Andrei Ravkov

Lieutenant General Andrei Alekseyevich Ravkov (Андрэй Аляксеевіч Раўкоў, born on 25 June 1967 in Revyaki, Vitebsk Region) has been the Defence Minister of Belarus since 27 November 2014.

Early life and career
In 1984, he graduated from Minsk Suvorov Military School. In 1988, he graduated with honors from the Moscow Higher Military Command School. He worked his way from the commander of the platoon to commander of the battalion. In 1999, he graduated with a gold medal from the Command and Staff department of Belarus's Military Academy.

In 2005, he graduated with honours from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and was appointed commander of the 103rd separate Guards mobile brigade. From 2006 to 2012 he served as chief of the operations department - deputy chief of staff of the Western Operational Command and chief of staff - first deputy commander of the North-Western Operational Command.

On 16 November 2012, he became commander of the North-Western Operational Command.

In 2012, he was elected to the Minsk regional council of deputies from Borisov.