Army general or general of the army is the second highest military rank in Russia, the equivalent of a four-star rank, subordinate only to a marshal of the Russian Federation and superior to a colonel general. It is a direct counterpart of the Soviet rank of army general.

At present, general of the army is the equivalent of a four-star rank in the Russian Ground Forces (SV), Aerospace Forces (VKS), Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN), Airborne Forces (VDV), and the Federal Security Service (FSB). The corresponding rank to general of the army in the Russian Navy is admiral of the fleet. Several other government agencies of Russia have their own equivalents (e.g. general of the police, general of the judiciary).

On appointment as minister of defense on 7 May 1992, Pavel Grachev was the first officer in the Russian Federation to have been promoted to this rank.

Rank insignia history Since 2013, the rank insignia has been one big star and the army emblem on straps which was also used until 1997, as in the Soviet Army since 1974. Between 1997 and 2013, the rank insignia was four stars in a row, as in the Soviet Union from 1943 to 1974.

Until 1997 generals wore a "small" marshal's star. But when, in 1993, the ranks of chief marshal and marshal of the branch in Russian Federation were abolished, there was no more reason for a special rank insignia for generals. By the President's decree of January 27, 1997, generals regained 1943-like straps with four stars in a row.

List of army generals Name Lifespan date of appointment post at time of appointment left military service Pavel Grachev 1948–2012 7 May 1992 1st Deputy Minister of Defence 2007 Viktor Barannikov 1940–1995 7 May 1992 Minister of Security 1993 Viktor Dubynin 1943–1992 5 October 1992 Chief of the General Staff died in service 1992 Viktor Yerin 1944–2018 1 October 1993 Minister of Internal Affairs 2000 Mikhail Kolesnikov 1939–2007 5 May 1995 Chief of the General Staff 2004 Mikhail Barsukov born 1947 9 November 1995 Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) 1997 Anatoly Kulikov born 19469 November 1995 Minister of Internal Affairs 1998 Andrei Nikolayev born 1949 17 November 1995 Director of the Federal Border Service 1998 Viktor Samsonov 1941–2024 25 January 1996 Chief of Staff, Military Cooperation Headquarters, Commonwealth of Independent States 1999 Vladimir Toporov born 1946 22 February 1996 Deputy Minister of Defence 2002 Pyotr Deynekin 1937–2017 13 June 1996 Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force 1998 Viktor Prudnikov 1939–2015 13 June 1996 Commander of the Air Defence Forces 2004 Vladimir Semyonov born 1940 13 June 1996 Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces 2004 Igor Sergeyev 1938–2006 13 June 1996 Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces 2001 Igor Rodionov 1936–2014 4 October 1996 Minister of Defence 1996 Anatoly Kvashnin 1946-2022 25 November 1997 Chief of the General Staff 2004 Vyacheslav Trubnikov 1944-2022 22 January 1998 Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) 2000 Nikolay Kovalyov 1949–2019 23 February 1998 Director of the FSB 1998 Aleksandr Starovoitov 1940–2021 23 February 1998 Director of the FAPSI 1999 Viktor Kazantsev 1946–2021 21 February 2000 Commander of the North Caucasus Military District 2000 Anatoly Kornukov 1942–2014 21 February 2000 Commander of the Air Force 2002 Vladimir Yakovlev born 1954 27 June 2000 Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces 2004 Nikolai Patrushev born 1951 11 June 2001 Director of the FSB 2008 Vladimir Isakov born 1950 22 February 2002 Commander of the Rear of the Russian Armed Forces 2008 Aleksandr Kosovan born 1941 22 February 2002 Deputy Minister of Defence 2003 Vyacheslav Tikhomirov 1945–2014 6 November 2002 Commander of the Internal Troops 2004 Valentin Bobryshev 1945–2022 21 February 2003 Commander of the Leningrad Military District 2005 Yury Yakubov born 1946 21 February 2003 Commander of the Far Eastern Military District 2006 Konstantin