Mykhailo Kutsyn

Mykhailo Kutsyn
Native name
Михайло Миколайович Куцин
Born (1957-08-15) 15 August 1957 (age 67)
Svoboda, Berehove Raion,
Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
AllegianceSoviet Union Soviet Union (1978–1991)
Ukraine Ukraine (1992–2014)
Service / branch Soviet Army
 Ukrainian Ground Forces
RankLieutenant general
CommandsWestern Operational Command
(2004–2010)
Armed Forces of Ukraine
(2014)

Mykhailo Mykolayovych Kutsyn (Ukrainian: Михайло Миколайович Куцин; born 15 August 1957) is a former Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[1][2][3][4] He was appointed Chief of the General Staff by acting president Oleksandr Turchynov on 28 February 2014.[1][5] Kutsyn was relieved of this post by president Petro Poroshenko on 3 July 2014.[4] Poroshenko thanked Kutsyn for his service and stated he had been shell-shocked on 2 July 2014 while combating the 2014 insurgency in Donbass. He had suffered a concussion and was recovering at a hospital.[6]

A graduate of Tank school, Kutsyn served with the Soviet Army in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Czechoslovakia and Germany. He enlisted in the Ukrainian Ground Forces after the nation gained independence in 1991, and was head of the Western Operational Command for six years, before being appointed Deputy Minister of Defence in March 2010.

  1. ^ a b "Mykhailo Kutsyn appointed commander-in-chief of Ukrainian army". KyivPost. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Ukraine Finds Its Forces Are Ill Equipped to Take Crimea Back From Russia". New York Times. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  3. ^ Михайло Куцин призначений начальником Генштабу. newsradio.com.ua (in Ukrainian). 1 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b Ukraine's new defence minister promises Crimea victory, BBC News (3 July 2014)
    President appoints Muzhenko as commander-in-chief of Armed Forces, Ukrinform (3 July 2014)
  5. ^ Главнокомандующим Вооруженных сил Украины стал генерал-"танкист" Куцин. ru.tsn.ua (in Ukrainian). 28 February 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  6. ^ Poroshenko: Former Ukrainian General Staff chief shell-shocked in southeastern combat zone, Interfax-Ukraine (3 July 2014)