Yuri Baluyevsky

Who is Yuri Baluyevsky?

Army General Yury Nikolayevich Baluyevsky is the former First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, positions he held from July 2004 to 2008.

In 1970, he graduated from the Leningrad joint-arms command college, in 1980, from the Frunze Academy and in 1990, from the General Staff Academy. From 1970 to 1982, Baluyevsky served with the Soviet Army's Ground Forces, advancing from commander of a motorized rifle platoon to senior officer of a military district operations department. He spent some time with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.

From 1982 to 1997, Baluyevsky held positions at the General Staff, the Defense Ministry and in the Group of Russian Forces of the Transcaucasus. In August 1997, he was appointed chief of the General Staff main operations department, and in July 2004, chief of staff of the Armed Forces and first deputy defense minister. Following the controversial tenure of General Anatoly Kvashnin, General Baluyevsky was seen as a lower-profile officer with good strategic planning skills, according to the Jamestown Federation.