Lieutenant General Igor Yevgenyevich Konashenkov (; born 15 May 1966) is a Russian military officer serving as the Head of the Department of Information and Mass Communication of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

Early life

Igor Konashenkov was born on 15 May 1966 in Kishinev,

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

.Igor Konashenkov.
Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Retrieved 30 June 2017.

Career

Konashenkov graduated with distinction from the engineering department of Zhytomyr Higher Military School of Radioelectronics of Air Defence in 1988. In 1998, he graduated from the Air Defence Military Academy. In 2006, he graduated from the higher courses of the

Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation () is the senior staff college of the Russian Armed Forces. The academy is located in Moscow, on 14 Kholzunova Lane. It was founded in 1936 as a Soviet inst ...

. He has served in the

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (; ) was the air defence branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Formed in 1941, it continued being a service branch of the Russian Armed Forces after 1991 until it was merged into the Air Force in 1998. Unlike Western ...

and in the

Russian Aerospace Defence Forces The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO) () was a branch of the Russian Armed Forces responsible for aerospace defence, operation of Russian military satellites and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was established on 1 December 2011 and dissolved ...

, in the directorate of the major command of the Territorial Air Defence Forces.

Military spokesman

From 1998, Konashenkov was the senior officer, chief of group, and deputy chief of the Department for Cooperation with Russian and Foreign Media of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence Press Service. In 2003, he became chief of the press service and assistant commander of the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included t ...

for public and media affairs. In 2005 he became chief of the press service of the army and assistant commander-in-chief of the army for public and media affairs. In 2009, he was appointed deputy chief of the Department of Media Affairs and Information of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. In August 2011, he became chief of the Department of Media Affairs and Information of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. He is Russia's chief military spokesman. He has headed units for informational support of the Russian military in the North Caucasus, and the Collective Force for Peacekeeping in the Georgia–Abkhazia conflict zone. During the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Konashenkov claimed that U.S. forces had planned to infect birds in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

with a spreadable form of the H5N1 flu strain "with a mortality rate of 50 percent" as well as

Newcastle disease Virulent Newcastle disease (VND), formerly exotic Newcastle disease, is a contagious viral avian disease affecting many domestic and wild bird species; it is transmissible to humans. Though it can infect humans, most cases are non-symptomati ...

. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Sanctions

In April 2022, Konashenkov was added to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

sanctions list "in response to the ongoing unjustified and unprovoked Russian military aggression against Ukraine and other actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine". He was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Honours

Konashenkov has received the Order of Courage, Order of Military Merit,

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

, and 14 other medals. Konashenkov is a member of the presidium of the Union of Journalists in Moscow who awarded him a diploma for services to openness in the press in 2016.С 50-летием, уважаемый Игорь Евгеньевич!
Союз журналистов Москвы, 15 May 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konashenkov, Igor 1966 births Living people People from Chișinău Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Zhukov Air and Space Defence Academy alumni Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Russian major generals Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia Russian conspiracy theorists Russian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Government spokespersons of Russia Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia)