Aleksandr Vyacheslavovich Kurenkov (; born 2 June 1972) is a Russian politician and military officer. He has served as the Minister of Emergency Situations since May 2022, and holds 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 norma ...

Early career

Kurenkov was born in

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

, in what was then the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, in the Soviet Union, on 2 June 1972. In 1995, he began work as a teacher of physical culture at school No. 312 in Moscow, while also studying at the , graduating in 1998. In 1999, he left his teaching job to join the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...

, where he worked in various positions until 2002, when he joined the

Federal Protective Service Federal Protective Service may refer to: *Federal Protective Service (United States), a U.S. security police force responsible for the security of buildings owned by the U.S. federal government *Federal Protective Service (Russia) The Federal G ...

. In 2004, he graduated from the . While working as a Federal Protective Service officer, Kurenkov was part of the protective detail of then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Viktor Zubkov Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov ( rus, Ви́ктор Алексе́евич Зубко́в, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ zʊpˈkof; born 15 September 1941) is a Russian civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the List of h ...

between 2007 and 2008, with Zubkov then becoming first deputy chairman in the Putin government. Sources in the Ministry of Emergency Situations described Kurenkov as having become a "Putin adjutant" around 2015. In 2021, Kurenkov became assistant director, and the following year, deputy director, of the

National Guard Forces Command The National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation () is the operational gendarmerie component of the National Guard of Russia federal agency, created through a presidential decree on April 5, 2016. Functionally, it is a gendarmerie o ...

, serving under

Viktor Zolotov Viktor Vasilyevich Zolotov (; born 27 January 1954) is a Russian military officer who is the Director of the National Guard (Rosgvardiya, concurrently serving as National Guard Forces Commander-in-Chief) and a member of the Security Council. Zo ...

. He supervised the department of combat training. Sources in the Ministry of Emergency Situations suggest that in this capacity Kurenkov participated in the

2022 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 ...

Ministerial post

On 23 May 2022,

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

nominated Kurenkov as the new Minister of Emergency Situations. The post had been held by the former deputy minister, Aleksandr Chupriyan, in an acting capacity, since the death of the previous minister,

Yevgeny Zinichev Yevgeny Nikolayevich Zinichev (; 18 August 1966 – 8 September 2021) was a Russian politician and military officer. He served as the Minister of Emergency Situations from 2018 until his death, and was also a member of the Security Council of ...

, in September 2021. Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

, and receiving unanimous support, Kurenkov was appointed Minister of Emergency Situations. As Minister of Emergency Situations, he became a member of the

Security Council of Russia The Security Council of the Russian Federation ( SCRF or Sovbez; ) is a constitutional consultative body of the Russian president that supports the president's decision-making on national security affairs and matters of strategic interest. Comp ...

, to which he was appointed on 30 May 2022. Kurenkov held the rank of major general from since around December 2021, having graduated from 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 ...

about this time. In 2015, he was awarded the

Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a Russian medal. It was established on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree No.442. Its award criteria were modified on 6 January 1999 by Presidential Decree 19 and again on 7 September 201 ...

Second Class. He was promoted to the rank of

on 2 June 2022.

Sanctions

In December 2022 the EU sanctioned Aleksandr Kurenkov in relation to the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurenkov, Aleksandr 1972 births Living people People from Moscow Oblast Government ministers of Russia Russian lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class 21st-century Russian politicians 21st-century Russian military personnel