Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces

The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Главнокомандующий Сухопутными войсками России) is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Ground Forces. He is appointed by the President of Russia. The position dates to the period of the Russian Empire. The current Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces is Army General Oleg Salyukov, in office since May 2014.

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces
Главнокомандующий Сухопутными войсками России
Flag of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces
Incumbent Army General Oleg Salyukov since May 2014
Russian Ground Forces
Member of	General Staff of the Armed Forces
Reports to	Chief of the General Staff
Appointer	President of Russia
Formation	9 August 1812 (historical) 10 June 1992 (current form)
Deputy	Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief
Website	Official website

From 1998 to 2001 the position was briefly called the Chief of the Main Directorate of the Ground Forces.

List of Commanders

† denotes people who died in office.

Red Army (1918–1946)

Commander-in-Chief

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Vācietis, JukumsKomandarm 2nd rank Jukums Vācietis (1873–1938)	6 September 1918	8 July 1919	305 days
2		Kamenev, SergeiKomandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936)	8 July 1919	28 April 1924	4 years, 295 days

Chief of Staff

No.	Portrait	Chief of the Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Frunze, MikhailMajor General Mikhail Frunze (1885–1925)	April 1924	January 1925	9 months
2		Kamenev, SergeiKomandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936)	January 1925	November 1925	10 months
3		Tukhachevsky, MikhailMarshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937)	November 1925	May 1928	2 years, 6 months
4		Shaposhnikov, BorisKomandarm 1st rank Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945)	May 1928	April 1931	2 years, 11 months
5		Triandafillov, VladimirGeneral Vladimir Triandafillov (1894–1931) [a]	May 1931	12 July 1931 †	2 months
6		Yegorov, Alexander IlyichMarshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Ilyich Yegorov (1883–1939)	July 1931	September 1935	4 years, 2 months

Chief of the General Staff

No.	Portrait	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Yegorov, Alexander IlyichMarshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Ilyich Yegorov (1883–1939)	September 1935	10 May 1937	1 year, 8 months
2		Shaposhnikov, BorisMarshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945)	10 May 1937	August 1940	3 years, 2 months
3		Shaposhnikov, BorisArmy General Kirill Meretskov (1897–1968)	August 1940	January 1941	5 months
4		Zhukov, GeorgyArmy General Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974)	February 1941	29 July 1941	5 months
(2)		Shaposhnikov, BorisMarshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945)	29 July 1941	11 May 1942	286 days
5		Vasilevsky, AleksandrMarshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977)	26 June 1942	February 1945	2 years, 7 months
6		Antonov, AlekseiArmy General Aleksei Antonov (1896–1962)	February 1945	22 March 1946	1 year, 1 month

Soviet Ground Forces (1946–1992)

Commander-in-Chief

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Zhukov, GeorgyMarshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974)	March 1946	9 June 1946	5 months
2		Konev, IvanMarshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev (1897–1973)	1946	1950	3–4 years
Position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1950–55
2		Konev, IvanMarshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev (1897–1973)	1955	1956	0–1 years
3		Malinovsky, RodionMarshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky (1898–1967)	March 1956	26 October 1957	1 year
4		Grechko, AndreiMarshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko (1903–1976)	1957	1960	2–3 years
5		Chuikov, VasilyMarshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Chuikov (1900–1982)	1960	1964	3–4 years
Position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1964–67
6		Pavlovsky, IvanArmy General Ivan Pavlovsky (1909–1999)	November 1967	1979	11–12 years
7		Petrov, VasiliyMarshal of the Soviet Union Vasiliy Petrov (1917–2014)	1980	January 1985	4–5 years
8		Ivanovski, YevgeniArmy General Yevgeni Ivanovski (1918–1991)	5 February 1985	January 1989	3 years
9		Varennikov, ValentinArmy General Valentin Varennikov (1923–2009)	5 January 1989	22 August 1991	2 years
–		Kolesnikov, MikhailColonel General Mikhail Kolesnikov (1939–2007) Acting	22 August 1991	31 August 1991	0 years
10		Semyonov, VladimirColonel General Vladimir Semyonov (born 1940)	31 August 1991	August 1992	0 years

Russian Ground Forces (1992–present)

Commander-in-Chief

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Semyonov, VladimirArmy General Vladimir Semyonov (born 1940)	August 1992	April 1997	4 years, 8 months

Chief of the Main Directorate

No.	Portrait	Chief of the Main Directorate	Took office	Left office	Time in office
–		Bukreyev, YuriColonel General Yuri Bukreyev (born 1941) Acting	January 1998	9 May 1998	4 months
1		Bukreyev, YuriColonel general Yuri Bukreyev (born 1941)	9 May 1998	March 2001	2 years, 9 months

Commander-in-Chief

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Kormiltsev, NikolaiArmy General Nikolai Kormiltsev (born 1946)	28 March 2001	October 2004	3 years, 6 months
2		Maslov, AlexeyArmy General Aleksei Maslov (1953–2022)	5 November 2004	31 July 2008	3 years, 8 months
3		Bondyrev, VladimirArmy General Vladimir Boldyrev (born 1953)	31 July 2008	January 2010	1 year, 5 months
4		Postnikov, AlexanderColonel General Aleksandr Postnikov-Streltsov (born 1953)	11 January 2010	26 April 2012	2 years, 3 months
5		Chirkin, VladimirColonel General Vladimir Chirkin (born 1955)	26 April 2012	2 December 2013	1 year, 7 months
–		Istrakov, SergeyColonel General Sergey Istrakov [ru] (born 1959) Acting	December 2013	March 2014	2 months
6		Salyukov, OlegArmy General Oleg Salyukov (born 1955)	2 March 2014	Incumbent	11 years, 1 month

Deputies and chiefs of staff

First deputy commanders

Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief

• Aleksandr Grinkevich (1981–1990)
• Mikhail Kolesnikov (1990–1991)^[1]
• Boris Gromov (1991–1992)
• Yuri Bukreyev (1992–1994)
• Eduard Vorobyov (1994–1995)
• Anatoly Golovnyov (1995–1998)

Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate

• Nikolai Rogozhkin (1998)
• Gennady Kotenko (1998–2001)^[2]

Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief

• Aleksandr Morozov (2001–2008)^[3]
• Nikolai Bogdanovsky (2008–2009)^[4]
• Sergey Skokov (2009–2011)
• unknown
• Sergey Istrakov (2013–2015)
• Aleksey Dyumin (2015)
• Vladimir Popov (2016–2018)
• Vasily Tonkoshkurov (2018–2022)
• Alexei Kim (2022–2023)
• Aleksandr Lapin (2023–2024)
• Rustam Muradov (2024–present)

Deputy commanders

Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces

• unknown
• Vladimir Moltenskoy (2002–2003)^[5][6]
• Vladimir Bulgakov (2003–2006)
• Valery Yevnevich (2006–2009)
• Aleksandr Studenikin (2009–2010)
• unknown
• Alexander Lentsov (2013–2020)
• Aleksandr Matovnikov (2020–present)

Notes

1. Died in a plane crash.