Sergey Aleksandrovich Kisel (, born 27 March 1971) is a

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

officer who commanded the Russian Armed Forces Operational Group in Syria from 2023 to 2024. Previously, he was the commander of the

1st Guards Tank Army The 1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces (Military Unit Number 73621). The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st ...

from 2018 to 2022, and was relieved of command after the failure to capture

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

at the start of 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 ...

. Kisel was sent to Syria in May 2022, and was appointed commander of the Russian Operational Group in Syria in November 2023, replacing Colonel General

Andrey Serdyukov Andrey Nikolaevich Serdyukov (; born 4 March 1962) is a Russian Airborne Forces colonel general who was commander of the Russian Airborne Forces from 2016 to 2022. He also commanded the Operational Group of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria f ...

Biography

Kisel was born in 1971 and is a graduate of the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School, the

Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation The Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is a military academy in Moscow which provides graduate education for officers of the Russian Armed Forces. The full name reads: ''The Combined Academies Order of Lenin Order ...

, and the General Staff Academy. He held commands at levels from a platoon to a motor rifle brigade. In the early 2010s he commanded the 19th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the

58th Army The 58th Guards Combined Arms Army () is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered at Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania, within Russia's Southern Military District. It was formed in 1941 as part of the Soviet Union's Red Army and has be ...

, stationed in

North Ossetia 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'' is ...

, before being appointed the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 20th Army in September 2016. In April 2018 he was appointed commander of the

. During the early

Kisel was relieved of command, and was sent to Syria in May 2022. He became commander of the Operational Group of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria in November 2023. There were reports by Russian military bloggers in early December 2024 that he was relieved of command of forces in Syria after the fall of Aleppo to

Syrian opposition Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

forces, and replaced by Colonel General Aleksandr Chaiko, though the Russian Ministry of Defense has not publicly commented on the matter.

Awards

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 * Order of Courage * Order of Military Merit

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kisel, Sergey 1971 births Living people Russian lieutenant generals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Ukrainian War Russian military personnel of the Syrian civil war Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Tashkent Higher All-Arms Command School alumni