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Dmitry Yazov | |
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Дмитрий Язов | |
 Dmitry Yazov,c. 1980s | |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 30 May 1987 – 28 August 1991 | |
| Premier | Nikolai Ryzhkov Valentin Pavlov |
| Preceded by | Sergei Sokolov |
| Succeeded by | Yevgeny Shaposhnikov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov (1924-11-08)8 November 1924 Yazovo,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union |
| Died | 25 February 2020(2020-02-25) (aged 95) Moscow, Russia |
| Resting place | Federal Military Memorial Cemetery,Moscow Oblast |
| Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1944–1991) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union Russia |
| Branch/service | Soviet Army Russian Ground Forces |
| Years of service | 1941–1991 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union |
| Battles/wars | |
Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov (Russian:Дми́трий Тимофе́евич Я́зов; 8 November 1924 – 25 February 2020) was aMarshal of the Soviet Union. A veteran of theGreat Patriotic War, Yazov served asMinister of Defence from 1987 until he was arrested for his part in the1991 August coup, four months before thefall of the Soviet Union.[1] Yazov was the last person to be appointed to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union on 28 April 1990 and the only Marshal born inSiberia. At the time of his death on 25 February 2020, he was the last living Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Yazov was born in the village of Yazovo (called Lyebyezhye at the time of his birth),[2] Krestinsky volost,Kalachinsky District,Omsk Oblast. He was the son of Timofey Yakovlevich Yazov (died in 1933) and Maria Fedoseevna Yazova, who were peasants. The family had four children.[1]
Yazov joined theRed Army voluntarily in November 1941 at the age of seventeen, not having time to finishhigh school. Upon joining the army, he claimed to be born in 1923, a year earlier than his actual birth.[3] He was enrolled in training at theMoscow Higher Military Command School (Evacuated due to theBattle of Moscow to Novosibirsk from 2 November 1941 to 28 January 1942) and graduated in June 1942.[4][5] He received a school graduationcertificate only in 1953, already being a major.[1]
From August 1942, he fought on theVolkhov andLeningrad fronts as commander of a rifleplatoon, a commander of a rifle company, and platoon commander of front-line courses of junior lieutenants of the483rd Rifle Regiment of the177th Rifle Division of theLeningrad Front. He participated in the battles of theSiege of Leningrad, in the offensive operations of Soviet troops in theBaltic states, and in the blockade of theCourland Pocket. In 1944, he joined theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union.[1]
In 1962, Yazov commanded Soviet ground forces inOriente Province,Cuba, during theCuban Missile Crisis, where he personally worked with Cuban Defence MinisterRaúl Castro. The unit, which was headquartered atHolguín Air Base, was ordered to attackGuantanamo Bay Naval Base withKS-1 Kometnuclear cruise missiles if war with theUnited States started.[6]
In 1971–1973, he commanded the32nd Army Corps in theCrimean region of theOdessa Military District. In 1979–1980, Yazov was commander of theCentral Group of Forces inCzechoslovakia. He was commanding theFar East Military District in the northern summer of 1986, when, according toTime magazine, he made a favourable impression onGeneral SecretaryMikhail Gorbachev, which led to later promotions. He was appointedSovietDefence Minister on 30 May 1987, after MarshalSergei Sokolov was sacked as a result of theMathias Rust incident two days earlier. From June 1987 to July 1990, Yazov was a candidate member of thePolitburo.[7] He was a key part ofBlack January. Yazov was responsible for deployment of SovietOMON commando units toLatvia andLithuania in early 1991. During theAugust Coup of 1991, Yazov was a member of theState Emergency Committee. For supporting the GKChP, thegovernment of Valentin Pavlov was dismissed[8][9] and, accordingly, Yazov lost the post of Minister of Defence. During the Yeltsin period, Yazov was prosecuted and acquitted in 1994.[citation needed]
On the morning of 22 August, before the first interrogation, Yazov turned to Gorbachev with a video recorded message in which he read a letter and called himself an "old fool", regretted participating in this "adventure" and asked for forgiveness from the President of the USSR.[10] 20 years after these events, the former defence minister said that he did not remember what he said, because he did not sleep for a day. And he named the journalistVladimir Molchanov the initiator of this letter and video.[11] In his memoirs, Yazov clarified that he was persuaded to turn to Gorbachev with a penitential speech to protect him from the criminal article "Treason to the Motherland", and under the influence of fatigue he succumbed to the persuasion of television reporters.[12]
Yazov was released on recognisance not to leave in January 1993.[13] He was amnestied by theState Duma in 1994,[14] accepting the amnesty offered byBoris Yeltsin and stating that he was not guilty. He was dismissed from the military service by Presidential Order and awarded a ceremonial weapon. He was awarded an order of Honour by the President of Russian Federation. Yazov later worked as a military adviser at theGeneral Staff Academy.[15]
Despite his selection by Gorbachev for the Defence Minister's position,William Odom, in his bookThe Collapse of the Soviet Military, repeatsAlexander Yakovlev's description of Yazov as a "mediocre officer", "fit to command a division but nothing higher".[16] Odom suggests Gorbachev was only looking for "careerists who would follow orders, any orders".
In March 2019, Yazov was triedin absentia and convicted ofwar crimes by a Lithuanian court for his role in themilitary crackdown in Lithuania in January 1991, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Russia denounced the trial as politically motivated and refused to extradite Yazov.[17]
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Yazov died in Moscow on 25 February 2020 at the age of 95, following what theDefence Ministry of Russia called "a serious and prolonged illness".[18][1][19][20] He is buried at theFederal Military Memorial Cemetery outside Moscow.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union 1987–1991 | Succeeded by |
| People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (1917–1934) |
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| People's Commissars for Defence (1934–1946) |
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| People's Commissars for the Navy (1937–1946) |
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| People's Commissar for the Armed Forces (1946) | ||
| Ministers of the Armed Forces (1946–1950) |
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| Minister of War (1950–1953) | ||
| Ministers of the Navy (1950–1953) |
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| Ministers of Defence (1953–1992) |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
