Ruslan Fatihūly Jaqsylyqov (: born 4 March 1966) is a Kazakh

Colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

serving as the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

since 19 January 2022.

Biography

Early life and education

Jaqsylyqov was born in the city of

Kaskelen Kaskelen (, ''Qaskeleñ'') is a town and seat of Karasay District in Almaty Region of south-eastern Kazakhstan.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the ...

Almaty Region Almaty Region ( kk, Алматы облысы, Almaty oblysy; russian: Алматинская область, Almatinskaya oblast) is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Its capital, from 1997 to 2022 was the ...

. From 1983, he attended the Alma-Ata Higher Combined Arms Command School where Jaqsylyqov was taught tactical commanding before graduating in 1987. From the mid 1990's, Jaqsylyqov resided in Russia where he attended the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

and earned specialty in "Command-staff operational-tactical military intelligence" in 1996 and then 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 (russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации) is the s ...

where Jaqsylqov learned "Military security of the state" specialty in 2004.

Career

In September 2003, Jaqsylyqov was elected as member of the

Shymkent City Mäslihat The Shymkent City Mäslihat () is a Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the city of Shymkent. The councillors of the City Mäslihat are elected concurrently with the MP's of the Mazhilis. Composition The City Mäslihat is composed of 29 co ...

where he worked for short time until February 2004, when he became the brigade commander of the internal troops under the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. From 2006, Jaqsylyqov served as a deputy commander of internal troops before being promoted as first deputy commander and chief of the main staff in 2007. On 4 September 2008, he was appointed as a full commander and served the post until 22 January 2013, when he became the commander-in-chief. From 24 April 2014, Jaqsylyqov headed the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

as a commander-in-chief. In an August 2019 report published by ''Time.kz'', Jaqsylyqov while serving as lieutenant-general was accused of extorting money from the V.S. GOLD COMPANY LLP., a contract company which provided meals to the regional Kazakh National Guard personnel, resulting in funds being slashed that would have otherwise covered the costs for meals with the unit servicemen being left more malnourished while Jaqsylyqov among other high-ranking officers according to the report, were living a luxurious lifestyle by staying at five star hotels and ordering coffee, soft drinks and ice cream at VIP-terminals at the expense of the company's money. On 29 September 2021, while commanding the National Guard, Jaqsylyqov became Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. Following the

2022 Kazakh unrest The 2022 Kazakh unrest, also known as Bloody January () or the January tragedy (), was a series of mass protests that began in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 after a sudden sharp increase in liquefied gas prices following the lifting of a governm ...

, he was appointed as the Defence Minister on 19 January 2022 by President

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 J ...

, replacing

Murat Bektanov Murat Käribaiūly Bektanov ( kk, Мұрат Кәрібайұлы Бектанов, translit=Mūrat Kärıbaiūly Bektanov) is a Kazakh military leader and was the Minister of Defence. He previously served as the Chief of the General Staff and Co ...

who was shortly arrested due to his handling failure in the unrest. During visit to the garrison in

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

on 11 February 2022, Jaqsylyqov awarded servicemen who were injured in the riots, noting that all military personnel will continue serving in the Armed Forces.

Reference

External links

Personal reference
(in Russian) {{CIS Defence Ministers Living people 1966 births Kazakhstani military personnel Government ministers of Kazakhstan Ministers of Defence of Kazakhstan 21st-century Kazakhstani politicians People from Almaty Region