Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces

The Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces (Russian: Командующий воздушно-десантными войсками России) is a general officer position that is tasked with leading the Russian Airborne Forces. The office is part of the Airborne Forces Command and reports to the Chief of the General Staff.

Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces
Командующий воздушно-десантными войсками России
Flag of the Commander of the Russian Airborne
Incumbent
Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky
since 16 June 2022
Russian Airborne Forces
Airborne Forces Command
Member ofGeneral Staff of the Armed Forces
Reports toChief of the General Staff
AppointerPresident of Russia
Formation4 September 1941 (historical)
7 May 1992 (current form)

History

On 4 September 1941 the Directorate of the Commander of the Airborne Forces (VDV) of the Red Army was established. All of the Soviet airborne corps were transferred from the front commanders of the Red Army to be subordinated to the new organization, led by the Commander of the Airborne Forces. In October 1944 it was transferred from the Red Army to the Soviet Air Forces. In 1946 the VDV was placed under the direct command of the Ministry of Defense, then became part of the Soviet Ground Forces in 1956, before once again being made a separate combat arm in 1964.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the modern Russian Airborne Forces were officially established on 7 May 1992 by presidential decree No. 466.

In 1998 the Directorate of the Commander of the Airborne Forces was reorganized into the Airborne Forces Command.

List of commanders

No. Portrait Commander of the Airborne Forces Took office Left office Time in office Reference
1
Lieutenant General
Vasily Glazunov
(1896–1967)
4 September 1944June 1943~1 year, 270 days
2
Major General
Alexander Kapitokhin
(1892–1958)
June 1943August 1944~1 year, 61 days
3
Lieutenant General
Ivan Zatevakhin
(1901–1957)
August 1944April 1946~1 year, 243 days
4
Lieutenant General
Vasily Glagolev
(1898–1947)
10 June 194621 September 19471 year, 103 days
5
Lieutenant General
Alexander Kazankin
(1900–1955)
October 1947December 1948~1 year, 61 days
6
Colonel General
Sergei Rudenko
(1904–1990)
December 1948September 1949~274 days
(5)
Lieutenant General
Alexander Kazankin
(1900–1955)
January 1950March 1950~59 days
7
Colonel General
Alexander Gorbatov
(1891–1973)
March 1950May 1954~4 years, 61 days
8
Colonel General
Vasily Margelov
(1908–1990)
June 1954March 1959~4 years, 273 days
9
Colonel General
Ivan Tutarinov
(1904–1978)
March 1959July 1961~2 years, 122 days
(8)
Army General
Vasily Margelov
(1908–1990)
July 1961January 1979~17 years, 184 days
10
Army General
Dmitri Sukhorukov
(1922–2003)
January 1979June 1987~8 years, 151 days
11
Colonel General
Nikolai Kalinin
(1937–2008)
August 1987January 1989~1 year, 153 days
12
Colonel General
Vladislav Achalov
(1945–2011)
January 1989December 1990~1 year, 334 days
13
Colonel General
Pavel Grachev
(1948–2012)
December 199031 August 1991~243 days
14
Colonel General
Yevgeny Podkolzin
(1936–2003)
31 August 19914 December 19965 years, 95 days
15
Colonel General
Georgy Shpak
(born 1943)
4 December 199610 September 20036 years, 280 days
16
Colonel General
Alexander Kolmakov
(born 1955)
10 September 200319 November 20074 years, 70 days
17
Lieutenant General
Valery Yevtukhovich
(born 1954)
19 November 20076 May 20091 year, 168 days
Lieutenant General
Nikolai Ignatov
(born 1956)
Acting
6 May 200924 May 200918 days
18
Colonel General
Vladimir Shamanov
(born 1957)
24 May 20095 October 20167 years, 134 days
19
Colonel General
Andrey Serdyukov
(born 1962)
5 October 201616 June 20225 years, 254 days
20
Colonel General
Mikhail Teplinsky
(born 1969)
16 June 20223 years, 185 days

Deputies and chiefs of staff

First deputy commanders

Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander
  • Nikolai Staskov (1998–2005)
  • Valery Yevtukhovich (2005–2007)
  • Nikolai Ignatov (2008–2019)
  • Yevgeny Ustinov (2019–2022)
  • Anatoly Kontsevoy (2022–present)
First Deputy Commander
  • Vasily Margelov (1959–1961)
  • Dmitri Sukhorukov (1969–1971)
  • Pavel Grachev (1990–1991)
  • Osvaldas Pikauskas (1991–1995)
  • Alexander Chindarov (1995–1997)
  • Post abolished (1997–1998)
Chief of Staff
  • Yevgeny Podkolzin (1986–1991)
  • Valery Belyayev (1991–1998)

Deputy commanders

Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces
  • Valery Yevtukhovich (2000–2005)
  • Nikolai Ignatov (2005–2008)
  • Yevgeny Ustinov (2008–2009)
  • Alexander Lentsov (2009–2013)
  • Andrei Kholzakov (2013–2019)
  • Anatoly Kontsevoy (2019–2022)
  • Alexey Naumets (2022–2023)
  • Nikolai Choban (2023?–present)
Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Combat Training
  • Alexander Lebed (1991–1992)
  • Alexey Sigutkin ( –2000)
  • Vladimir Oparin (2000–2002)
  • Gevork Isakhanyan (2002–2006)
  • Nikolai Belyayev (2008–2010)
  • Sergey Volyk (2016–present)
Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Airborne Training
  • Vyacheslav Borisov (2002–2009)
  • Andrei Kholzakov (2009–2013)
  • Alexey Ragozin (2013–2015)
  • Vladimir Kochetkov (2015–2020)
  • Aleksandr Vyaznikov (2020–present)
Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for Peacekeeping
  • Nikolai Staskov (1993–1997)
  • Vladimir Kazantsev (1997–2000)
  • Aleksandr Popov (2000–2001)
  • Andrei Kholzakov (2019–present)

wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, What is Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces? What does Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces mean?