Mykhailo Kutsyn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | Михайло Миколайович Куцин |
| Born | (1957-08-15)15 August 1957 (age 68) |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union (1978–1991) Ukraine (1992–2014) |
| Branch | Soviet Army Ukrainian Ground Forces |
| Service years | 1978–2014 |
| Rank | .svg) Lieutenant General |
| Commands | Western Operational Command (2004–2010) Armed Forces of Ukraine (2014) |
| Conflicts | |
Mykhailo Mykolayovych Kutsyn (Ukrainian:Михайло Миколайович Куцин; born 15 August 1957) is a Ukrainian Lieutenant General, who served as aChief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of theArmed Forces of Ukraine.[1][2][3][4] He was appointed Chief of the General Staff by acting presidentOleksandr Turchynov on 28 February 2014.[1][5] Kutsyn was relieved of this post by presidentPetro Poroshenko on 3 July 2014.[4] Poroshenko thanked Kutsyn for his service and stated he had beenshell-shocked on 2 July 2014 inDonbas, and was recovering at a hospital.[6]
A graduate of Tank school, Kutsyn served with theSoviet Army inKazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Czechoslovakia andEast Germany. He enlisted as aMajor in theUkrainian Ground Forces after the nation gained independence in 1991, and was head of the Western Operational Command for six years, before being appointed Deputy Minister of Defence in March 2010.
He graduated from the Blagovishchensk Higher Tank Command School (1978), theMilitary Academy of Armored Troops (Moscow, 1990), the Faculty of Training Specialists of the Operational-Strategic Level of theNational Defense Academy of Ukraine (2001).
He began his officer service as a tank platoon commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in East Germany.
From 1980 to 1987, he was a platoon commander, commander of a company of cadets of the Kharkiv Higher Tank Command School.
From 1990 to 1992, he held the positions of deputy commander, tank battalion commander, and deputy chief of staff of the tank regiment of theBelarusian Military District.
Since December 1992, he has served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
From 1992 to 1996, he served as Chief of Staff and regiment commander of theCarpathian Military District of theUkrainian Ground Forces.
From 1996 to 1999, he was Chief of Staff, commander of the24th Mechanized Division of the Western Operational Command.
On 20 August 1999, he was promoted to Major General.[7]
In 2001, he graduated from the faculty of training operational-strategic level specialists of the National Defense Academy of Ukraine.
From 2001 to 2004, he served as Chief of Staff, Commander of the 13th Army Corps of the Western Operational Command.
From 2004, he was the first deputy commander, then from 19 July 2004[8] to 2010, he was the commander of the troops of theWestern Operational Command.
From 31 March 2010[9] to 8 April 2011,[10] he served as Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine.
From 28 February 2014[11] to 3 July 2014,[12] he served as Chief of the General Staff.
He was a member of theNSDC from 19 March[13] to 16 June,[14] and from 23 June[15] to 5 July[16] 2014.
On 2 July 2014, during hostilities in the area of theAnti-Terrorist Operation, he was contused, after which he was taken to the hospital.[17]
 | Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky 2nd class (2008)[18] |
 | Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky 3rd class (2005)[19] |
 | Medal For Military Service to Ukraine (1997)[20] |
 | Medal for Battle Merit (Soviet award) |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fedor Alexandrovich Prohorov | Commander of the24th Motor Rifle Division 1996–1999 | Succeeded by Volodymyr Kysilyov |
| Preceded by | Commander of the 13th Army Corps 2001–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander of theWestern Operation Command 2004–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of the General Staff 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Ukrainian People's Republic (1918–1921) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine (since 1991) | ||
*Acting Chief | ||