[5][6] In April 2022, Dvornikov was placed in charge of military operations during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, until he was replaced with Colonel general Gennady Zhidko late in May 2022.

[9] From 1982, he served in the Far Eastern Military District as a platoon and then company commander, and as a battalion chief of staff.

In 1995, he became chief of staff and deputy commander of the 10th Guards Tank Division's 248th Motor Rifle Regiment.

Between 2000 and 2003 he was chief of staff and then commander of the 19th Motor Rifle Division[11] in the North Caucasus Military District.

[14] In March 2019, the European Union enacted sanctions on him due to his role in the Kerch Strait incident.

[citation needed] Sanctioned by Canada under the Special Economic Measures Act (S.C. 1992, c. 17) in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine for Grave Breach of International Peace and Security.

Retired US Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis spoke in an interview of what he said was a known epithet of Dvornikov, "Butcher of Syria".

[5][6] However, the Institute for the Study of War has noted that although Dvornikov's tenure was marked by large numbers of civilian deaths, it was not especially bloody compared to the operation as a whole, as the Russian military targeted Syrian civilians and critical infrastructure throughout its intervention in Syria.

[21] According to an investigation by Cathrin Schaer and Emad Hassan published in the German state-funded media Deutsche Welle, statistics also show that Dvornikov did not open up a new and more violent chapter in the Syrian war.