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Dmitriy Yazov

Dmitry Yazov
Дми́трий Я́зов
DYazov1989.jpg
Yazov in 1989
Minister of Defence
In office
30 May 1987 – 22 August 1991
Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov
Valentin Pavlov
Preceded by Sergei Sokolov
Succeeded by Yevgeny Shaposhnikov
Personal details
Born (1924-11-08) 8 November 1924 (age 92)
Omsk Oblast, Soviet Union
Nationality Soviet/Russian
Other political
affiliations
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union/Russian Federation
Service/branch Soviet Army/Russian Ground Forces
Years of service 1941–1994
Rank Marshal
Battles/wars World War II, Soviet war in Afghanistan

Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov (Russian: Дми́трий Тимофе́евич Я́зов; born 8 November 1924) was the last Marshal of the Soviet Union to be appointed before the collapse of the Soviet Union (on 28 April 1990). He was the only Marshal of the Soviet Union to be born in Siberia. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Yazov is the last surviving Marshal and the only one not to have been awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1971-73, he commanded the 32nd Army Corps in the Crimean region of the Odessa Military District. In 1979–1980, Yazov was commander of the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia. He was commanding the Far East Military District in the northern summer of 1986, when, according to Time magazine, he made a favourable impression on General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, which led to later promotions. He held the post of Soviet Defence Minister from May 1987. In 1987–1990, Yazov was a candidate for membership in Politburo. He was a key part of Black January. Yazov was responsible for deployment of Russian OMON commando units to Latvia and Lithuania in early 1991. During the August Coup of 1991, Yazov was a member of the State Emergency Committee, for which he was purged from his post by Gorbachev. During the Yeltsin period Yazov was prosecuted and acquitted in 1994.


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