Russian General Staff
Russia's top military command body, led by Valery Gerasimov since November 2012.
On 16 October 2026 Valery Gerasimov reported Dobropillia captured to Vladimir Putin. DeepState's maps showed no Russian control of the Donetsk town, the latest General Staff claim to run ahead of the ground.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026
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Mentioned in: Russia claims Dobropillia, maps say no
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is the Central Command body of Russia's military. It works under the Russian Ministry of Defence, and its chief also serves as First Deputy Minister of Defence.
Valery Gerasimov has led it since 9 November 2012. In January 2023 he also took direct command of Russia's forces in Ukraine, so the war's battlefield reports to the Kremlin come from him.
Those reports are televised, and more than once they have run ahead of the front. In November 2025 Gerasimov declared Kupiansk taken while Ukrainian forces still held much of the town. On 16 October 2026 he reported Dobropillia captured {E99}; the ministry repeated the claim the next day, and independent maps did not back it.
The General Staff's claims outrun the map
Gerasimov's report to Putin on the evening of 16 October 2026 named Dobropillia, a coal-mining town in Donetsk region. The defence ministry listed it the next morning among eight settlements taken. DeepState's map updates to 17 October recorded Russian advances on the town's edges but no control of the town itself.
Gerasimov has named Dobropillia before. His July 2026 list of Donetsk gains included the town, yet analysts at the Institute for the Study of War could find no Russian troops inside it. On 20 November 2025 he told Putin that Kupiansk had fallen while Ukrainian forces still held much of it. Until a map or Kyiv confirms the 16 October 2026 report on Dobropillia, that capture stands as Moscow's word alone.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.