Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces

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 of	General Staff of the Armed Forces
Reports to	Chief of the General Staff
Appointer	President of Russia
Formation	4 September 1941 (historical) 7 May 1992 (current form)

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.

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.^[1][2] 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.^[3]

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the modern Russian Airborne Forces were officially established on 7 May 1992 by presidential decree No. 466.^[4]

In 1998 the Directorate of the Commander of the Airborne Forces was reorganized into the Airborne Forces Command.^[2]

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 1944	June 1943	~1 year, 270 days	[5]
2		Major General Alexander Kapitokhin (1892–1958)	June 1943	August 1944	~1 year, 61 days	[5]
3		Lieutenant General Ivan Zatevakhin (1901–1957)	August 1944	April 1946	~1 year, 243 days	[5]
4		Lieutenant General Vasily Glagolev (1898–1947)	10 June 1946	21 September 1947	1 year, 103 days	[5]
5		Lieutenant General Alexander Kazankin (1900–1955)	October 1947	December 1948	~1 year, 61 days	[5]
6		Colonel General Sergei Rudenko (1904–1990)	December 1948	September 1949	~274 days	[5]
(5)		Lieutenant General Alexander Kazankin (1900–1955)	January 1950	March 1950	~59 days	[5]
7		Colonel General Alexander Gorbatov (1891–1973)	March 1950	May 1954	~4 years, 61 days	[5]
8		Colonel General Vasily Margelov (1908–1990)	June 1954	March 1959	~4 years, 273 days	[5]
9		Colonel General Ivan Tutarinov (1904–1978)	March 1959	July 1961	~2 years, 122 days	[5]
(8)		Army General Vasily Margelov (1908–1990)	July 1961	January 1979	~17 years, 184 days	[5]
10		Army General Dmitri Sukhorukov (1922–2003)	January 1979	June 1987	~8 years, 151 days	[5]
11		Colonel General Nikolai Kalinin (1937–2008)	August 1987	January 1989	~1 year, 153 days	[5]
12		Colonel General Vladislav Achalov (1945–2011)	January 1989	December 1990	~1 year, 334 days	[5]
13		Colonel General Pavel Grachev (1948–2012)	December 1990	31 August 1991	~243 days	[5]
14		Colonel General Yevgeny Podkolzin (1936–2003)	31 August 1991	4 December 1996	5 years, 95 days	[5][6]
15		Colonel General Georgy Shpak (born 1943)	4 December 1996	10 September 2003	6 years, 280 days	[5]
16		Colonel General Alexander Kolmakov (born 1955)	10 September 2003	19 November 2007	4 years, 70 days	[5]
17		Lieutenant General Valery Yevtukhovich (born 1954)	19 November 2007	6 May 2009	1 year, 168 days	[5]
–		Lieutenant General Nikolai Ignatov (born 1956) Acting	6 May 2009	24 May 2009	18 days	[7]
18		Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov (born 1957)	24 May 2009	5 October 2016	7 years, 134 days	[5]
19		Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov (born 1962)	5 October 2016	16 June 2022	5 years, 254 days	[5]
20		Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky (born 1969)	16 June 2022		2 years, 183 days	[5]

Deputies and chiefs of staff

Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander

• Nikolai Staskov (1998–2005)
• Valery Yevtukhovich (2005–2007)
• Nikolai Ignatov (2007–2019)
• 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)^[8]
• Post abolished (1997–1998)^[9]

Chief of Staff

• Yevgeny Podkolzin (1986–1991)
• Valery Belayev (1991–1998)^[10][11]

References

1. Drapeko, Valery Alexeyevich (4 October 2023). "Воздушно-десантные войска" [Airborne Forces]. Great Russian Encyclopedia (in Russian).
2. "Командование Воздушно-десантных войск" [Airborne Forces Command] (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Defense. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
3. McNab, Chris (2019). The Great Bear at War: The Russian and Soviet Army, 1917-present. Osprey Publishing. pp. 187–189. ISBN 978-1-4728-3652-6.
4. Elfving, Jörgen (April 2021). "An Assessment of the Russian Airborne Troops and Their Role on Tomorrow's Battlefield" (PDF). Jamestown Foundation.
5. "Командующие ВДВ" [Commanders of the VDV] (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Defense. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023.
6. "JPRS Report - Soviet Union Military Affairs" (PDF). 16 October 1991. p. 18.
7. "Командующий ВДВ уволен с военной службы" [Commander of the VDV dismissed from military service]. RBK Group (in Russian). 6 May 2009.
8. "Чиндаров Александр Алексеевич" [Chindarov Alexander Alekseyevich].
9. Bulavinov, Ilya (18 December 1997). "Борис Ельцин избавился от генералов-скандалистов" [Boris Yeltsin removes scandalous generals]. Kommersant.
10. "Бывший начальник штаба ВДВ России застрелился из именного пистолета" [Former Russian VDV chief of staff shot himself with his own pistol]. Lenta.ru. 28 July 2003.
11. "Герой ангольской войны застрелился из именного пистолета" [Hero of the Angolan war shot himself with his own pistol]. Kommersant. 29 July 2003.