General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff and commander of Russian forces in Ukraine
Administrative chain of command
Commanders of the various MOD armed services and branches do not have operational control over the forces. They are responsible for force development and generation. The Chiefs of the ground forces, the aerospace forces, the navy, the strategic missile forces and the airborne forces also hold the appointments of Deputy Ministers of Defence, junior to the Chief of the General Staff, who is the First Deputy Minister of Defence.
The General Staff commands and controls forces through the National Defence Management Centre (NDMC). Operational control of the forces is carried out by the five Operational-Strategic Commands - the Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Military Districts and the OSK Northern Fleet, which is their equal. The Western and the Southern Military Districts share borders with Ukraine and are directly involved in the command and control of the operations.
Pre-2022 Russian military doctrine had specified that on the outbreak of war, armed forces from non-MOD services (like Rosgvardiya) would be placed under the General Staff.
Ukrainian military commentator Yuri Butusov listed the following initial March 2022 deployment of Russian/allied forces:
Southwestern Belarus grouping (blocking contingent against Ukrainian forces in Western Ukraine):
located around Brest, Luninets, Baranovichi, Osipovichi and Minsk
including forces from the Northern Fleet (200th (Arctic) Motor Rifle Brigade, 61st Guards Naval Infantry Brigade) and the VDV (76th and 98th Guards airborne divisions), estimated strength of 6–7 battalion tactical groups
located around Tomarovka, Vesela Lopan', Zorino, Pristen', Kursk and Belgorod
including forces from the 6th and 20th combined arms armies, estimated strength of 4 battalion tactical groups
Voronezh grouping (Kharkiv offensive direction):
located around Stariy Oskol, Soloti, Valuyki, Boguchar, Pogonovo and Voronezh
including forces from the 6th Tank and 20th combined arms armies, estimated strength of 13–14 battalion tactical groups
Smolensk grouping (operational reserve of the northern front)
located around Yel'nya
including forces from the 20th and 41st combined arms armies, estimated strength of 6–7 battalion tactical groups
Rostov grouping (Donbas and eastern Sea of Azov offensive direction)
located around Rostov-on-the-Don and Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy
including forces from the 8th Combined Arms Army, estimated strength of 6 battalion tactical groups
Ukraine says the 8th CAA has operational control over the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia and the Luhansk People's Republic People's Militia, naming them the Russian 1st and 2nd Army Corps
located around the Crimean Peninsula (Slavne, Dzhankoy, Novoozerne, Yevpatoriya, Sevastopol, Oktyabrskoye, Bakhchisaray, Angarskiy, Feodosiya, Opuk)
including forces from the 58th Combined Arms Army and the Black Sea Fleet's 22nd Army Corps (810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade), estimated strength of up to 13 battalion tactical groups
Kuban grouping (operational reserve of the southern front)
located around the Kuban Peninsula (Novorossiysk, Korenovsk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar, Mol'kino and Maykop) and Stavropol
including forces from the 49th Combined Arms Army, the Black Sea Fleet's 22nd Army Corps and the VDV's 7th Guards (Mountain) Air Assault Division, estimated strength of 6 battalion tactical groups
Russian leaders 2022-23
Despite evolving Russian doctrine which specified all troops and forces operating from one Operational-Strategic Command (OSK) be placed under one commander, multiple repeated sources (Rochan Consulting, Center for Naval Analysis, British Ministry of Defence) reported that separate groupings of forces drawn from each of the four military districts, under the leadership of senior personnel from that military district, took part in the initial invasion. President Vladimir Putin was repeatedly reported as taking a very involved stance, sometimes giving orders to field formations.
In April 2022, the invasion began to run into setbacks; Russian forces were forced to withdraw from their attempt to take Kyiv. Therefore to handle a longer war, a single coordinating senior officer was appointed.
Army General Aleksandr Dvornikov (8 April 2022 – 25 June 2022): placed in overall charge of military operations in Ukraine, effectively ending the grouping system;
Colonel General Gennady Zhidko (26 June 2022 – 7 October 2022): appointed by Vladimir Putin to the top position, replacing Dvornikov;
Army General Sergey Surovikin (8 October 2022 – 11 January 2023): previously commander of the Aerospace Forces and Army Group South, replacing Zhidko in overall command.
