Ruslan Khomchak
Ruslan Borysovych Khomchak is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, until 28 March 2020 also holding the post of Chief of the General Staff.
Previously from 21 May 2019 he combined this post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the post of Chief of the General Staff. On 28 March 2020 a decree by President Volodymyr Zelensky divided the posts of Commander in Chief and Chief of General Staff. On this day Zelensky dismissed Khomchak from the post of Chief of General Staff and appointed him Chief Commander of Armed Forces while simultaneously he appointed Serhiy Korniychuk Chief of the General Staff.Biography
Khomchak was born in Lviv on 5 June 1967. He graduated from the Moscow Higher Military Command School in 1988. Khomchak then served in East Germany and in the Belarusian SSR between 1988 and 1992.
Following Ukrainian independence in 1991 Khomchak became a military commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From 1993 to 2000 Khomchak served in the 24th Mechanized Brigade. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general since 2013, participant in the war in Donbas. During the decisively lost by Ukrainian forces Battle of Ilovaisk Khomchak was sectoral commander.
On 21 May 2019 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Ruslan Khomchak Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On 28 March 2020 a decree by President Zelensky divided the posts of Commander in Chief and Chief of General Staff. On this day Zelensky dismissed Khomchak from the post of Chief of General Staff and appointed him Chief Commander of Armed Forces while simultaneously he appointed Serhiy Korniychuk Chief of the General Staff.
