Sukhrab Akhmedov (born 23 December 1974) is an officer in 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 ...

. He held the rank of major general and commanded the 20th Combined Arms Army until May 2024.

Personal life and education

Akhmedov was born in 1974 in

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

, in the

Checheno-Ingush ASSR When the Soviet Union existed, different governments had ruled the northern Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Within the Mountain Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, later annexed into the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republ ...

, though with origins from ,

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

. He graduated from the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School in 1996, starting his military service in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

. In 2005, he graduated from 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 ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Akhmedov is married to Margarita Vladimirovna and has three children, two daughters and a son.

Career

He was the commander of the 36th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade before taking command of the 155th Separate Marine Brigade in 2009. During 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 ...

from 2022, he was commander of coastal troops in southern Ukraine. The brigade was employed in the

Battle of Vuhledar The battle of Vuhledar was a major battle between the Russian and Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under ...

, where Russian forces took heavy losses. Following the campaign, complaints surfaced from surviving marines that poor military leadership was a cause of the enormous losses. Public information surfaced in December 2022 that Akhmedov could be removed from his position as a result. Following these rumors, Russian high command discounted the allegations of leadership inadequacies and failures from November, and by December,

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...

reported that they had information that Akmedov would be promoted. By June 2023, Akmedov had been promoted to major general and given command of the 20th Combined Arms Army. Russian sources reported that a division of the 20th had suffered about 200 casualties (100 killed, 100 wounded) in June 2023 from Ukrainian artillery while they were assembled together near Kreminna for two hours waiting for Akhmedov to deliver a motivational speech. He was heavily criticized for this by Russian military bloggers, including a call for responsible commanders to be shot in front of their formations for such failures. In May 2024, Akhmedov was removed from his post as the commander of 20th army.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhmedov, Sukhrab 1974 births Living people Russian Navy personnel People from Grozny Russian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Russian major generals