The new commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces has been appointed as Lieutenant General Viktor Afzalov. The Russian Ministry of Defense made this announcement today. From 2018 to 2023, he served as the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces under General Sergei Surovikin.
According to information from open sources, he temporarily assumed the role of the Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces during General Surovikin's assignment in Syria in 2020 and continued in that position after Surovikin's removal earlier this summer.
General Afzalov's profile is included in the "Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People," a database of Russian military personnel accused of committing crimes in Ukraine. It is mentioned that he directly participated in planning and organizing the full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
The message states that General Afzalov was responsible for planning aerial missile strikes on civilian and energy infrastructure targets in Ukraine.
Here's what is known about Afzalov:
- He was born on June 9, 1968, in the village of Ukromnoe, Simferopol district.
- He graduated from the Pushkin Higher Military Radio-Electronics School of the Air Defense Forces, the Military University of the Air Defense Forces, and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
- He has been awarded several orders and medals, including the Orders "For Military Merit," "Alexander Nevsky," and "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the VI and III degrees, as well as many other medals.
- He is married and has two sons.
