Valery Gerasimov

Chief of the General Staff, Russian Armed Forces - Repeatedly making disputed claims about Kupiansk

Russian forces have spent more than two years trying to recapture Kupiansk, a railway hub they lost in five days during Ukraine's 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive. On February 9, 2026, Russian troops launched a mechanized assault east of the city, claiming to have captured the villages of Petropavlivka and Stepova Novoselivka—though Ukrainian forces reported repelling multiple attacks in the same area. The contested advance continues a pattern of Russian claims that outpace verified territorial control.

Updated Feb 9

Chief of the General Staff, Russian Armed Forces; Commander of Russian Forces in Ukraine - Active duty; Putin extended his service past mandatory retirement age

The United States and Russia agreed on February 5, 2026, to reestablish high-level military communication that had been suspended since fall 2021. The channel gives General Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. European Command, a direct line to General Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia's General Staff—restoring a mechanism designed to prevent miscalculation between two nuclear-armed militaries operating in proximity across Europe, the Arctic, and the Black Sea.

Updated Feb 6