Alexander Grigoryevich Volfovich (transcribed from Belarusian: Aliaksandr Ryhoravich Valfovich) () is a Belarusian general who is the current

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the State Security Council of the Republic of Belarus. He is also a former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus.

Early life

Alexander Grigorievich Volfovich was born on June 28, 1967, in Kazan into the family of Tatyana Yakovlevna and Grigory Aleksandrovich Volfovich, a retired

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 ...

lieutenant colonel, who hailed from Balta (

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

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 ...

) but lived for a long time in

Slutsk Slutsk is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District, and is located on the Sluch (Belarus), Sluch River south of the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 59,450. Geography ...

. The family lived at Soviet bases in

Lankaran Lankaran (, ) or Lánkon () is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a disti ...

(

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

) and 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 ...

, before settling in the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

in the early 1980s. In 1984, he graduated from secondary school No.7 in the city of Borisov.

Early career

In 1988, 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 ...

. It was here where he studied with the former Minister of Defense

Andrei Ravkov Lieutenant General Andrei Alyakseyevich Ravkov (, born on 25 June 1967 in Revyaki, Vitebsk Region) is a Belarusian General and military leader who last served as the State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus in 2020. Early life and ca ...

. Over the next 5 years, he served in battalion and regimental level positions in the

and the newly formed

Armed Forces of Belarus The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are the military forces of Belarus. It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence. As a landlocked country, Belarus has ...

. In 1993, he became the chief of staff of a motorised rifle battalion at the 72nd Guards Joint Training Centre. After graduating from the Command and Staff Department of the

Military Academy of Belarus Military Academy of the Republic of Belarus (, ) is higher military educational institution in the national education system of the Republic of Belarus and the leading institution in the education system of training, retraining and advanced traini ...

in 1998, he resumed his work in the training centre. In 2002, Alexander Volfovich took up the post of chief of staff at the 361th Security and Maintenance Base. Between 2005 and 2008, he served in the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff. He studied in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

for a year in 2008 at their General Staff Military Academy. Upon his return, he became the commander of the

120th Guards Mechanised Brigade The 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade is a mechanised infantry brigade of the Belarus Ground Forces. It is the heir to the traditions of the Red Army 120th Guards Rifle Division which became the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957. History ...

of the

North Western Operational Command North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north' ...

, and later the commander of this command.

High positions within the army

While in his position, he was promoted to his current rank in June 2012. In 2018, by decree of President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

, he was appointed to the post of the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces. He served in this position for just two years before being appointed by presidential decree in January 2020 as Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Minister of Defence of Belarus. He became the Secretary of the Security Council on 26 January 2021. 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 norma ...

a month later.

Sanctions

He was put under sanctions by

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

over his role in suppressing the 2020 Belarusian protests. In 2022, Volfovich was included in the

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

of the US and in the sanctions lists of the European Union, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Ukraine.

Personal life

His son Maxim (born 1990) is an officer in the Belarusian Armed Forces. Until recently, Maxim commanded a mechanized battalion at the

6th Guards Kiev-Berlin Mechanised Brigade The 6th Separate Guards Mechanised Kiev-Berlin Order of Lenin, Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Brigade (6 omechbr) is a formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus. Its Military Unit Number is 05733. History ...

, which is stationed in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

. His brother Dmitry Volfovich is a military commissar in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

, being a veteran of the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

as part of the Russian

Federal Counterintelligence Service The Federal Counterintelligence Service of the Russian Federation (FSK RF; rus, Федеральная служба контрразведки Российской Федерации, p=fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnəjə ˈsluʐbə kəntrɐzˈvʲetkʲɪ r� ...

. During the war he was captured by forces of the

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria ( ; ; ; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria, was a ''de facto'' State (polity), state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Checheno-Ingus ...

, being released in December 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volfovich, Alexander 1967 births Belarusian generals Living people Soviet Army officers Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Military personnel from Kazan Belarusian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Chiefs of the General Staff (Belarus) Belarusian people of Russian descent Military Academy of Belarus alumni