Dmitry Yazov

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Dmitri Timofeyevich Yazov (Дмитрий Тимофеевич Язов in Russian) (born November 8, 1923, Omsk Oblast) was the last Marshal of the Soviet Union to be appointed before the collapse of the Soviet Union (on April 28, 1990). He was the only Marshal of the Soviet Union to be born in Siberia.

In 1979-1980, Yazov was a 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 Gorbachev, which led to later promotions. He held the post of Soviet Defense Minister from May 1987. In 1987-1990, Yazov was a candidate for membership in Politburo. During the August Coup of 1991, Yazov was a member of the State Emergency Committee, for which he was prosecuted and acquitted in 1994.

Despite his selection by Gorbachev for the Defence Minister's position, William E. Odom, in his book 'The Collapse of the Soviet Military,' repeats Aleksander Yakovlev's description of Yazov as a 'mediocre officer, 'fit to command a division but nothing higher'. (Odom, 1998, p.111) Odom suggests Gorbachev was only looking for 'careerists who would follow orders, any orders.'