Dmitry Yazov

Dmitry Yazov Дми́трий Я́зов
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 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 1971–1973, 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.

Yazov spent 18 months in Matrosskaya Tishina. According to the magazine Vlast' No. 41(85) of 14 October 1991 "...from the prison contacted the President with a recorded video message, where repented and called himself "an old fool"". Yazov denies ever doing so. He did accept the amnesty offered by Yeltsin, 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 Honor by the President of Russian Federation. Yazov later worked as a military adviser at the General Staff Academy.

Despite his selection by Gorbachev for the Defence Minister's position, William Odom, in his book The Collapse of the Soviet Military, repeats Alexander Yakovlev's description of Yazov as a "mediocre officer", "fit to command a division but nothing higher".^[1] Odom suggests Gorbachev was only looking for "careerists who would follow orders, any orders".

In popular culture

Yazov appears in Tom Clancy's Cold War espionage thriller The Cardinal of the Kremlin in his capacity as Defence Minister and the superior of the titular spy Colonel Filitov.

Honours and awards

President Vladimir Putin shaking hands with Yazov on his 90th birthday, 8 November 2014

Soviet Orders and Medals

	Order of Lenin, twice
	Order of the October Revolution
	Order of the Red Banner
	Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
	Order of the Red Star
	Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class
	Medal "For Military Merit"
	Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st and 2nd classes
	Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
	Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation"
	Medal "For Development of the Virgin Lands"
	Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
	Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
	Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
	Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
	Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
	Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
	Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
	Jubilee Medal "65 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
	Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
	Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin", "For Military Valour"
	Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"
	Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg"

Russian Federation Orders and Medals

	Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class
	Order of Honour

Foreign awards

	Order of Red Banner (Afghanistan)
	Order of "Friendship of Peoples" (Afghanistan)
	Medal "For the strengthening of friendship in Arms" (Bulgaria)
?	Order of Che Guevara (Cuba)
	Order of Red Banner (Czechoslovakia)
	Scharnhorst Order (East Germany)
	Medal "20 years of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
	Medal "30 Years of Victory Over Japan" (Mongolia)
	Medal "40 years Khalkhin Golskoy Victory" (Mongolia)
	Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (Mongolia)
	Order of Merit, 1st class (Syria)

Religious award

	Order of St. Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy (Russian Orthodox Church)

Sources

• https://web.archive.org/web/20070711055907/http://www.coldwarfiles.org:80/index.cfm?fuseaction=people.details&thisunit=0&peopleid=119