Gerasimov led troops in the Far Eastern Military District of Russia and the Baltic Military District.

From 1993 to 1995, he was a motorized division commander in the Baltic Military District and later in the Northwest Group of Forces.

Between 1997 and 2010, Gerasimov served as Deputy Commander of the First Army in the Moscow Military District, Commander of the 58th Army in the North Caucasus, as well as commander of the Leningrad and Moscow military districts.

In December 2010, he was appointed deputy chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces.

In less than two years, Gerasimov was appointed chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces by President Vladimir Putin in November 2012, simultaneously with the appointment of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to his current position. In the same year, he became a member of the Russian Security Council.

Since then, Gerasimov has been active in Russian military efforts, especially in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas region in 2014.

In this context, Gerasimov is said to be involved in tensions in the region, which made him on a long list of EU sanctions against senior Russian officials in April 2014.

The day after the start of Russia's "special military operations" in February 2022, Gerasimov added the US to the List of Specially Designated Citizens and Blocked Persons.

ZXC2

Awards and achievements

In 2016, Putin awarded Gerasimov the highest honorary title in Russia - Hero of the Russian Federation. Gerasimov and Deputy Minister of Defense Dmitry Bulgakov became the highest-ranking military men who were awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation by Putin for their operations in Syria.

Other major titles Gerasimov received included the Order of St. George (3rd Grade and 4th Class in 2015 and 2017), the Order of Merit to the Fatherland (3rd and 4th Grades in 2002 and 2014, respectively), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (in 2021), as well as the Order of Military Merit and the Order of Honor.

(***)