Viktor Bondarev

Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev (Виктор Николаевич Бондарев; born December 7, 1959, in Voronezh, USSR) is a Lieutenant General and the current Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, having been appointed to the post on 6 May 2012. He replaced Alexander Zelin, who was dismissed from the military on 27 April.

Bondarev's career started off with his joining of the Soviet Air Force in 1977. By 1981 he had graduated from the Boris Aviation Training Centre for flight crews in Borisoglebsk, and by 1992 had graduated from the Gagarin Air Force Academy. In 2004, he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff.

He was a squadron commander of the Boris Aviation Training Centre before becoming a deputy commander and senior pilot of the Attack Aviation Regiment, and as such, participated in the Soviet war in Afghanistan. He then became the commander of the 899th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment located in Buturlinovka, Voronezh; the regiment fought in the First and Second Chechen Wars. In 2000, he became the deputy commander, before being appointed the Commander in 2004, of the 105th Composite Air Division, 16th Army Air Force and Air Defense. From May 2006, he became the Deputy Commander of the 14th Army Air Force and Air Defense; he would become the Commander of the branch in June 2008.

In July 2011, Bondarev was appointed Chief of Staff–Deputy Commander of the Russian Air Force.

On 21 April 2000, via a presidential decree, Bondarev was named a Hero of the Russian Federation for engaging in military activities involving significant risks to his life.