Viktor Muzhenko
Ukrainian general (born 1961)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
10 October 1961
Viktor Muzhenko | |
|---|---|
Muzhenko in 2016 | |
| Native name | Віктор Миколайович Муженко |
| Born | Viktor Mykolayovych Muzhenko 10 October 1961 |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| 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) |
Biography
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 until 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]