Viktor Muzhenko
Viktor Muzhenko | |
---|---|
Native name | Віктор Миколайович Муженко |
Birth name | Viktor Mykolayovych Muzhenko |
Born | Vystupovichi, Ovruch Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union[1] | 10 October 1961
Allegiance | |
Service/ | |
Rank | General of the army of Ukraine |
Commands | Chief of the General Staff (2014-2019) Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2012-2014) 8th Army Corps (Ukraine) (2010–2012) |
Viktor Mykolayovych Muzhenko (Ukrainian: Віктор Миколайович Муженко; born 10 October 1961)[1] is a Ukrainian general who was the Chief of the General Staff and the commanding officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019.
Biography
[edit]In 1983 Muzhenko graduated from the Leningrad Higher Military Command School.[1] He then served in the Soviet Union's Transcaucasian Military District in the mechanized and motorized infantry, ending up being a commander of a motorized infantry battalion in Armenia.[1] In 1992 he moved to the Carpathian Military District where he till 2000 served as its commander.[1] In 1996 Muzhenko graduated from the Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[1] From 2000 till 2003 he was chief of staff - deputy division commander of the Territorial Directorate "North".[1] From April 2003 to July 2004 he served as chief of staff - first deputy commander of a mechanized brigade of Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent of the multinational force in Iraq.[1] In 2005 Muzhenko graduated from the Faculty training of operational and strategic levels of the National Defence Academy of Ukraine.[1] In 2005 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Corps of Ukrainian Ground Forces, a post he held till 2010.[1] In 2010–2012, he served as commander of the 8th Army Corps.[1] On 10 May 2012 Muzhenko was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[1] On 24 August 2012 Muzhenko was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.[1] Muzhenko was elected deputy of the Zhytomyr Oblast Council for the Party of Regions, but left the party in February 2014.[1] 20 May 2014 decree of the Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov appointed him first deputy head of the counterterrorist center at the Security Service of Ukraine.[1]
Muzhenko was appointed Chief of the General Staff by president Petro Poroshenko on 3 July 2014.[2] (According to Poroshenko) at the time his predecessor Mykhailo Kutsyn was suffering from shell-shock and a concussion and was staying at a hospital (he had been wounded while combating the 2014 insurgency in Donbas).[3] Muzhenko had also entered into combat in the Donbas region during the same operation.[1]
Awards and decorations
[edit]Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky 3rd class (4 July 2016).[4]
Order of Danylo Halytsky (2004)[1]
Medal "For Irreproachable Service"
Defender of the Motherland Medal
Medal "For Impeccable Service"
Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Medal "For Distinction in Military Service"
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q (in Russian) Short bio, LIGA
- ^ Ukraine's new defence minister promises Crimea victory, BBC News (3 July 2014)
President appoints Muzhenko as commander-in-chief of Armed Forces, Ukrinform (3 July 2014) - ^ Poroshenko: Former Ukrainian General Staff chief shell-shocked in southeastern combat zone, Interfax-Ukraine (3 July 2014)
- ^ Decree of the President of Ukraine from 4 липня 2016 year № 293/2016 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України» (in Ukrainian)
External links
[edit]- Profile at the Official Website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (in Ukrainian)
- 1961 births
- Living people
- People from Zhytomyr Oblast
- Pro-Ukrainian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
- Soviet military personnel
- Generals of the Army (Ukraine)
- Recipients of the Order of Danylo Halytsky
- Party of Regions politicians
- Chiefs of the General Staff (Ukraine)
- Ukrainian military personnel of the war in Donbas
- Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class