Viktor Khrenin

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In this Eastern Slavic naming convention, the patronymic is Gennadievich and the family name is Khrenin.
Lieutenant General
Viktor Khrenin
Віктар Хрэнін.jpg
Minister of Defence of Belarus
Assumed office
20 January 2020
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Prime MinisterSyarhey Rumas
Roman Golovchenko
Preceded byAndrei Ravkov
Commander of the Western Operational Command
In office
23 June 2015 – 20 January 2020
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Personal details
Born (1971-08-01) 1 August 1971 (age 50)
Navahrudak, Grodno Region, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
Spouse(s)Natalia
Children1
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union (1988–1991)
 Belarus (1992–present)
Branch/serviceArmed Forces of Belarus
Years of service1988–present
RankLieutenant General

Viktor Gennadievich Khrenin (Belarusian: Віктар Генадзевіч Хрэнін, Russian: Виктор Геннадиевич Хренин) is a senior leader in the Belarusian Armed Forces and the current Minister of Defense.[1][2]

Life and career[]

He was born on 1 August 1971 in Navahrudak, a town in the Grodno Region. His father, Gennady Khrenin, was a Soviet Army Colonel in Reserve from the Penza Oblast. He graduated in 1988 from the Minsk Suvorov Military School. After graduating from the Omsk-based Frunze Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1992, he served as a platoon commander and later a battalion commander in the 6th Guards Kiev-Berlin Mechanised Brigade. After graduating from the Military Academy of Belarus in 2005, Khrenin served as a senior officer in the operational department of the headquarters of the Western Operational Command. After leaving this post, he took a number of leadership positions that climaxed when he became the commander of the 11th Guards Berlin-Carpathian Mechanized Brigade. In 2014, he graduated from the faculty of the General Staff of the Belarusian Military Academy with honours and a gold medal. On 23 June 2015, by decree of President Alexander Lukashenko he was appointed to the post of commander of the troops of the Western Operational Command.

Defence minister[]

Khrenin (far right) with Rajnath Singh and Nurlan Yermekbayev.

After 5 years in this role, he was appointed in January 2020, by President Lukashenko, to the post of the Defence Minister of Belarus, succeeding Lieutenant General Andrei Ravkov, who himself was made the State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus.[3] Upon his appointment, he underlined his consistency with military priorities while admitting that he "will have to study and learn a lot".[4]

On the 80th birthday of Anatoly Kostenko, Khrenin personally congratulated the former defence minister in the building of the military department.[5][6][7]

During the 2020 Belarusian protests, he compared those marching and protesting under the historical tricolor of the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic to Nazi collaborators during World War II, saying in a statement that "We cannot calmly watch how, under the flags under which the fascists organized the massacres of Belarusians, Russians, Jews, [and] representatives of other nationalities, actions are being organized today in these sacred places".[8] His statement was considered to be unusually politicized and emotionally charged even for an agency like the defense ministry.[9] Khrenin also declared to the military leadership that a military conflict may be unfolding that will require their assistance.[10]

Sanctions[]

In June 2021, the EU put sanctions on Khrenin.[11] He was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom,[12] Switzerland[13][14] and Canada.[15]

Personal life[]

  • Wife - Natalya Mikhailovna Khrenina, the head of the physiotherapy department of the 1134th Military Clinical Medical Center of the Armed Forces.[16]
  • Daughter - Marina, a lawyer and a graduate of the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno.

Awards[]

  • Order "For Service to the Motherland" III degree
  • Medal "For impeccable service" I degree (2018)[17]
  • Medal "For impeccable service" II degree
  • Medal "For impeccable service" III degree
  • Jubilee Medal "50 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
  • Jubilee Medal "60 years of the liberation of the Republic of Belarus from the Nazi invaders"
  • Jubilee Medal "60 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
  • Medal "65 years of the liberation of the Republic of Belarus from the Nazi invaders"
  • Jubilee Medal "65 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
  • Jubilee Medal "70 years of the liberation of the Republic of Belarus from the Nazi invaders"

References[]

  1. ^ "Lukashenka Reshuffles Top Military Leadership, Appoints New Defense Minister". www.rferl.org.
  2. ^ "New leadership of military-political bloc of our country appointed today". Белтелерадиокомпания.
  3. ^ "Victor Khrenin — Military information portal of the Ministry of Defence of Republic of Belarus". www.mil.by.
  4. ^ https://m.eng.belta.by/society/view/belarus-new-defense-minister-chief-of-general-staff-introduced-to-defense-ministry-team-127444-2020/
  5. ^ "Анатолий Иванович, а помните?.. — Во славу родины". vsr.mil.by. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  6. ^ "Полвека в строю — Во славу родины". vsr.mil.by. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  7. ^ "Юбилей генерал-полковника Анатолия Костенко" – via www.youtube.com.
  8. ^ "Belarusian Defense Minister Misleadingly Associates National Flag with Nazi Collaborators". POLYGRAPH.info.
  9. ^ "Belarus protests: defense minister warns of army use, Lukashenko shows resolve in propaganda video". www.unian.info.
  10. ^ "Belarus' defence minister tells military elite: "It is necessary to fight. And if necessary with weapons" as Lukashenko's counteroffensive gathers momentum". www.intellinews.com. August 20, 2020.
  11. ^ "EU slaps sanctions on Lukashenko family members, Belarus defense minister, businessmen". TASS. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  12. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury. 2021-06-25.
  13. ^ Shields, Michael; Liffey, Kevin (2021-07-07). Liffey, Kevin (ed.). "Swiss widen sanctions list against Belarus". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  14. ^ "Sanctions program: Belarus: Verordnung vom 11. Dezember 2020 über Massnahmen gegenüber Belarus (SR 946.231.116.9), Anhang 1 Origin: EU Sanctions: Art. 2 Abs. 1 (Finanzsanktionen) und Art. 3 Abs. 1 (Ein- und Durchreiseverbot)" (PDF). Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft. 2021-07-07. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  15. ^ "Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List". Global Affairs Canada. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  16. ^ "Врачи медицинского центра". 1134.by.
  17. ^ "Указ Прэзідэнта Рэспублікі Беларусь ад 20 лютага 2018 года №75 «Аб узнагароджанні»" (PDF).
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