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

army general Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

who commanded the Russian military intervention in Syria and 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 ...

. After joining the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

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 The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

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

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 ...

, until he was replaced with

Colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Gennady Zhidko late in May 2022. Since 2024, he is the chairman of

DOSAAF of Russia DOSAAF of Russia () is an all-Russian volunteer public-state organization (общественно-государственная организация), an indirect successor of the Soviet DOSAAF, with the declared purpose of strengthening of th ...

Early life and Soviet military career

Dvornikov was born on 22 August 1961 in

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...

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

. Dvornikov received further education at the Moscow High Command Training School, graduating in 1982. From 1982, he served in the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District () was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific Fleet and part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Eastern Military District. Histo ...

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 (), 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 (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

. 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. In 1995, he became chief of staff and deputy commander of the 10th Guards Tank Division'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 in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

. Between 2000 and 2003 he was chief of staff and then commander of the 19th Motor Rifle Division in 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 ...

. On 6 May 2000, he was awarded the

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

4th class with swords. Dvornikov graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 2005. 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. 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 Order of the Red Banner Central Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the centr ...

. 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 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 ...

. On 13 December 2014, he was promoted to

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Syrian civil war

In September 2015, Dvornikov became the first commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria during the Russian military intervention in Syria. On 17 March 2016, he was awarded the title

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation ( rus, Герой Российской Федерации, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ), also unofficially called Hero of Russia ( rus, Герой России, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲiɪ), is ...

for his leadership. In July 2016, Dvornikov became the

Southern Military District The Order of the Red Banner Southern Military District () 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 North Caucasus region of the country ...

's acting commander. He was confirmed in the position on 20 September 2016. By a decree from President Putin, Dvornikov was promoted to the rank of army general on 23 June 2020.

Sanctions

In March 2019, 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 ...

enacted sanctions on him due to his role in the Kerch Strait incident. He was sanctioned by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

under the Special Economic Measures Act (S.C. 1992, c. 17) in relation to the

for Grave Breach of International Peace and Security, and by the UK government in 2019 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 ...

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 (overt sources and publicly available information) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforceme ...

group Conflict Intelligence Team, citing Russian soldiers, that Dvornikov had been replaced by Colonel General Gennady Zhidko in command of the invasion. However, on 5 June Ukrainian governor of Luhansk Oblast

Serhiy Haidai Serhiy Volodymyrovych Haidai (; born 6 November 1975) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian entrepreneur and politician. He was the Governor of Luhansk Oblast, head of the Luhansk Regional Military–Civil Administration from 25 October 2019 to 15 March 202 ...

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 2022, it was again reported that Dvornikov had been dismissed from his post. On 8 October 2022, the Russian Defence Ministry named Air Force General Sergey 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 A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

tactics. Retired US Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis spoke in an interview of what he said was a known epithet of Dvornikov, "Butcher of Syria". However, the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is an American nonprofit research group and advocacy think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan and headquartered in Washington, D.C. ISW provides research and analysis of modern arm ...

has noted that although Dvornikov's tenure was marked by large numbers of civilian deaths, it was not especially bloody compared to the operation as a whole, as the Russian military targeted Syrian civilians and critical infrastructure throughout its intervention in Syria. According to an investigation by Cathrin Schaer and Emad Hassan published in the German state-funded media

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

, statistics also show that Dvornikov did not open up a new and more violent chapter in the Syrian war.

References

{{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 Heroes of the Russian Federation Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd 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 Military Merit (Russia) Generals of the army (Russia) Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Russian military personnel of the Syrian civil war Soviet Army officers Russian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia)