Aleksandr Vladimirovich Dvornikov (; born 22 August 1961) is a

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...

who commanded the

Russian military intervention in Syria {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the military intervention against ISIL , image = , image_size = , border = , caption = To ...

and the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

. After joining the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

in 1978, Dvornikov rose through the ranks of the Soviet and then Russian army over a period of thirty years. In 2015, he became commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria during the Russian military intervention there. At that time he cemented a reputation for the harsh conduct of his military campaigns as those in Chechnya before. In April 2022, Dvornikov was placed in charge of military operations during the

, until he was replaced with

Army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...

Sergei Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich Surovikin (Russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Сурови́кин; born 11 October 1966) is a Russian Armed Forces army general and Commander of the Aerospace Forces. A veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War, ...

on October 8, 2022.

Early life and Soviet military career

Dvornikov was born on 22 August 1961 in

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia border and ...

. He graduated from the Ussuriysk Suvorov Military School in 1978 and joined the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. Dvornikov received further education at the

Moscow High Command Training School The Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School ''" Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR"'' (russian: Московское Высшее Общевойсковое Командное Училище, МВОКУ; abbreviated to MVOKU) is a higher military educa ...

, graduating in 1982. From 1982, he served in the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...

as a platoon and then company commander, and as a battalion chief of staff. In 1991, Dvornikov graduated from the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

. He became a deputy battalion commander in the Western Group of Forces.

Russian military career

Career in the Russian Ground Forces

Between 1992 and 1994, Dvornikov commanded the 154th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion of the

6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade The 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade () was a Soviet Army mechanized infantry brigade, stationed in East Berlin during the Cold War, from 1962 to 1989. Formed in 1962 as the 6th Separate Brigade of Protection after the Berlin Crisis of ...

. In 1995, he became chief of staff and deputy commander of the

10th Guards Tank Division The 10th Guards ''Uralsko-Lvovskaya'' Volunteer Tank Division, also known as the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Guards Army. The division traces its herit ...

's 248th Motor Rifle Regiment. Dvornikov became regimental commander in 1996. On 20 January 1996, he was awarded the Order of Military Merit. On 2 February 1996, he was awarded the Order of Courage. In 1997, he transferred to command the 1st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the

2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division The 2nd Guards M. I. Kalinin Taman Motor Rifle Division (russian: 2-я гвардейская мотострелковая Таманская ордена Октябрьской Революции Краснознаменная ордена Су ...

in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military D ...

. Between 2000 and 2003 he was chief of staff and then commander of the

19th Motor Rifle Division The 19th Voronezh-Shumlinskaya Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Red Banner of Labor Motor Rifle Division (), is a division of the Russian Ground Forces. It appears to have been formed originally in July 1922 at Tambov in the Moscow Military Dis ...

in the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla. It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, ...

. On 6 May 2000, he was awarded the

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by P ...

4th class with swords. Dvornikov graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 2005. Sergey Shoigu in Syria (2016-06-18) 04

In 2005, Dvornikov became deputy commander and chief of staff of the 36th Army in the Siberian Military District. In 2008, he took command of the

5th Red Banner Army The 5th Combined Arms Red Banner Army (5-я общевойсковая армия) is a Russian Ground Forces formation in the Eastern Military District. It was formed in 1939, served during the Soviet invasion of Poland that year, and was deplo ...

. Dvornikov became deputy commander of the Eastern Military District in 2011. From May 2012 to June 2016, he served as chief of staff and first deputy commander of the

Central Military District The Central Military District (Russian: Центральный военный округ) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the ...

. Between November and December 2012, he was acting commander of the district. On 13 December 2012, Dvornikov became a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. On 13 December 2014, he was promoted to colonel general.

Syrian civil war

In September 2015, Dvornikov became the first commander of the

Russian Armed Forces in Syria {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the military intervention against ISIL , image = , image_size = , border = , caption = To ...

during the

. On 17 March 2016, he was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation for his leadership. In July 2016, Dvornikov became the Southern Military District's acting commander. He was confirmed in the position on 20 September 2016. In March 2019, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

enacted sanctions on him due to his role in the

Kerch Strait incident The Kerch Strait incident was an international incident that occurred on 25 November 2018 in the Kerch Strait, during which the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels after they ...

. By a decree from President Putin, Dvornikov was promoted to the rank of army general on 23 June 2020.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 10 April 2022, Dvornikov was placed in complete charge of military operations during the

. Before his appointment, there had not been a single military leader for all Russian forces; he had been one of several in charge of various fronts. On 3 June 2022 it was reported by the

open-source intelligence Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (covert and publicly available sources) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and busi ...

group

Conflict Intelligence Team The Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) is an independent investigative organisation originating from Russia that conducts an OSINT, open-source investigation of events taking place during armed conflicts, in particular, the actions of Russian troops ...

, citing Russian soldiers, that Dvornikov had been replaced by Colonel General

Gennady Zhidko Gennady Valeryevich Zhidko (russian: Геннадий Валериевич Жидко, links=no; born 12 September 1965) is a colonel general of the Russian Armed Forces. He was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2017 for his se ...

in command of the invasion. However, on 5 June Ukrainian governor of Luhansk Oblast

Serhiy Haidai Serhiy Volodymyrovych Haidai ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Гайдай; born 6 November 1975) is a Ukrainian entrepreneur and politician. He is the current head of the Luhansk Regional Military–Civil Administration since 2 ...

said Dvornikov was still in command and had been given until 10 June by his superiors to complete the Battle of Severodonetsk. On 25 June, it was again reported that Dvornikov had been dismissed from his post. On 8 October 2022 the

Russian Defence Ministry The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine without naming who Surovikin was replacing.

Military reputation

Dvornikov's military reputation is often cited in the international press for the harsh conduct of his military campaigns, particularly in Chechnya and Syria. He has been accused of having pursued scorched earth tactics. Retired US Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis spoke in an interview of what he said was a known epiphet of Dvornikov, "Butcher of Syria". However, the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a United States–based think tank founded in 2007 by Kimberly Kagan, providing research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs. It has produced reports on the Syrian War, the Wa ...

has noted that although Dvornikov's tenure was marked by large numbers of civilian deaths, it was not unusually bloody, as the Russian Army, targeted Syrian civilians and critical infrastructure throughout the

Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the military intervention against ISIL , image = , image_size = , border = , caption = To ...

.{{cite web, title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 11, first1=Mason, last1=Clark, first2=Karolina, last2=Hird, first3=George, last3=Barros, work=Institute For the Study of War, date=11 April 2022, url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-april-11, access-date=11 April 2022 According to an investigation by Cathrin Schaer and Emad Hassan published in the German state-funded media Deutsche Welle, statistics also show that Dvornikov did not open up a new and more violent chapter in the Syrian war.{{Cite web , title=Is new Russian commander really 'bloody'? , url=https://www.dw.com/en/does-russian-commander-in-ukraine-deserve-his-bloody-reputation/a-61451448 , work= Deutsche Welle , date=12 April 2022 , access-date=31 October 2022

References

{{reflist{{Army Generals (Russia){{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine {{DEFAULTSORT:Dvornikov, Aleksandr Vladimirovich 1961 births Living people People from Ussuriysk Frunze Military Academy alumni Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Heroes of the Russian Federation Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Courage Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Generals of the army (Russia) Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions Russian military personnel of the Syrian civil war Soviet Army officers