Yunus-bek Yevkurov

General of the Army Yunus-bek Bamatgireyevich Yevkurov (born 23 July 1963) is a Russian military officer and politician who has served as a deputy minister of defense since 2019. He was previously the head of the Republic of Ingushetia from 2008 to 2019.

He is a career soldier, paratrooper, and Hero of the Russian Federation who was involved in numerous conflicts, including the Kosovo War and the Second Chechen War. On 22 June 2009, Yevkurov was seriously injured following a car-bomb attack on his motorcade in the city of Nazran.

As head of Ingushetia, Yevkurov claimed he had succeeded in stabilising the crime situation and bringing about positive social changes within the Russian republic. Since September 2018, he faced opposition at home, following the controversial land transfer deal with the neighboring Republic of Chechnya.

Early life Yevkurov, an ethnic Ingush, was born on 23 July 1963 into a peasant family of 12 children, consisting of five sisters and six brothers. He graduated from the same school that was later the scene of the Beslan school siege.

Military service Yevkurov was conscripted by the Soviet Armed Forces in 1982, serving in the Naval Infantry of the Pacific Fleet. In 1989, he graduated from the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School. Yevkurov continued his military education, graduating from the Frunze Military Academy in 1997 and from the General Staff Academy in 2004.

Yevkurov has had various positions of command within the Russian Airborne Troops and has participated in wars in the North Caucasus. During the course of the Second Chechen War in 2000, he was in command of the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment (98th Guards Airborne Division). Twelve imprisoned soldiers were rescued. rammed the Yevkurov's convoy in what is believed to be a suicide bomb attack. One escorting policeman died on the spot; Yevkurov's driver and cousin Ramzan died a few days later in a hospital. Yevkurov's brother Uvais was among the injured. Yevkurov was then airlifted to a hospital in Moscow and was sent to intensive care with damage to his skull and internal organs, according to the New York Times.

Though no group has yet claimed responsibility, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Islamist militants of carrying out the attack, condemning the "terrorist attack". Speaking on Russian television, Medvedev claimed that Yevkurov "did a lot to restore order ... and the bandits obviously didn't like that kind of activity". The source claimed that "President Medvedev authorized Gaysanov to take operative management of the republic, and he has all the required authority for that". Gaisanov remained the acting head of Ingushetia until Yevkurov returned to office.

The attack followed other attacks on republic officials in June 2009. On 10 June, the deputy chief justice of the Ingushetian Supreme Court, Aza Gazgireyeva, was gunned down in Nazran shortly after dropping her children off at school,

After the attack, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov claimed the Kremlin had ordered him to fight insurgents in Ingushetia, and during his subsequent visit to Ingushetia on 24 June pledged to revenge ruthlessly. On 4 July, a convoy of Chechen troops sent by Kadyrov into Ingushetia in response to the suicide bombing was ambushed by militants. The attack caused nine Chechen deaths, with 10 others severely wounded.

On 9 July, Ingushetia's Interior Ministry announced the arrest of several suspects, including the Chechen rebel commander Rustaman Makhauri, allegedly involved in the attack on Yevkurov.

Yevkurov regained consciousness from a coma two weeks after the attack. Speaking to reports upon leaving the hospital, Yevkurov warned that "those who refuse to lay down their arms and surrender will be killed."

Till resignation In July 2013, he announced his own resignation following the upcoming elections to the Ingush presidency, though he remained the acting head until the elections.

He was re-elected in the 2013 Ingush Head election. In the 2018 Russian gubernatorial elections, he was re-elected as the Head of the Republic by 26 out of 32 members of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia.

Yevkurov stepped down from his position permanently on 24 June 2019 after months of controversy over the land swap agreement with Chechnya signed in September 2018.

Relations to religious authorities of Ingushetia Yevkurov had a decade-old spat with Ingushetian religious leadership from his appointment until he was excommunicated by the local Muftiate in 2018. Accordingly to The Muslim Spiritual Center of Ingushetia he is no longer being able to participate in their wedding or funeral ceremonies. Yevkurov decided to legalize the republic's non-violent Salafist community and include their mosques into the Muftiate. Ingushetian official religious leaders traditionally follow the Qadiria and Naqshbandia schools of Sufism. He also banned building a new mosque in Magas and ordered that all sermons in the republic's mosques be video recorded for later review.

Defence Ministry role

Yevkurov was appointed as a Deputy Defence Minister by a decree of President Vladimir Putin on 8 July 2019, also being promoted to lieutenant general. On December 9, 2024, he was promoted to the rank of army general.

During the 2023 Wagner Group mutiny, Yevkurov was in Rostov-on-Don when Yevgeny Prigozhin's forces reached the city. Subsequently, Prigozhin published a Telegram video of him meeting with Yevkurov and Deputy Chief of Staff Vladimir Alexeyev and criticizing the actions of Russian military leadership.

Afterwards, Belarus president Lukashenko praised him (together with Alexander Bortnikov) for mediating the end of the rebellion.

In August 2023, a Russian delegation led by Yevkurov met with Burkina Faso leader Ibrahim Traoré, along with other Burkinabe military officials, to discuss a Russian-Burkinabe military cooperation. On the same trip he visited Mali capital Bamako and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Sanctions

Yevkurov has been sanctioned and put under restrictive measures by various countries, including the US, the EU, the UK government, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Australia, and Japan.

Personal life Yevkurov married Mareta Yevkurova on 23 December 2007. Their first son was born on 1 November 2008.

Honours and awards Hero of the Russian Federation Order of Courage Order of Military Merit Order of the Red Star Medal For Courage, twice