Vitaly Petrovich Gerasimov (Russian: Виталий Петрович Герасимов; born 9 July 1977[1]) is a Russian Ground Forces major general (one-star rank), the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army.

On 7 March 2022, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence announced that Gerasimov was killed in Kharkiv Oblast during the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[2][3] but Gerasimov was confirmed to be alive by BBC Russian when he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky on 23 May 2022.

In October 2013, as a colonel, he was assigned as commander of the 15th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Peacekeeping).

[2][10][11] The Ukrainian defence ministry offered no proof, and US officials and CNN were not able to verify the claim.

[11][13] The Guardian newspaper reported on 8 March that the Ukrainian defence department "broadcast what it claimed was a conversation between two Russian FSB officers discussing the death and complaining that their secure communications were no longer functioning inside Ukraine".