The Ministry of Defense has decided on the candidacy of the deputy minister for military-political work. According to Izvestia’s sources in the military department, Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko, who previously commanded the troops of the Eastern Military District (VVO), will become the “chief political officer” of the army and navy. He planned military operations in Syria during one of the most difficult periods, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. In place of the commander will come Hero of Russia Colonel-General Alexander Chaiko. Until recently, he headed the Russian group in the SAR. Both officers have commanded combined-arms formations throughout their careers and distinguished themselves in combat. Experts note that the appointment of a combat general to military-political work marks the growth of the importance of this institution.
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Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko will be transferred from the post of Commander of the Air Defense Forces to the position of Chief of the Main Military-Political Directorate (GVPU) -Deputy Minister for Military-Political Work (VPR), Izvestia sources in the Defense Ministry said. The previous head of the GVPU, Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, was dismissed from service in October in connection with his election to the State Duma from the United Russia party. In the Lower House, he headed the defense committee.
Gennady Zhidko was born in 1965. After graduating from the Tashkent Higher Military Tank School in 1987, he passed all the steps of the career ladder from platoon commander to division commander. In 2001, he commanded the 92nd motorized rifle regiment of the 201st motorized rifle division in Tajikistan (now the 201st military base).
The new “chief political officer” graduated from two academies – armored forces and the General Staff. From 2007 to 2009, he commanded the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the North Caucasian Military District. She was considered one of the most efficient formations in the region. In 2009 he was appointed Chief of Staff – Deputy Commander of the 20th Army, then the 6th Army of the Western Military District. In 2016-2017, General Zhidko was on a business trip to Syria, where he planned military operations during one of the most difficult periods of the campaign. In particular, during his service in the region, Palmyra was liberated, and Syrian troops, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, occupied Deir ez-Zor. The general’s successes in the SAR were highly appreciated by the military leadership, sources told Izvestia. In 2017, he received the Gold Star of the Hero and became the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, and a year later he was appointed to the post of Commander of the Air Defense Forces.
“In recent years, the most close attention has been paid to military-political work in the troops,” said military expert Vladislav Shurygin in an interview with Izvestia. – The moral and psychological state of the soldiers largely depends on it, both in daily service and during hostilities. Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko held command positions all his life and was not a “political officer”. However, in this case, this circumstance is rather an advantage: he showed outstanding organizational skills, knows the life of the troops from all sides. In addition, he is a recognized and honored military leader with combat experience. It is not without reason that it is believed that the best method of upbringing is a personal example. On the whole, the choice of such an authoritative general for the post of chief of the Main Military Directorate shows how much the importance of the institution of political politicians has grown.
Personal experience
Colonel-General Alexander Chaiko, who will take the post of commander of the Air Defense Forces, has no less consistently built his career in the army. He graduated from the Suvorov Military School, in 1992 – the legendary Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School. The first steps of the career ladder passed in the troops of the Western Group of Forces, after their withdrawal – in the Moscow Military District. In 2004, at the age of 33, he received the rank of colonel ahead of schedule. By this time, he was in command of one of the regiments of the Taman division. In 2006, he was appointed commander of the 27th separate guards motorized rifle brigade near Moscow, and a year later he took over the Taman division.
In 2014, Alexander Chaiko was appointed commander of the 20th Army, then the newly formed 1st Guards Tank Army. And in the fall of 2015, he was the first to take up the post of chief of staff of the group in Syria. He planned schemes for the protection and defense of bases, organized combat service, support and logistics. Already in December of that year, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
According to Izvestia sources, General Chaiko has at least five business trips to Syria. In particular, he commanded the 2019-2020 group. Then he had to establish joint patrols with the Turkish military in Trans-Euphrates. It was a difficult period – the patrols faced large-scale protests of the local population, provocations and shelling initiated by local terrorists.
After 1991, political work in the Armed Forces and other law enforcement agencies was curtailed, and the principle of “an army outside politics” was enshrined in legislation. The zampolites became educators, but for many years the military leaders could not decide on the place of these officers in the daily activities of the troops. Since 2018, the status of political officers has increased significantly, and the range of their duties has become much broader. Then the Ministry of Defense decided to actually revive, albeit in a new guise, the institution of deputy commanders for political work.
In the structure of the department, the Main Military-Political Directorate (GVPU) appeared, headed by a general in the rank of deputy minister. The positions of deputy commanders for military-political work were created in the troops. Such officers serve in all units and divisions with a staffing of more than 75 people. Each motorized rifle or airborne company, Marine Corps or Special Forces company, as well as higher-level formations – battalions, divisions, and so on – has a deputy for VPR.
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