Dmitry Yazov

Dmitry Yazov was a prominent Soviet military leader who served as the final Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union. Appointed by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, his tenure was defined by implementing Perestroika within the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and overseeing the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He is most infamously remembered for his role as a key organizer of the hardline State Committee on the State of Emergency during the failed August Coup of 1991, an event that accelerated the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Early life and military career

Born in the village of Yazovo in Omsk Governorate, he volunteered for the Red Army in 1941 following the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He fought on the fronts of World War II, including at the Siege of Leningrad and in the Baltic offensive, commanding a rifle platoon and later a company. After the war, he graduated from the elite M. V. Frunze Military Academy and steadily rose through the ranks of the Soviet Ground Forces. He held significant command positions, including leading the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia and later the massive Far Eastern Military District, where he oversaw forces along the tense border with the People's Republic of China.

Minister of Defence

In May 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev appointed him to replace the dismissed Sergei Sokolov following the Mathias Rust incident. As Minister of Defence, he was tasked with reforming the military under Perestroika and Glasnost, managing deep budget cuts, troop reductions, and the complex withdrawal from the Soviet–Afghan War. His tenure also involved negotiating arms control agreements, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and managing the Soviet military response during the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe and unrest in regions like Nagorno-Karabakh.

Role in the August Coup

In August 1991, deeply opposed to the New Union Treaty and the perceived weakening of the Soviet Union, he joined the State Committee on the State of Emergency. As Minister of Defence, he ordered troops from units like the Taman Division and the Kantemirovskaya Division into Moscow, leading to the climactic confrontation at the Russian White House. The coup's collapse, due to defections and public resistance led by Boris Yeltsin, resulted in his arrest on 21 August. He was subsequently imprisoned in the infamous Matrosskaya Tishina detention facility.

Later life and death

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he was amnestied in 1994 by the State Duma alongside other coup plotters. In his later years, he served as a chief military advisor at the Russian Ministry of Defence's main directorate for international cooperation and was a vocal figure in veteran organizations like the Russian Officers' Union. He remained an unapologetic defender of the Soviet Union and a critic of its collapse, authoring several books on military history. He died in Moscow at the age of 95 and was buried with full military honors at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery.

Awards and honors

His extensive decorations included the highest Soviet award, the Hero of the Soviet Union, which he received in 1990. He was twice awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the October Revolution, and received multiple Order of the Red Banner awards for his wartime and peacetime service. He also held numerous wartime service medals, the Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, and various foreign awards from allied states like the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Mongolian People's Republic.

Category:Marshal of the Soviet Union Category:1924 births Category:2020 deaths