Russian/affiliated forces in 2023
From 12 January 2023 Army General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff, was appointed as commander of military operations in Ukraine, with Surovikin as his deputy.
The actual operational chain of command of the Russian military effort in Ukraine is not public, changes, and is a mix of state and non-state bodies. Personal rivalries are evident. President Vladimir Putin however remains firmly in control, sometimes micromanaging. The loose connection of various mercenary bodies and Ramzan Kadyrov's Chechens to the official command chain has been represented by placing them under headers separate to the Russian Armed Forces.
Scheduling and control of tactical fighter, ground attack, and strategic bomber "sorties" (one flight of one aircraft) is unclear.
On 18 April 2023, Russian official sources said that President Putin had held meetings in the Kherson area with several commanders. The President "..received reports from the commander of the Dnepr forces grouping, General Lieutenant Oleg Makarevich, the commander of the Vostok [Eastern] forces grouping, General Lieutenant Andrey Kuzmenko, and the deputy commander of the combined grouping, General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky." The meetings likely took place before April 16.
35th Combined Arms Army, EMD (Lieutenant General Aleksandr Semyonovich Sanchik [ru], Deputy Commander Major General Sergei Nyrkov [wounded, not returning to active duty] General-Major Sergey Goryachev, chief of staff.† )
Western Military District (ZVO) (Commander: Lieutenant General Yevgeny Nikiforov, (formerly Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev (October 2022 to December 2022)), (formerly Colonel General Alexander Lapin(September 2022 to October 2022)) (replaced Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov(4 September to 19 September 2022)) (replaced Lieutenant General Andrei Sychevoi(from June 2022; reportedly dismissed by 4 September 2022)(June 27 to August 26)) (replaced Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlyovin June 2022)
1st Guards Tank Army, WMD (Lieutenant General Sergey Aleksandrovich Kisel [ru] [dismissed]; unnamed deputy commander [dismissed])
6th Engineer Regiment (Colonel Mikhail Aleksandrovich Nagamov † [Nagamov was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Western Military District 5 days before he was killed])
98th Guards Airborne Division VDV (Guards Colonel Viktor Igoryevich Gunaza [dismissed by end of March], Head of Communications Colonel Alexey Smirnov †)
331st Guards Airborne Regiment VDV (Colonel Sergei Sukharev †, Deputy Commander Lt. Colonel Ivan Pozdeev †, Chief of Staff Lt. Colonel Igor Zharov †) (seriously depleted in fighting near Kyiv)
Southern Group of Forces (YuVO) (Commander: Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev(from January 2023)) (formerly General of Army Sergei Surovikin), (from June 2022) (Deputy Commander: Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov†)
12th Guards Engineering Brigade (Central Military District, Colonel Sergei Porokhnya †, formerly Colonel Denis Kozlov †)
29th Railway Brigade
Airborne Forces
7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division VDV, Colonel Aleksandr Kornev, reported as the command element of the Russian task force fighting in the Kherson Oblast on the Mykolaiv direction
39th Guards Separate Helicopter Regiment (Mil Mi-8, Mil Mi-28, Mil Mi35, Ka-52) (Deputy Commander Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Igorevich Pakholsky †)
20th Air Defense Regiment
Storm-Zpenal military units (Commander: Yevgeny Burdinsky) - as of September 25, 2023 "primarily active and mostly unsuccessful along the Donetsk City-Avdiivka frontline and on the Luhansk-Kharkiv Oblast front. [ISW]"
Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia (Major General Denis Sinenkov)
1st Donetsk Army Corps (Lieutenant General Roman Kutuzov†) (part of Russian armed forces from 31 December 2022) (under command of 8th Combined Arms Army of Southern Military District)
1st Separate Guards Motorised Rifle «Slavic» Brigade [ru]
Operational Command South (Commander: Major General Andriy Kovalchuk, Chief of Staff: Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapaty, Deputy commander: Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov)
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