Alexander Dvornikov

General of the Army Aleksandr Vladimirovich Dvornikov (born 22 August 1961) is a Russian retired military officer who was the first field commander of the Russian military intervention in Syria, from 2015 to 2016, and of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022.

After joining the Soviet Army in 1978, Dvornikov rose through the ranks of the Soviet and then Russian army over a period of thirty years. In 2015, he became commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria during the Russian military intervention there. At that time he cemented a reputation for the harsh conduct of his military campaigns as those in Chechnya before. He was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2016 and was promoted to general of the army in 2020. Dvornikov has written extensively about tactics and training in Russian military journals.

In February 2022, he was the commander of the Southern Military District and led the southern front at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which was the most successful during the first stage of the war. In April 2022, according to US officials, Dvornikov was placed in charge of all forces in Ukraine. However, his appointment was never official confirmed. According to CIT, he was replaced with Colonel General Gennady Zhidko late in May 2022. He was replaced at the Southern Military District by Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev in January 2023. From February to December 2024, he was the chairman of DOSAAF of Russia.

Early life and Soviet military career Dvornikov was born on 22 August 1961 in Ussuriysk. He graduated from the Ussuriysk Suvorov Military School in 1978 and joined the Soviet Army. Dvornikov received further education at the Moscow High Command Training School, graduating in 1982.

In 1997, he transferred to command the 1st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division in the Moscow Military District. Between 2000 and 2003 he was chief of staff and then commander of the 19th Motor Rifle Division in the North Caucasus Military District. On 6 May 2000, he was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" 4th class with swords. Dvornikov graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 2005.

On 13 December 2012, Dvornikov became a lieutenant general. On 13 December 2014, he was promoted to colonel general.

In 2018, Dvornikov wrote an article in Vestnik, the journal of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, describing the campaign in Syria as an integrated air-ground campaign, in which the main ground element was the Syrian Arab Army, and as one that used siege warfare. He also wrote that during the Battle of Aleppo a grouping was created to deliver strikes on targets along the outer ring of the city, working in three shifts for constant fire impact on enemy positions. This made him one of four active-duty officers told hold the rank at that time, along with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Ground Forces commander Oleg Salyukov, and Aerospace Forces commander Sergey Surovikin. This, among other factors, led some observers to see him as a potential successor to Gerasimov as the Chief of the General Staff. However, this appointment was never officially confirmed. However, on 5 June Ukrainian governor of Luhansk Oblast Serhiy Haidai said Dvornikov was still in command and had been given until 10 June by his superiors to complete the Battle of Severodonetsk. On 25 June 2022, it was again reported that Dvornikov had been dismissed from his post.

He was sanctioned by Canada under the Special Economic Measures Act (S.C. 1992, c. 17) in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine for Grave Breach of International Peace and Security, and by the UK government in 2019 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.

On 8 October 2022, the Russian Defence Ministry named Air Force General Sergey Surovikin as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine without naming who Surovikin was replacing.

Post-military career After his replacement as field commander in Ukraine, he largely remained out of public activity,

Military reputation Dvornikov's military reputation is often cited in the international press for the harsh conduct of his military campaigns, particularly in Chechnya and Syria. He has been accused of having pursued scorched earth tactics. Retired US Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis spoke in an interview of what he said was a known epithet of Dvornikov, "Butcher of Syria". According to an investigation by Cathrin Schaer and Emad Hassan published in the German state-funded media Deutsche Welle, statistics also show that Dvornikov did not open up a new and more violent chapter in the Syrian war. The Jamestown Foundation described Dvornikov as one of the generals that were "fighting the last war" by using tactics that had been effective in Syria but were less relevant in the conditions of Ukraine.