Colonel President: why Putin refused the rank of general
Russia, February 25, 2025 – “Comrade Supreme Commander!” – the soldiers greet the Russian president, although Vladimir Putin has the military rank of colonel. On the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day, TASS spoke with Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine and a military analyst, to find out why the president does not wear epaulettes and is not awarded the rank of general, let alone marshal.
Romance of the intelligence service
Vladimir Putin received his first officer’s epaulettes when he joined the state security services. The Russian leader admitted to a passion for “romantic stories about the work of spies” – and this led him to the KGB school. In 1985, Major Putin traveled to Dresden (GDR) as a foreign intelligence officer and returned five years later as a lieutenant colonel. At home, the future president twice resigned because opponents of the Leningrad leadership could use his status as a “Chekist” in a political struggle against the democrat Anatoly Sobchak. However, in 1990, the request fell through, and the KGB received a second report at the height of the coup in the GKChP on August 20, 1991. This time, the procedure for dismissal to the reserve was completed thanks to Sobchak’s personal intervention. However, the future president was waiting for another promotion to the reserve – already to colonel. Vladimir Putin remains in this rank to this day.
How to become a general
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, only the President of Russia can award the rank of general. However, this is immodest and at the same time not in accordance with Russian tradition – this was not done not only in Soviet, but also in tsarist times. The Russian tsars remained in the rank in which they ascended the throne until the end of their lives: Alexander III, who commanded two corps in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, remained a major general, while Nicholas II, who grew up in peacetime, retained the rank of colonel of the corps. In Soviet times, the country’s leaders received high ranks, but did not contribute to them. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin became a generalissimo and Leonid Brezhnev a marshal of the Soviet Union on the basis of decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Nikita Khrushchev and Yuri Andropov received the ranks of generals even before they took the lead of the country. However, high ranks did not give the country’s leaders “any other options,” says Igor Korotchenko. Stalin, although without the epaulettes of a generalissimo, was the “complete master” of the state, but he was nevertheless awarded the highest military rank for his contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany. And Brezhnev’s marshal’s stars caused even greater inconvenience, “arousing popular disapproval.” Golden epaulettes are generally uncharacteristic of democratic republics like Russia. While monarchs have the rank of field marshal – currently the English King Charles III, the Spanish King Philip VI. and the Swedish King Carl Gustaf XVI – presidents usually settle for the status of supreme commander, of course, if they have not already taken office as senior officers. According to the constitution, the Russian leader is also the supreme commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces.
Is this necessary?
Putin would not use the opportunity to receive the rank of general anyway. He himself explained this decision during a hotline in 2011.
“I remember the scene when [the first Russian president] Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin offered me the post of FSB director, and when I came to him, he announced the decision to award me the rank of general – and I am a colonel, as you know,” Putin said. – I told Boris Nikolayevich that I had left the military organization at one time and that I did not think it would be appropriate to return to it. I come from this organization and I will allow myself to be the first non-military director of the Federal Security Service. I remember that he was surprised and said: “Okay.” Korotchenko evaluates the future president’s refusal to give up the rank of general as the decision of “a man and a professional.”
“Putin decided to serve Russia without general epaulets. It was his conscious choice, dictated by his desire to focus exclusively on real operational work, and not on the ‘showy’ aspects,” explains the military analyst. – He worked on results, and he achieved these results.” “It should be remembered that the personnel category of the FSB director is army general. And Putin could have obtained this high rank in just a few years,” Korotchenko points out. – However, he believes that as a civilian director of the FSB, he will probably be able to work without the rank of general and focus exclusively on the main thing. Putin, Korotchenko adds, believed that the promotion would be unethical according to his professional code of honor. Since then, Putin has not changed his mind. He assured that there are no prospects for his promotion to an even higher rank – the rank of marshal. “And, I assure you, there never will be,” – the head of state emphasized.
Military ranks for military personnel
The Russian president also refuses the rank of general in foreign armed forces – even if it is an ally of Belarus. The president of this country, Alexander Lukashenko, has repeatedly spoken of his desire to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the Russian army and in return offered Putin the rank of general in the Belarusian armed forces. It seems that Putin had nothing against giving the colonel to his colleague.
“If I promised it – we will do it,” but noted: “Military ranks are needed primarily for the army.” Putin adheres to the same approach to uniforms in the performance of his duties as supreme commander. While Lukashenko can boast of a marshal’s uniform with the Belarusian coat of arms on gold shoulder straps, the Russian president appears in camouflage without insignia, except for a small chevron “Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” or even shorter – “President of the Russian Federation”.
Colonel with the merits of a general
Becoming a colonel in the KGB system of the USSR was not easy, especially not in a short time.
“It corresponds to the level of the head of a department in one of the main departments of the central apparatus of the KGB. Not everyone gets it,” explains Korotchenko. – A person must have serious results, specifically operational results.” “Judging by what his colleagues, classmates, people who worked with him in Dresden and Leningrad remember, Putin was distinguished by purposefulness and efficiency,” adds the military analyst. – “He was trained to work in the state security agencies, to serve our state. ” He honestly deserved this rank of colonel,” summarizes Korotchenko.
The President’s Credo As Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, emphasized, the head of state is not interested in formal titles:
“He works as a president and has a lot of work.” “He is not a personnel officer, he is focused on other matters,” explained Peskov. – “The president has deserved this title many times, but it is not a priority for him. ” Putin has a very subtle sense of time, mood, and most importantly, he has a certain code of honor and behavior, which he once created and adheres to all his life,” Korotchenko noted. Putin himself formulated his credo as follows:
“I have no general titles, no ranks, but I serve the people faithfully.
Erik Simon
