| Native Name: | Сергей Иванович Кобылаш |
| Birth Date: | 1965 4, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance: | |
| Serviceyears: | 1990–present |
| Rank: | Lieutenant general |
Lieutenant General Sergey Ivanovich Kobylash (ru|Сергей Иванович Кобылаш; born 1 April 1965) is a Russian military officer who has been the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force and a Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces since July 2024.[1] Prior to that, he was the commander of the Long-Range Aviation branch of the Aerospace Forces.
He was born in Odessa, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and began his career as a pilot in the Soviet Air Forces. Kobylash has over 1,700 flight hours and flew combat missions in the First and Second Chechen Wars and the Russo-Georgian War. He is a graduate of the Yeysk Military Aviation Institute, the Gagarin Air Force Academy, and the General Staff Academy.[2]
In 2024 a warrant for the arrest of Kobylash was issued by the International Criminal Court for his alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity as part of the Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure (2022–present).
At several times, including February 2017 and the period from July 2019 to March 2023, Kobylash has been reported as commander of the Long-Range Aviation branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces.[3] [4]
On February 22, 2017, media reported that Kobylash had been promoted to lieutenant general by Vladimir Putin for service rendered during the Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war.[4]
On December 12, 2017, Kobylash awarded Tu-22M3 crews returning from deployment in Syria to Shaykovka air base near Kirov, Kaluga Oblast with the medal "Participant of the military operation in Syria".[5] [6]
On 5 March 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Admiral Viktor Sokolov and Kobylash, as part of its Ukraine investigation, citing his alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity of directing attacks at civilian objects, causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects and inhumane acts during the Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure and electrical grid, all under the Rome Statute.[7] [8] [9]
On 10 September 2024 the Ukrainian government accused Kobylash of ordering the attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv on 8 July.[10] Ukraine’s SBU security service said in a statement that “Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash held the post of long-range aviation commander for the Russian aerospace forces at the time, and after delivering this strike, was promoted and appointed commander of the Russian aerospace forces.”[11]