Oleg Salyukov
Colonel General Oleg Salyukov has served as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces since 2014, giving him the longest continuous tenure among senior Russian military leaders during the war. He oversees the largest branch of the Russian Armed Forces and has been responsible for the reconstitution, rearmament, and expansion of Russian land forces throughout the conflict. Despite enormous losses in Ukraine, Russia's Ground Forces under Salyukov expanded from approximately 280,000 personnel at the war's start to over 700,000 by 2025 through forced mobilisation and contract recruitment.
Key Operations
- —Russian Ground Forces command throughout the war (Feb 2022 – present)
- —Oversight of partial mobilisation implementation (Sep 2022)
- —Ground Forces expansion and reconstitution program (2022–2025)
- —Coordination of multiple strategic groupings (North, South, East, Center)
Notable
Salyukov has retained his position despite the catastrophic losses suffered by Russian Ground Forces — estimated at over 400,000 casualties by 2025. His longevity may reflect his role as an administrative rather than operational commander, with General Gerasimov overseeing operational direction. The Ground Forces' expansion under his watch represents one of the largest force buildups in post-Cold War Russian military history.