Mikhail Kosobokov

Commander of the 49th General Staff Army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation

General Biographical Information

• Mikhail Kosobokov was born on October 11, 1974 in Ryazan, Ryazan Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
• In 1994-1999, he studied at the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School.
• In 2019, he graduated from the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
• Since 2022, he has been participating in Russia's full-scale military aggression in Ukraine.
• On November 8, 2023, he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General.
• He has received numerous awards, including the Medal Participant in the Military Operation in Syria. He has also been awarded three honors for his service in the occupied region of Abkhazia: the Order of Courage, the Medal For Military Valor, and the Medal For Combat Brotherhood.

Military Career

• In 2000-2001 - commander of a reconnaissance platoon.
• In 2006-2008 - commander of a paratrooper battalion.
• In 2008 - participated in the Russian military aggression against Georgia.
• ​​In 2013-2014 - commander of a separate motorized rifle brigade.
• In 2014-2017 - commander of the 7th military base deployed in occupied Abkhazia. On October 23, 2014, he met with the de facto President of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba.
• In 2020 - deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet Army Corps in occupied Crimea.
• In 2021 - deputy commander of the 58th General Staff Army.
• On September 8, 2021, by an order of the Russian Minister of Defense, he was appointed commander of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. At the time he held the rank of Major General. The following day, on September 9, he met with the Minister of Defense of Armenia, Arshak Karapetyan. Kosobokov's appointment sparked some discontent in Azerbaijan, as his previous assignments had primarly been in regions with ongoing separatist issues. Due to the resulting tensions, his tenure in Nagorno-Karabakh was brief and he left the post on September 25.
• On November 8, 2023, he was appointed commander of the 49th General Staff Army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation.