Valery Varfolomeyev

Valery Varfolomeyev
Valery Varfolomeyev
Native name	Валерий Владимирович Варфоломеев
Born	13 August 1971 (age 52); Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russian SFSR, USSR
Allegiance	Soviet Union; Russia
Service/branch	Soviet Navy; Russian Navy
Years of service	1988–present
Rank	Rear-Admiral
Commands held	Orel; 11th Submarine Division
Awards	Hero of the Russian Federation; Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Second Class

Valery Vladimirovich Varfolomeyev (Russian: Валерий Владимирович Варфоломеев; born 13 August 1971) is an officer of the Russian Navy. He currently holds the rank of rear-admiral, and is deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces.

Born the son of a naval officer in the port city of Vladivostok, Varfolomeyev attended the Nakhimov Naval School in Leningrad, and after graduation in 1988, joined the navy, enrolling in the Higher Naval School of Submarine Navigation [ru]. The dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred in 1991, during the period of his study, and on graduating in 1993 he joined the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet, serving in the torpedo departments of submarines. He gradually rose through the ranks and positions, interspersed with further study at the navy's academic institutions, before taking on his own command, that of the Oscar II-class submarine Orel in 2004.

In 2009 Varfolomeyev became deputy commander of the 11th Submarine Division, and then its commander in 2014. He took part in the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, and was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation on 8 December 2017 for "courage and heroism in the performance of military duty". He was presented with his award by President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony on 28 December. After completing studies at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Varfolomeyev became deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces in 2020.