Alexander Lentsov

{{Infobox military person

| honorific_prefix =

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| native_name = Александр Иванович Ленцов

| native_name_lang = Russian

| image = Alexander Lentsov 2015 (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Lentsov in 2015

| birth_name = Alexander Ivanovich Lentsov

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|12|20|df= y}}

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| birth_place = Kholmskaya, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

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| allegiance = {{flag|USSR}} (to 1991)
{{flag|Russia}}

| branch = {{flagicon image|USSR Airborn troops flag.svg}} Soviet Airborne Forces
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Russian Airborne Troops.svg}} Russian Airborne Forces
{{army|Russia}}

| serviceyears = 1978–2023

| rank = Colonel general

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| battles = {{ubl|Soviet–Afghan War|First Chechen War|Bosnian War (IFOR)|Second Chechen War|Russo-Georgian War|Russo-Ukrainian War|Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (peacekeeping)|Syrian Civil War (expeditionary force)}}

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Alexander Ivanovich Lentsov ({{langx|ru|Александр Иванович Ленцов}}; born 20 December 1956) is a retired Russian Airborne Forces colonel general that held various senior positions, including Deputy Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces from 2009 to 2013 and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces from 2013 to 2020. He also had senior posts with Russian peacekeeping forces deployed abroad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Syria, and commanded the 98th Guards Airborne Division from 1996 to 2009.

Biography

Lentsov was born on 20 December 1956 in Kholmskaya, Krasnodar Krai, in the Soviet Union. His military education includes graduating from the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School in 1978, from the Frunze Military Academy in 1989, and from the General Staff Academy in 2008. After 1978 he first served in command positions at the platoon, battalion, regimental, and division levels, and fought in the Soviet-Afghan War and the Chechen Wars.{{Cite news |title= Чем известен Александр Ленцов |trans-title=What Alexander Lentsov is known for |lang=ru |date=26 April 2023 |work=Kommersant |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5954400 }}

=General officer=

He was promoted to lieutenant general in 2011 and colonel general in 2014.

Since 2020 he has served as an advisor to the Minister of Defence.{{cite web|author=kremlin.ru|url=http://kremlin.ru/acts/news/62631|title=Указ о назначении на должность в Вооружённых Силах|publisher=kremlin.ru|date=22 January 2020|accessdate=22 January 2020}}

On 25 April 2023, he was appointed commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh.{{Cite web|lang=en|url=https://www.turan.az/ext/news/2023/4/free/politics_news/en/3851.htm|title=Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh have a new commander|website=www.turan.az|date=2023-04-26|access-date=}} He remained in that role until 3 September 2023.{{Cite web |title=

Командующий миротворцами в Карабахе Кирилл Куликов. Досье |date=5 September 2023 |trans-title=Commander of peacekeepers in Karabakh Kirill Kulakov. Dossier |lang=ru |work=Argumenty i Fakty |url=https://aif.ru/society/army/komanduyushchiy_mirotvorcami_v_karabahe_kirill_kulikov_dose }}