Viktor Chirkov

Viktor Viktorovich Chirkov (Виктор Викторович Чирков; born September 8, 1957, in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR) is a Russian admiral and the former commander of the Baltic Fleet. On 6 May 2012, he was appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, succeeding Vladimir Vysotsky, who had occupied the post for almost five years.

Entering the Navy in 1979, after graduating from the S.O. Makarov Higher Naval School in Vladivostok in 1982, Chirkov first posting was as the commander of mine-and-torpedo department of a Pacific Fleet frigate. During the next several years, Chirkov would serve as the assistant commander of frigate before becoming executive officer of a destroyer. In 1987, he was appointed executive officer of the frigate Storozhevoy after successfully completing the Navy Higher Special Officer Classes in Leningrad. In 1990, he became the commanding officer of the Udaloy I-class anti-submarine warship Admiral Spiridonov.

In 2000, having completed the Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, Chirkov was made the Chief of Staff/First Deputy Commander of the Northeast Group of Troops and Forces on Kamchatka. Since 2007, he was the Chief of Staff/First Deputy Commander of the Baltic Fleet, and appointed Fleet Commander by the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev on 8 September 2009.

On 6 May 2012, President Dmitry Medvedev on his last day in office prior to the inauguration of Vladimir Putin appointed Chirkov to replace Vladimir Vysotskiy as the Russian Navy's Commander-in-Chief. In an interview with news agency RIA Novosti, Chirkov said, "The most important thing for Russia is to build a fleet with the support of the president and like-minded persons."