Chief of the General Staff (Russia)

The Chief of the General Staff (Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба / Nachal'nik General'nogo shtaba) is the chief of staff of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He is appointed by the President of Russia, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The position dates to the period of the Russian Empire. The current Chief of the General Staff is Valery Gerasimov.

List of chiefs of the general staff

Directors of the Inspection Department of the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire (1812–1815)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Pavel Gagarin		1777–1850	General-Adjutant	9 August 1812	13 December 1814
2	Andrey Kleinmikhel		1757–1815	Lt. General	13 December 1814	25 June 1815

Chiefs of the Main Staff of the Imperial Russian Army (1866–1905)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Frederick Heiden		1821–1900	General-Adjutant Lt. General	1 January 1866	22 May 1881
2	Nikolai Obruchev		1830–1904	Lt. General General of the Infantry	10 June 1881	31 December 1897
3	Viktor Sakharov		1848–1905	Lt. General	20 January 1898	11 March 1904
4	Pyotr Frolov		1852–?	Lt. General	11 March 1904	28 June 1905

Chiefs of the General Directorate of the General Staff of the Imperial Russian Army (1905–1918)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Fedor Palitsin		1851–1923	General of the Cavalry	28 June 1905	2 December 1908
2	Vladimir Sukhomlinov		1848–1926	General of the Cavalry	2 December 1908	11 March 1909
3	Aleksander Myshlayevsky		1856–1920	General of the Infantry	11 March 1909	September 1909
4	Evgeny Gerngross		1855–1912	Lt. General	September 1909	22 February 1911
5	Yakov Zhilinskiy		1853–1918	General of the Cavalry	22 February 1911	4 March 1914
6	Nikolai Yanushkevich		1868–1918	Major General	5 March 1914	1 August 1914
7	Mikhail Belaev		1863–1918	Major General	1 August 1914	10 August 1916
8	Pyotr Averyanov		1867–1937	Lt. General	10 August 1916	15 May 1917
9	Ivan Romanovskii		1877–1920	Lt. General	18 July 1917	26 September 1917
10	Vladimir Marushevskii		1874–1952	Major General	26 September 1917	23 November 1917
11	Nikolai Potapov		1871–1946	Major General	23 November 1917	May 1918

Chiefs of the All-Russian Main Staff of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (1918–1921)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Nikolai Stogov		1873–1959		8 May 1918	2 August 1919
2	Alexander Andreyevich Svechin		1878–1938		2 August 1919	22 October 1919
3	Nikolai Rattel		1875–1939		22 October 1919	10 February 1921

Chiefs of the Field Staff of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (1918–1921)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Nikolai Rattel		1875–1939		6 September 1918	21 October 1918
2	Fedor Kostyaev		1878–1925		21 October 1918	18 June 1919
3	Mikhail Dmitriyevich Bonch-Bruyevich		1870–1956		18 June 1919	22 July 1919
4	Pavel Lebedev		1872–1933		22 July 1919	10 February 1921

Chiefs of the Staff of the Red Army (1921–1935)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Pavel Lebedev		1872–1933		10 February 1921	April 1924
2	Mikhail Frunze		1885–1925		April 1924	January 1925
3	Sergei Kamenev		1881–1936		January 1925	November 1925
4	Mikhail Tukhachevsky		1893–1937		November 1925	May 1928
5	Boris Shaposhnikov		1882–1945		May 1928	April 1931
6	Vladimir Triandafillov		1894–1931		May 1931	12 July 1931	Killed in an aircraft crash
7	Alexander Ilyich Yegorov		1883–1939		July 1931	September 1935

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Red Army (1935–1946)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Alexander Ilyich Yegorov		1883–1939	Marshal of the Soviet Union	September 1935	10 May 1937
2	Boris Shaposhnikov		1882–1945	1st Army Commander	10 May 1937	August 1940	1st Term
3	Kirill Meretskov		1897–1968	Army General	August 1940	January 1941
4	Georgy Zhukov		1896–1974	Army General	February 1941	29 July 1941
5	Boris Shaposhnikov		1882–1945	Marshal of the Soviet Union	29 July 1941	11 May 1942	2nd Term
6	Aleksandr Vasilevsky		1895–1977	Marshal of the Soviet Union	26 June 1942	February 1945
7	Aleksei Antonov		1896–1962	Army General	February 1945	22 March 1946

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces (1946–1991)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Aleksandr Vasilevsky		1895–1977	Marshal of the Soviet Union	22 March 1946	November 1948
2	Sergei Shtemenko		1907–1976	Army General	November 1948	June 1952
3	Vasily Sokolovsky		1897–1968	Marshal of the Soviet Union	June 1952	April 1960
4	Matvei Zakharov		1898–1972	Marshal of the Soviet Union	April 1960	March 1963	1st Term
5	Sergey Biryuzov		1904–1964	Marshal of the Soviet Union	March 1963	19 October 1964	Killed in an aircraft crash
6	Matvei Zakharov		1898–1972	Marshal of the Soviet Union	November 1964	September 1971	2nd Term
7	Viktor Kulikov		1921–2013	Marshal of the Soviet Union	September 1971	7 January 1977
8	Nikolai Ogarkov		1917–1994	Marshal of the Soviet Union	7 January 1977	September 1984
9	Sergey Akhromeyev		1923–1991	Marshal of the Soviet Union	September 1984	2 November 1988
10	Mikhail Moiseev		1939–	Colonel General Army General	December 1988	23 August 1991
11	Vladimir Lobov		1935–	Army General	25 August 1991	25 December 1991

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (1991–Present)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Viktor Dubynin		1943–1992	Army General	10 June 1992	22 November 1992	Died in office
2	Mikhail Kolesnikov		1939–2007	Army General	22 November 1992	18 October 1996
3	Viktor Samsonov		1941–	Army General	18 October 1996	22 May 1997
4	Anatoly Kvashnin		1946–	Colonel General Army General	22 May 1997	19 July 2004
5	Yuri Baluyevsky		1947–	Army General	19 July 2004	3 June 2008
6	Nikolai Makarov		1949–	Army General	3 June 2008	9 November 2012
7	Valery Gerasimov		1955–	Colonel General Army General	9 November 2012	Incumbent

Further reading

• V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945–91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 (for Soviet era list of CGSs).

External links

• Official Russian Ministry of Defense website