The head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov. Biography

The head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, is completing his work in the republic and moving on to another job. The life, military career and political activities of the Colonel-General, who led Dagestan for almost five years, are described in the Izvestia article.

Early years and education

Sergey Alimovich Melikov was born on September 12, 1965 in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo near Moscow in a military family. His father, Alim Nur-Magomedovich Melikov (1932-2012), a Lezgin by nationality, a native of Dagestan, was a career soldier who rose to the rank of colonel and commanded a brigade of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. His mother, Tatiana Nikolaevna, worked as a primary school teacher. His older brother Mikhail Melikov is a retired major general who served in the airborne and internal troops.

In 1986, Melikov graduated from the Saratov Higher Military Command Red Banner School of the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky. In 1994, he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy, and in 2001 from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Military career

Melikov began his military service in the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. He served in Ukraine and Moldova, and after graduating from the Military Academy, he was sent to the North Caucasus District of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. In 1994-1996, he took part in the first Chechen war.

During his years of service, Melikov rose from battalion commander to colonel General. In 1999, he was awarded the Order of Military Merit, in 2008 — the Order of Honor, in 2014 — the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree with swords, in 2015 — the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

In 2016, Sergey Melikov was awarded the rank of Colonel-General. Prior to the entry of the internal troops into the Rosgvardiya, he held the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Political career

In 2014-2016, Melikov served as the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD). In this position, he oversaw the socio-economic development of the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District and coordinated the work of law enforcement agencies. On July 28, 2016, he was appointed First Deputy Director of the Federal Service of the National Guard of the Russian Federation (Rosgvardiya).

From September 27, 2019 to October 2020, Melikov was a senator of the Federation Council from the Stavropol Territory.

Head of Dagestan

On October 5, 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian president appointed Sergei Melikov as interim head of the Republic of Dagestan. On October 14, 2021, at the session of the People's Assembly of Dagestan, deputies elected Melikov as the head of the republic. Of the three candidates presented by the president, he won 82 votes, while his competitors won two votes each.

In the September 2021 State Duma elections, Melikov headed the federal list of the United Russia party in Dagestan. The party won 81.18% of the votes in the republic. He gave up his parliamentary mandate, focusing on work in the region.

During his leadership, 87 kindergartens and 102 schools were built in Dagestan, which made it possible to solve the problem of three-shift education. Melikov paid attention to the development of agriculture, industry and tourism. Under him, a special fund was created to help the Russian troops and lump-sum payments were made to contract soldiers.

International sanctions and criminal prosecution in Ukraine

Since 2022, Sergei Melikov has been included in the sanctions lists of the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Ukraine and New Zealand. On May 24, 2025, a Ukrainian court sentenced the head of Dagestan to eight years in prison in absentia. The reason was that Melikov ordered the creation of a special fund to help the Russian troops, and organized lump-sum payments to contract soldiers. Melikov himself stated that in this way the Ukrainian side appreciated his merits in his defense.

Personal life

Sergei Melikov was married to Galina Anatolyevna Melikova, a military doctor and a lieutenant in the reserve medical service. They have been married for 31 years. In April 2026, after a long illness, Galina Melikova died at the age of 62.