1. Colonel General Alexander Alexandrovich Zhuravlyov is a Russian Ground Forces officer who has commanded the military force in Syria during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War and served as the commander of the Western Military District from November 2018 to June 2022.
Alexander Zhuravlyov was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2016 by a directive of the President.
Alexander Zhuravlyov was born in the town of Golyshmanovo, in the Tyumen Oblast, in 1965.
Alexander Zhuravlyov graduated from the Chelyabinsk Higher Tank Command School in 1986 and the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in 1996.
Finally, in 2008 Zhuravlyov graduated from the General Staff Academy.
Alexander Zhuravlyov has served as the chief of staff of the 58th Army and as commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army before being transferred to the Southern Military District in 2015, having previously been promoted to lieutenant general in 2014.
In July 2016, Lieutenant General Alexander Zhuravlyov was appointed as the commander of the Russian military forces in Syria, replacing Colonel General Aleksandr Dvornikov.
Alexander Zhuravlyov held this post until December 2016, when he was replaced by Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov.
Since leaving Syria, Alexander Zhuravlyov was promoted to colonel general and appointed Deputy Chief of General Staff.
On 22 November 2017, Alexander Zhuravlyov was appointed commander of the Eastern Military District, replacing Colonel General Sergey Surovikin, who transferred to command the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Alexander Zhuravlyov was dismissed as commander of the Western Military District in June 2022.
Alexander Zhuravlyov was sanctioned by the UK government on 15 March 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.