Aleksandr Chayko

Colonel General Aleksandr Yuryevich Chayko (Russian: Александр Юрьевич Чайко; born 27 July 1971) is a Russian military officer who has been Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces since 2026. He was formerly the commander of the Eastern Military District from 2021 to 2022, and his other previous commands included the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army. Chayko was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2020. He was commissioned in 1992, graduating from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School. He went on to graduate from the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2001 and the General Staff Academy in 2012. At the start of the Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015, Chayko served as the chief of staff, being responsible for setting up base infrastructure and coordinating operations with Syrian allies. He commanded the Operational Group of Forces in the Syrian Arab Republic several times, including from 2019 to 2021, in 2022, and in 2024. He is accused by the Ukrainian government of organizing massacres in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv during 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.