Major General Alexander Vladimirovich Shishlyannikov () is a Tajik military officer and the first

Minister of Defence of Tajikistan The Ministry of Defence of Tajikistan (russian: Министерство обороны Таджикистан ; tg, Вазорати мудофиаи Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, translit=Vazorati mudofiai Çumhurii Toçikiston) is the ...

, serving from 1993 to 1995. He is an ethnic

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Biography

Soviet Army

Alexander Shishlyannikov was born on November 3, 1950 in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, the capital of the

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English language, English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, ...

. In 1971, he graduated from the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School in

Chirchik Chirchiq, also spelled as Chirchik, ( uz, Chirchiq / Чирчиқ; russian: Чирчик) is a district-level city in Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan. It is about 32 km northeast of Tashkent, along the river Chirchiq. Chirchiq lies in the Chatk ...

, and 10 years later, he graduated from the

Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy The Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy (Военная академия бронетанковых войск имени Маршала Советского Союза Р. Я. Малиновского) was one of the Soviet military academi ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In the 1980s, Shishlyannikov served in the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and

Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District (russian: Туркестанский военный округ (ТуркВО), ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with it ...

(based in the Kazakh and Uzbek capitals of

Alma-Ata Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...

and

respectively), as well as the Western Group of Forces in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. During this time, he was deployed with the Soviet 40th Army to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

in the early stages of the Soviet-Afghan War. By the time of the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the creation of independent nations, he was serving as an officer in the Uzbek defense ministry.

Tajikistan

In January 1993, Colonel Shishlyannikov was appointed as the first defense minister of Tajikistan. He was among 200 officers brought from

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

on the orders of

Emomali Rahmon Emomali Rahmon (; born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov, tg, Эмомалӣ Шарӣпович Раҳмонов, script=Latn, italic=no, Emomalī Sharīpovich Rahmonov; ; born 5 October 1952) has been the 3rd President of Tajikistan since 16 Nove ...

. One month later on February 23, Shishlyannikov would lead the celebrations in honor of the founding of the Tajik Armed Forces. During his tenure, it was expected that he would temporary and would eventually be replaced by Colonel Ramazon Radjabov, his deputy who was in favor with many elite circles. Shishlyannikov played a key role in the early stages of the

Tajik Civil War The Tajikistani Civil War ( tg, Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, translit=Jangi shahrvandiyi Tojikiston / Çangi shahrvandiji Toçikiston; russian: Гражданская война в Таджикистане), also known ...

. In later July of that year, he hosted visiting Russian defence minister

Pavel Grachev Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev (russian: Па́вел Серге́евич Грачё́в; 1 January 1948 – 23 September 2012), sometimes transliterated as Grachov or Grachyov, was a Russian Army General and the Defence Minister of the Russian Fe ...

, where he criticized the position of "individual leaders of the CIS countries" for the proposals of the CIS Joint Armed Forces Command to bring peacekeeping forces into the republic being unfulfilled. He was relieved of his post on April 7, 1995, being succeeded by

Sherali Khayrulloyev Sherali Khayrulloyevich Khayrulloyev (russian: Шерали Хайруллоевич Хайруллоев; tg, Шералӣ Хайруллоевич Хайруллоев) is a retired Tajikistani general and politician. He was the Minister of De ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shishlyannikov, Alexander 1950 births Living people Ministers of Defence of Tajikistan Military personnel from Tashkent Politicians from Tashkent Tashkent Higher Tank Command School alumni Tajikistani people of Russian descent