Totsky 1950–2018 23 February 2003 Director of the Federal Border Service 2003 Vladimir Matyukhin 1945–2026 11 March 2003 Director of the FAPSI 2004 Sergey Shoygu born 1955 7 May 2003 Minister of Emergency Situations in service Nikolay Abroskin born 1951 11 June 2003 Chief of the Federal Special Construction Service 2010 Valentin Korabelnikov born 1946 11 June 2003 Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) 2009 Nikolai Kormiltsev born 1946 11 June 2003 Commander of the Ground Forces 2004 Vladimir Boldyrev born 1949 12 December 2003 Commander of the North Caucasus Military District 2010 Sergey Lebedev born 1948 2003 Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service 2007 Ivan Yefremov born 1946 22 February 2004 Commander of the Moscow Military District 2007 Vladimir Mikhaylov born 1943 22 February 2004 Commander of the Air Force 2007 Aleksandr Baranov 1946-2025 12 June 2004 Commander of the Volga-Urals Military District 2008 Alexey Moskovsky born 1947 12 June 2004 Deputy Minister of Defence 2007 Nikolay Pankov born 1954 12 June 2004 Head of Personnel at the Ministry of Defence 2009 Yevgeny Murov born 1945 2004 Director of the Federal Protective Service 2010 Yuri Baluyevsky born 1947 22 February 2005 Chief of the General Staff 2008 Nikolay Makarov born 1952 8 May 2005 Commander of the Siberian Military District 2012 Vladimir Pronichev born 1953 9 May 2005 Director of the Federal Border Service 2013 Igor Puzanov 1947–2023 12 December 2005 Commander of the Leningrad Military District 2007 Sergei Smirnov born 1950 December 2005 1st Deputy Director of the FSB 2020 Rashid Nurgaliyev born 1956 27 December 2005 Minister of Internal Affairs 2012 Anatoly Grebenyuk born 1955 12 June 2006 Head of the Billeting and Arrangement Service of the Ministry of Defence 2007 Aleksandr Belousov born 1952 15 December 2006 1st Deputy Minister of Defence 2009 Alexey Maslov 1953–2022 15 December 2006 Commander of the Ground Forces 2011 Alexander Bortnikov born 1951 December 2006 Head of the Economic Security Department of the FSB in service Oleg Syromolotov born 1953 December 2006 Head of the Counter-intelligence Department of the FSB 2015 Vladimir Bakin born 1953 23 February 2007 Commander of the Moscow Military District 2009 Nikolay Rogozhkin born 1952 23 February 2007 Commander of the Internal Troops 2014 Vladimir Popovkin 1957–2014 22 February 2009 Chief of Armaments of the Ministry of Defence 2011 Nikolai Klimashin born 1952 ? Head of the Scientific and Technical Service of the FSB 2010 Dmitry Bulgakov born 1954 23 February 2011 Deputy Minister of Defence 2022 Valery Gerasimov born 1955 21 February 2013 Chief of the General Staff in service Arkady Bakhin born 1956 21 February 2013 1st Deputy Minister of Defence 2015Yuri Yakovlev born 1952 ? Head of the Economic Security Department of the FSB 2016 Vladimir Kulishov born 1957 ? 1st Deputy Director of the FSB in service Viktor Zolotov born 1954 10 November 2015 Commander of the Internal Troops in service Pavel Popov born 1957 11 December 2015 Deputy Minister of Defence 2024 Oleg Salyukov born 1955 22 February 2019 Commander of the Ground Forces 2025 Aleksandr Dvornikov born 1961 23 June 2020 Commander of the Southern Military District in service Yevgeny Zinichev 1966–2021 21 December 2020 Minister of Emergency Situations died in service 2021 Dmitry Kochnev born 1964 2020 Director of the Federal Protective Service in service Sergei Korolev born 1962 2021 1st Deputy Director of the FSB in service Sergey Surovikin born 1966 16 August 2021 Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces in serviceViktor Goremykin born 1959 9 December 2024 Deputy Minister of Defence, Head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces in serviceYunus-bek Yevkurov born 1963 9 December 2024 Deputy Minister of Defence in service

See also Army ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation Aerospace Forces ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation

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