Sergei Potapenko

Sergey Vladimirovich Potapenko (Belarusian: Сяргей Уладзіміравіч Патапенка, Siargiej Uladzimiravič Patapienka) is a Belarusian Military leader and the current Deputy Minister of Defense.[1] He was born on 14 March 1961 in Rzhavka, a section of the Minsk region, of the Belarusian SSR, which is modern day Belarus.

Sergei Potapenko
Сяргей Патапенка Сергей Потапенко
Deputy Defense Minister of Belarus
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 January 2016
President	Alexander Lukashenko
Preceded by	Mikhail Puzikov
Personal details
Born	(1961-03-14) 14 March 1961 Rzhavka, Minsk, Belarusian SSR, Soviet Union
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union  Belarus
Years of service	1982-present
Rank	Major General

In 1982, he graduated from the Ulyanovsk Guards Higher Tank Command School. He served as a commander of a tank platoon.

He graduated from the Malinovsky Military Armoured Forces Academy in 1992. He worked for the 72nd Joint Training Centre on several staff positions and rose through the ranks from being a senior officer of the training division to the head of the training centre.

In 2008, Potapenko was appointed deputy commander of the North-Western Operational Command. He also commanded the Western Operational Command from 2010 to 2015.

In June 2015, he served as the head of the Main Combat Training Directorate of the Belarusian Armed Forces. On 12 January 2016, Potapenko was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence by order of a presidential decree.[2][3][4] It was in this position where he has commanded every Minsk Independence Day Parade since July 2016 on Victors Avenue.