Viktor Samsonov


Viktor Samsonov
Native name
Виктор Николаевич Самсонов
Born(1941-11-10)10 November 1941
Died17 November 2024(2024-11-17) (aged 83)
Moscow, Russia
Buried
Allegiance Soviet Union (to 1991)
Russia
Branch Soviet Navy
 Soviet Army
 Russian Ground Forces
Service years1964–2002
RankArmy General
CommandsChief of the General Staff
Leningrad Military District
4th Army
ConflictsNagorno-Karabakh conflict
First Chechen War
Alma materFar Eastern Higher Command School
Frunze Military Academy
General Staff Academy

Viktor Nikolayevich Samsonov (10 November 1941 – 17 November 2024) was a Russian general of the army. He became a Soviet Army officer after graduating the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1964. He was the last Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1991 to 1992 and was in command of all military forces on the territory of the Russian SFSR after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was then the Chief of the General Staff of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Armed Forces from 1992 to 1993, Chief of Staff for Coordinating Military Cooperation of the CIS Member States from 1993 to 1996, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from 1996 to 1997.