On Monday, May 4, 2026, the Russian outlet RBK was the first to report, citing a source familiar with the personnel decision – which was confirmed by a source close to the Ministry of Defense – that Gen. Alexander Chaiko had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). He replaced Gen. Viktor Afzalov, who had held the post since August 23, 2023.
Gen. Alexander Chaiko in 2021 / Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Alexander Yuryevich Chaiko (born July 27, 1971, in Golitsyno, Moscow Oblast), a Hero of Russia since 2020, interestingly built his military career in the Ground Forces. He graduated from the Moscow Suvorov Military School, the Moscow Higher Military Command School, the M.V. Frunze Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (2001), and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (2012). He served in positions ranging from reconnaissance platoon commander to commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Military District.
In 2015, he became the first chief of staff of the Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Syrian Arab Republic. From April 2017 to November 2018, he served as chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District, and then, until February 2019, as deputy head of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Later, from February 2019 to November 2021, he served as deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. During that period, from September 2019 to November 2020 and from February to June 2021, he commanded the Group of Forces of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria, where media reports described him as a brutal commander.
On June 11, 2021, he was promoted to the rank of colonel general. From November 12, 2021, to July 6, 2022, he commanded the Eastern Military District, and then again, from September to December 2022, Russian forces in Syria.
War Crimes in Ukraine
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in February and March 2022, he commanded the Russian grouping of forces on the Kyiv axis, in his capacity as commander of the Eastern Military District. He was the highest-ranking Russian commander in that theater when Russian forces occupied Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and the surrounding areas.
Units under his command – including the 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, commanded by Col. Azatbek Omurbekov, and the 76th Guards Air Assault Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Sergey Chubarykin – took direct part in the occupation of Bucha and the massacres of civilians.
The Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, as well as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Frontline, accuse him of command responsibility for torture, executions, and the mass killing of civilians. In March 2026, the European Union imposed sanctions on him specifically over Bucha, along with other commanders. Witnesses saw him in nearby areas, such as Zdvyzhivka, where crimes were also committed. There are also reports that soldiers were rewarded for their actions in the region.
According to official data from Ukrainian authorities from August 2022, 458 people were killed in Bucha, including 419 who died from gunshot wounds, torture, or trauma, and 39 who died of natural causes, albeit under occupation conditions. The victims included nine children under the age of 18. Across the entire Bucha district, including surrounding villages, the death toll is estimated at around 1,190–1,700 civilians killed during the occupation from February to March 2022.