He was appointed by president Vladimir Putin on 9 November 2012 replacing Nikolay Yegorovich 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 and Defense MinisterAndrey Belousov.[8]
Early life
Gerasimov was born in a working-class family in Kazan, Tatar ASSR on 8 September 1955.[9] 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 of Konstantin Simonov. After fourth grade Gerasimov's father sent his documents for admission to the Kazan Suvorov Military School, but that year the military school programs were reduced to two years' duration. Nonetheless, Gerasimov entered the military school as soon as he was able to four years later in 1971. Graduating from the Suvorov military school in 1973 with a gold medal, Gerasimov was admitted to the Kazan Higher Tank Command School for officer training.[10]
Rise to field army command
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 the 90th Guards Tank Division of the Northern Group of Forces.[10] Gerasimov rose to tank company commander and tank battalion chief of staff before being transferred to the 5th Combined Arms Army of the Far Eastern Military District in 1982. He served there as chief of staff of a tank battalion of the 185th Tank Regiment of the 29th Motor Rifle Division, and was promoted to command the tank battalion of the 231st Motor Rifle Regiment of the 40th Motor Rifle Division. Gerasimov was admitted to the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in 1984 for advanced officer training. Graduating with honors in 1987, he was posted to the Baltic Military District, serving as chief of staff of and then commanding the 228th Tank Regiment of the 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division. After being promoted to chief of staff of the division, Gerasimov took command of the 144th Guards,[11] supervising its withdrawal to Russia.[10]
Having demonstrated his command abilities in this, Gerasimov was selected to attend the Military 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 the 1st Guards Tank Army and then sent to take the same position with the 58th Combined Arms Army in 1998.[11] The title of Gerasimov's position was changed to army chief of staff and he served in this position while Vladimir Shamanov was army commander. Gerasimov took part in the Second Chechen War in this post, and when Shamanov left to begin his political career acted as army commander from late 2000.[10] He was confirmed in this position in February 2001 and remained in command until March 2003.[7] His involvement in the arrest of Yury Budanov led to praise from journalist Anna Politkovskaya.[6][7]
Senior postings
Gerasimov was promoted to chief of staff of the Far Eastern Military District in March 2003, and was appointed chief of the Main Combat Training and Service Directorate of the General Staff in April 2005. In 2006 he was sent back to the North Caucasus as chief of staff of the North Caucasus Military District, and in December 2006 appointed commander of the Leningrad Military District, a significant promotion. Gerasimov was transferred to command the Moscow Military District in 2009 and on 23 December 2010 appointed deputy chief of the General Staff.[7] He briefly commanded the Central Military District between April and November 2012. After the dismissal of Anatoly Serdyukov as defense minister, his successor Sergei Shoigu nominated Gerasimov to be the next Chief of the General Staff, replacing Nikolay Makarov. Putin approved Gerasimov's nomination on 9 November.[12][11]
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.[13] 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.[14][15][16]
Gerasimov with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, 9 November 2012General Gerasimov leading a Victory Day parade in Moscow in a ZiL 41044, May 2011
Staff appointment up to Crimea (2012–2020)
Gerasimov was appointed Chief of the General Staff following the dismissal of Defence Minister Anatoly 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 Minister Sergei Shoigu. It has been reported that Makarov resigned, but he was formally dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.[5][17][18][19]
Other changes were the dismissal of Alexander Sukhorukov from the position of First Deputy Defence Minister and his replacement by Colonel General Arkady Bakhin, formerly commander of the Western Military District. Aerospace Defence Forces commander Colonel General Oleg 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][17][18][19]
Gerasimov (right), Joseph Dunford (left) and Hulusi Akar (middle) at a meeting to discuss their nations’ operations in northern Syria, 6 March 2017Russian, Chinese and Mongolian troops and military equipment parade during the Vostok 2018 military exercises.Gerasimov and Mongolia's Chief of General Staff Ayushiin Ganbat, 16 August 2019Gerasimov with Shoigu, Putin and Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov at the Center-2019 military exercise
According to the Security 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 the Battle of Ilovaisk in 2014, where over 459 Ukrainian military personnel were killed and another 478 were injured.[2] On 15 September 2016, he and Turkish chief of staff General Hulusi Akar conducted a meeting on the future of Syria in the Ankara headquarters of the Turkish 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.[20] 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'".[21][22]
2022 invasion of Ukraine
On 9 December 2021, Gerasimov issued a warning to the Ukrainian government against attempting to settle the war in Donbas using force.[23] Gerasimov said that "information about Russia's alleged impending invasion of Ukraine is a lie."[24] 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."[25]
According to British author and policy analyst Anatol 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."[33]
On 27 April 2022, Ukrainian publication Defense Express claimed that Gerasimov arrived in Izium to personally command the Russian offensive in the region.[3] According to the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency, Gerasimov was wounded on 1 May 2022 near Izium.[34][35] 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.[36] The US reportedly prevented Ukraine from killing Gerasimov.[37]
Gerasimov discussed security issues with American counterpart General Mark Milley in a phone call on 19 May.[38]
In September 2022, Gerasimov, Sergei Shoigu and Vladimir Putin attended the Vostok-2022 [ru] military exercises in the Russian Far East.[39] Beyond Russian troops, the exercises also included military forces from China, India, Mongolia, Algeria and several post-Soviet states, among others.[40]
Commander of Special Military Operation in Ukraine
On 11 January 2023, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu appointed Gerasimov in place of Sergey Surovikin as overall commander of war against Ukraine. Surovikin will serve as Gerasimov's deputy.[41] His first notable battle order in the Ukrainian theatre was to deploy the Black Sea Fleet out of Port of Novorossiysk for parts unknown on 11 January.[42]
The UK 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."[43]
In April 2023 American military analyst Michael 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."[44]
In May 2023 Gerasimov and Shoigu were accused by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of incompetence.[45] On 5 May 2023, Prigozhin blamed them for "tens of thousands" of Wagner casualties, 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."[46]
Decommission as Commander in Ukraine
On 23 June 2023, Prigozhin launched a short-lived Wagner Group rebellion, marching towards Moscow from Rostov-on-Don.[47] On 8 July, milblogger Rybar reported that Gerasimov was replaced by Mikhail Teplinsky in command of the troops in Ukraine while remaining chief of the general staff.[48]
In July 2023, Major General Ivan Popov claimed that Gerasimov dismissed him because of his concerns about troops fighting without rest and criticism of Russian battlefield strategy.[49] Popov indirectly accused Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei 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."[50][51]
As of August 2023, U.S. officials estimated the total number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers killed or wounded during the Russian invasion of Ukraine to be nearly 500,000.[52]
In January 2024 Gerasimov was rumoured to have been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on Crimea. The head of defense intelligence in Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, could not confirm this event.[53] His re-appearance seven weeks later confirmed otherwise.[54]
In late May 2024 Gerasimov's deputy chief of the Russian General Staff Vadim Shamarin was arrested for corruption. This came after the arrest of Timur Ivanov shortly before the fifth inauguration of Vladimir Putin on 7 May and consequent shuffle of Shoigu, causing Newsweek to speculate on a purge in the military.[55]
Gerasimov was sanctioned by the British government in 2014.[59] In April 2014, Gerasimov was added to the list of persons against whom the European Union introduced sanctions "in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine".[60] In May 2014, Canada, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland added Gerasimov to their sanctions listed because of Russian interference in Ukraine and his responsibility for the massive Russian troop deployment next to the Russia–Ukraine border and his inability to reduce the tensions with Ukraine which are associated with these Russian troop deployments.[61] In September 2014, Australia placed Gerasimov on their Ukraine related sanctions list.[61]
^Roger McDermott, "Gerasimov Unveils Russia's 'Strategy of Limited Actions,'" Eurasia Daily Monitor 16, No. 31, Jamestown Foundation, March 6, 2019.
^Glen E. Howard and Matthew Czekaj, eds., Introduction of Russia's Military Strategy and Doctrine (Washington DC::Jamestown Foundation, 2019), pp. xiv-xv.
^Anna Borshchevskaya. Putin's War in Syria. IB Taurus Press. 2022.
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