Viktor Samsonov

General of the Army Viktor Nikolayevich Samsonov was a Russian military officer. He became a Soviet Army officer after graduating the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1964. He was the last Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1991 to 1992 and was in command of all military forces on the territory of the Russian SFSR after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was then the Chief of the General Staff of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Armed Forces from 1992 to 1993, Chief of Staff for Coordinating Military Cooperation of the CIS Member States from 1993 to 1996, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from 1996 to 1997.