Alexander Chaiko

Colonel General Aleksandr Yuryevich Chayko (; born 27 July 1971) is a Russian military officer who has been Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces since 2026. He was formerly the commander of the Eastern Military District from 2021 to 2022, and his other previous commands included the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army. Chayko was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2020.

He was commissioned in 1992, graduating from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School. He went on to graduate from the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2001 and the General Staff Academy in 2012. At the start of the Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015, Chayko served as the chief of staff, being responsible for setting up base infrastructure and coordinating operations with Syrian allies. He commanded the Operational Group of Forces in the Syrian Arab Republic several times, including from 2019 to 2021, in 2022, and in 2024.

Early life and education Aleksandr Chayko was born on 27 July 1971 in Golitsyno, Moscow Oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. and in 1992, he graduated from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School.

Military career In the 1990s, Chayko served in the Western Group of Forces and the Moscow Military District. He graduated from the Russian General Staff Academy in 2012.

In 2015, Chayko was the first chief of staff of the Grouping of Forces of the Russian Armed Forces Syria. From April 2017 to November 2018, Chayko was the Chief of Staff - the First Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District.

From November 2018 to February 2019, he was the Deputy Chief of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia.

In February 2019, he became the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia.

From September 2019 to November 2020 and from February 2021 to June 2021, he was the Commander of the Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Russia in Syria. By the Decree of the President of Russia, No. 355, on 11 June 2021, Chayko was promoted colonel general. His accomplishments in his previous posts were praised by President Vladimir Putin. On 16 November, he officially took office, accepting the standard of the commander of the troops. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he led the forces from the district in the northern Ukraine campaign. On 24 March 2022, he visited the front line, about 30 kilometers away from Kyiv, shortly before the withdrawal on 29 March. On 7 August 2022, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense reported that Chayko was removed from his post.

Chayko returned to Syria as commander of Russian forces there from September to December 2022, and again in November 2024 after the start of the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives. On 4 May 2026, he was appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, replacing Viktor Afzalov, despite not having spent his career in the branch.

War crime allegations Chayko earned a global reputation as a brutal leader in Syria in 2019 and 2020. Human Rights Watch states that he may be responsible for widespread attacks against hospitals, schools and populated areas in the Idlib Governorate. It is reported that Chayko survived with the aid of a bodyguard named Anatoly S. His 25-year-old daughter Maria was hit by shrapnel and suffered a traumatic brain injury while her husband, Daniil Peredriy, died in hospital. Chayko's niece and dancer at the party, Yevdokia Kirilova, was wounded along with Chayko's father-in-law Aleksandr Peredriy. Kirilova's daughter-in-law Yulia died in hospital after suffering severe injuries to her chest and abdomen. Chayko's colleague Valery Plokhotnyuk died on the day of the explosion.