Valery Gerasimov
Valery Gerasimov is a Russian military officer holding the rank of General of the Army. He has served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation — and First Deputy Minister of Defence — since 2012. In 2023 he was elevated to Deputy Minister of Defence while retaining the Chief of the General Staff role.
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Zelenskyy says Ukraine holds more territory than Russia has taken since autumn, pushes back on Gerasimov's Zaporizhzhia claims
In his evening address on October 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces have liberated more territory since the start of autumn than Russia has captured, and that the same trend has held in other periods of 2025. He pushed back on claims by Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, asserting that Russian forces are being engaged about 20 km from Zaporizhzhia, not 5 km as Russia claims, and that several named settlements remain under Ukrainian control.