Boris Alexandrovich Yugai (; ; 15 November 1957 – 12 March 2010) was a Kyrgyz major general who served as the Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff from March 2007 to June 2008 under President

Kurmanbek Bakiyev Kurmanbek Sali uulu Bakiyev (born 1 August 1949) is a Kyrgyzstani politician who served as the second president of Kyrgyzstan from 2005 until his removal from office as a result of the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, forcing Bakiyev to flee the coun ...

. He was also the Chief of the Joint Staff of the

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) is an Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Th ...

from 2007 to 2008. Yugai was generally regarded as an important figure in the military, often enjoying strong support among military personnel.

Early life and career

Yugai was born on 15 November 1957 in Georgievka in the Dzhambul Region of the

Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Located in northern Centr ...

(now Korday,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

). Yugai was

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

by ethnicity and was fluent in the

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

outside of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and Kyrgyz. In 1979, he graduated from the Leningrad Higher Artillery Command School, majoring in mathematics. He took part in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

as part of a

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

contingent from 1980 to 1982. Throughout his time in the army, he was mostly based in

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

Uzbek SSR The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Uzbek branch of the Soviet Communist P ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and

Turkmen SSR The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Soviet Central Asia, ...

. After the creation of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic, he immediately took a commission in the

Kyrgyz Army The Kyrgyz Ground Forces, or simply the Kyrgyz Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. History In April 1992, Kyrgyzstan formed a State Committee for Defense Affairs, and in June the republic took cont ...

as a platoon commander. As an officer, he took part in the elimination of the militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in southern Kyrgyzstan during the Batken Conflict. From December 2000 to October 2002, Yugai served as the Head of the Main Organization and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff. During this period, he graduated from academic courses at the

Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation () is the senior staff college of the Russian Armed Forces. The academy is located in Moscow, on 14 Kholzunova Lane. It was founded in 1936 as a Soviet inst ...

in 2001. He was appointed Deputy Minister of National Defense in October 2002 and

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

/First Deputy Minister of Defense of Kyrgyzstan on 14 March 2007. From October 2007, he was also concurrently the Chief of the Joint Staff of the

. He served until 24 June 2008 and was replaced by

Abibilla Kudayberdiev Abibilla Kudayberdiev ( Kyrgyz and Russian: Абибилла Кудайбердиев born June 1, 1962) is the former Minister of Defense of Kyrgyzstan. Biography He was born on June 1, 1962, in the Nookat District, in the city of Osh. In 1983 ...

. In 2008–2009, he was interrogated in connection with the criminal case of former Defense Minister Ismail Isakov and was accused of abuse of power. In October 2009, the case was dropped.

Death

He died in

Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...

in March 2010 as a result of a heart attack. Kyrgyz media mostly avoided reporting Yugai’s death despite his regard in the army.

Personal life

The youngest of three boys, his eldest brother is the dean of a university, and his second brother is a university professor. He also has a younger sister, who is a cardiologist. His wife, Natasha, was also of Korean descent.

Awards

Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" (), also known as the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", was a Soviet Union, Soviet Order (honour), military order awarded in three classes ...

1st and 2nd Degree *Medal "To the Soldier-Internationalist from the Grateful Afghan People" *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

Medal "For Impeccable Service" The Medal "For Impeccable Service" () was a Soviet Union, Soviet military award for long service awarded to deserving members of the military personnel of the Soviet Armed Forces, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union), Interior Minist ...

1st Degree () *Medal "10 years of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yugai, Boris 1957 births 2010 deaths People from Jambyl Region Kyrgyzstani generals Chiefs of the General Staff (Kyrgyzstan) Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War Kyrgyzstani people of Korean descent Soviet people of Korean descent Koryo-saram military personnel Soviet Army officers