Ruslan Borysovych Khomchak (; born 5 June 1967) is a Ukrainian
Colonel-general
Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a rank above full , but be ...
who serves as the First Deputy Secretary of the
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ( NSDCU; , ''RNBOU'') or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense.
It is a state agency tasked wi ...
DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE №322/2021 About the appointment of R. Khomchak as the First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (in Ukrainian) /ref> and formerhttps://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/758177.html Valerii Zaluzhnyi appointed as Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces instead of Khomchak – Zelensky's press secretary
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine () is the professional head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The position was created by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 March 2020, before which the Chief of the General Staff was the c ...
, until 28 March 2020 also holding the post of
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan)
* Chief of the General Staff (Albania)
* C ...
.Zelensky appoints Khomchak Chief Commander of Armed Forces, Korniychuk Chief of General Staff
Interfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(28 March 2020)
Previously from 21 May 2019, he combined this post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the post of
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan)
* Chief of the General Staff (Albania)
* C ...
. On 28 March 2020, a decree by President
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
divided the posts of Commander in Chief and Chief of General Staff. On this day Zelensky dismissed Khomchak from the post of Chief of General Staff and appointed him Chief Commander of Armed Forces while simultaneously he appointed Serhiy Korniychuk Chief of the General Staff.
On July 27, 2021, Ruslan Khomchak was dismissed from the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appointed as the First Deputy Secretary of the
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ( NSDCU; , ''RNBOU'') or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense.
It is a state agency tasked wi ...
.
Biography
Khomchak was born in
Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
on 5 June 1967. He graduated from the
Moscow Higher Military Command School
The Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School ''" Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR"'' (; abbreviated to MVOKU) is a higher military educational institution of the Russian Armed Forces. Alumni of the school have served with the Soviet Army and the Russi ...
in 1988 and served in the Soviet Artillery Corps, primarily in a self-propelled artillery unit fielding the
2S3 Akatsiya
The SO-152 (Russian: СО-152), usually known by its Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, GRAU designation 2S3 (), is a Soviet Union, Soviet 152.4 mm self-propelled gun developed in 1968, as a response to the American 155 mm M109 how ...
. Khomchak served in
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, in the
Uzbek SSR
The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Uzbek branch of the Soviet Communist P ...
and in the
Belarusian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...
. From 1993 to 2000 Khomchak served in the
24th Mechanized Brigade
The 24th Mechanized Brigade (, abbreviated ) is a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, based at Yavoriv in the west of Ukraine.
The brigade, the oldest in continuous service within the Ground Forces, was originally formed as the 1 ...
RBC Ukraine
RBC-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 2006 as a division of the Russian media holding RBC Group (short for RosBusinessConsulting), it left in 2010 and in 2015 it completely came under the control of Ukrainian media businessman ...
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine () is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Defence. The President of Ukraine is the Supreme Com ...
He was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant-general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was normall ...
in 2013. Khomchak participated in some of the most consequential battles during the
war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
. He was sectoral commander of Ukrainian forces during the
Battle of Ilovaisk
The Battle of Ilovaisk started on 7 August 2014, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine and pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries began a series of attempts to capture the city of Ilovaisk from pro-Russian insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Rep ...
, in which Ukrainian units were surrounded and decisively defeated by separatists and their Russian backers. Reflecting on the battle several years later, Khomchak's predecessor as Commander-in-Chief,
Viktor Muzhenko
Viktor Mykolayovych Muzhenko (; born 10 October 1961) LIGA is a Ukrainian
, suggested that the incompetence of Ukrainian commanders, and the large number of Russian troops fighting for the separatists, were largely to blame for the disastrous outcome.
On 21 May 2019,
President of Ukraine
The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
appointed Ruslan Khomchak
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan)
* Chief of the General Staff (Albania)
* C ...
and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On 28 March 2020 a decree by President Zelensky divided the posts of Commander in Chief and Chief of General Staff. On this day Zelensky dismissed Khomchak from the post of Chief of General Staff and appointed him Chief Commander of Armed Forces while simultaneously he appointed Serhiy Korniychuk Chief of the General Staff.
On 10 September 2020, Khomchak tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
.
Family
Khomchak is married to
Anna Kovalenko
Anna Mykolayivna Kovalenko (; born 5 May 1991) is a Ukrainian political figure, activist, and journalist. Kovalenko was the Governor of Chernihiv Oblast from 13 October 2020 until 4 August 2021,
. Kovalenko is a civic activist, journalist, active
Euromaidan
Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...