District Commander - Colonel General

Unit: Eastern Military District
Previously: Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the RF Armed Forces.

Cargo ID: #1119

Of Note: Although assigned a Cargo ID, he has not been added as a Cargo200 nor added to the OOB because he did not die as a result of the war. General Zhidko was in charge of the war in Ukraine for about three months; he replaced General Alexander Dvornikov at the end of May, 2022 before his own "removal" in August.

English Name: Gennady Valerievich Zhidko

Russian Name: Геннадий Валериевич Жидко

Date of Birth: September 12, 1965 (age: 58 years)

Place of Birth: Yangiabad, Uzbek SSR

Place of Death: Moscow, Russia (reported cause of death: Cancer)

Education: Tashkent Higher Tank Command School

Awards: Hero of Russia (2107), others being clarified.

"Gennady Valeryevich Zhidko was born on September 12, 1965 in the city of Yangiabad, Uzbek SSR. In 1987 he graduated from the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School. After distribution, he served in the 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Volga and Volga-Ural Military Districts with a base in the village of Totskoye, Orenburg Region . There he rose from platoon commander to division commander. Later he was the commander of the 92nd motorized rifle regiment based in Dushanbe.
In 2016, he served as chief of staff of the grouping of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria. In 2018, he was appointed Commander of the Eastern Military District, in 2021 - Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation - Head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the RF Armed Forces. In 2022, General Zhidko again became the commander of the Eastern Military District. "
Zhidko, of course, was not an outstanding commander and was removed last year, because of which he worried for a long time, against the background of which the illness with which he fought, he took his toll - the cancer won.
Be that as it may, he was not a bad person: he was not arrogant and could communicate on equal terms with lower-ranking officers, although his adjutants ran after him with an overcoat in their hands.
After a long illness, Hero of Russia, Colonel General Gennady Valerievich Zhidko, died in Moscow.
I was fortunate to know this man, who was very attentive to the needs of the common soldier and very demanding in his service. It is these commanders who are called generals.
⠀
In Syria, Gennady Valerievich headed the headquarters of the group of our troops, in Khabarovsk he served as commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District, in Moscow - Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia.