Sergey Kuzovlev

Commander of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation exerts total control over the field of security in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region. In this, the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation (SMD) plays a special role. The 7th Russian military base located in Abkhazia and the 4th Russian military base in Tskhinvali are under the SMD command. Apart from the military bases, the interests of the Kremlin on the occupied territories are also upheld by the Border Division of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, which is under the SMD operative command. A

General Biographical Information

• Sergey Kuzovlev was born on January 7, 1967, in the city of Michurinsk, Tambov Region, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
• In 1984, he graduated from a Michurinsk secondary school.
• In 1990, he graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School named after General of the  Army V. F. Margelov.
• In 2008, started studying at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation which he graduated in 2010.
• He participated in the first and second Chechen wars.
• On February 22, 2014, he was awarded the rank of Major General, on June 10, 2017 - the rank of Lieutenant General, on February 18, 2021 - the rank of Colonel General.

Military Career

• In 2005-2008, he was the Commander of the 15th separate guards motorized rifle brigade of the Volga-Ural Military District.
• In 2010, after graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, he was appointed as the Commander of the 18th separate guards motorized rifle brigade.
• In 2014, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District.
• According to the Ukrainian side, Kuzovlev headed the 2nd Army Corps of the Russian Armed Forces in the eastern region of Ukraine from the fall of 2014 to the winter of 2015. As per various reports, he headed separatist military units in the the so-called Luhansk People's Republic.
• In 2015-2016, he was the Commander of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District.
• In 2016-2017, he was the Commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District.
• In 2017, he was appointed as the Commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District.
• In 2019, he was appointed as the First Deputy Commander and the Chief of Staff of the Southern Military District. Before Kuzovlev, the headquarters was headed by the Hero of Russia, Lieutenant General Mikhail Teplinskiy.
• In 2020-2021, he headed a military group of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria.
• From June 2021, he was the Acting Commander of the Troops of the Southern Military District.
• On December 13, 2022, he was appointed as the Commander of the Western Military District. He spent only one month in this position.
• On January 23, 2023, he was appointed as the Commander of the Southern Military District. He replaced Aleksandr Dvornikov in this post.