Yuriy Ilyin

{{Infobox military person

| honorific_prefix =

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| native_name = Юрій Іванович Ільїн

| native_name_lang = Ukrainian

| image = Присяга лицеистов на площади Нахимова (2013, 9) (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Ilyin in 2013

| birth_name = Yuriy Ivanovych Ilyin

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|8|21|df=y}}

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| birth_place = Rahachow, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union

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| allegiance = {{flagicon|Ukraine}} Ukraine
{{flagicon|USSR}} Soviet Union

| branch = {{navy|USSR}}
20px Ukrainian Navy

| serviceyears = 1983–2014

| rank = 20px Admiral

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1991-1993 Department of Coast Guard - Black Sea Fleet
1998-2003 1st Detached Marine Brigade
2003-2005 Deputy Chief/Chief of Defence Planning Department
2005-2008 Senior Military Representative to USA
2008-2012 Deputy Chief of Staff/Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander Ukrainian Navy
File:Ukrainian Navy Commander's flag.svg 2012-2014 Ukrainian Navy Commander
File:Standard of Ukrainian Chief of the General Staff rect.svg 2014-2014 Chief of the General Staff

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| spouse = Married, one daughter.

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}}

Yuriy Ivanovych Ilyin ({{langx|uk|Юрій Іванович Ільїн}}; {{Langx|be|Юры Іванавіч Ільін|Jury Ivanavič Iljin}} ; {{Langx|ru|Юрий Иванович Ильин|Juri Ivanovič Iljin}}; born 21 August 1962) is a Ukrainian admiral and former commander of the Ukrainian Navy. He was elevated to the position of Chief of the General Staff by President Viktor Yanukovych on 19 February 2014 after the existing chief, Colonel General Volodymyr Zamana, was dismissed by the President during the February 2014 Euromaidan riots.

After an admission to hospital following a heart attack on 27 February 2014, Ilyin was dismissed from the post of Chief of the General Staff by interim president Oleksandr Turchynov on 28 February 2014.

Early life and career

Ilyin was born in Rohachow, Belarus. In 1979 he graduated from the Suvorov Military School in Minsk and subsequently entered the Frunze Higher Artillery Command Military School in Odesa.

Between 1983 and 1991 he served with the Black Sea Fleet as a platoon leader and battery commanding officer in the detached marine brigade. He then spent two years serving as an officer at the Coast Guard for the Black Sea Fleet.

Command posts

By 1993 he had moved to the Ukrainian Navy Command HQ and served in this post for five years. In 1998 he assumed command of the 1st Detached Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy, a position he held for five years. Between December 2003 and June 2005 he was the Deputy Chief of Ukrainian Navy Command and Chief of the Defence Planning Department in the Ukrainian Navy. From June 2005 to August 2008 he was a senior military representative of the Ukraine's armed forces in the United States. Between August 2008 and July 2012 he was the First Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff/First Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Navy.

He graduated from the National Defence University in 2010. In 2010 he led a delegation of Ukrainian naval personnel during their visit to the United States Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado "to study the training of special operations units and Marine Corps of the US Navy".{{cite news|title=Ukrainian Naval Forces' delegation visiting military base in California|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukrainian-naval-forces-delegation-visiting-militar-57910.html|access-date=20 February 2014|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=25 January 2010}}

Ilyin was appointed to the post of Ukrainian Navy Commander on 27 July 2012{{cite news|title=Ilyin appointed commander of Ukrainian Navy|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ilyin-appointed-commander-of-ukrainian-navy-310603.html|access-date=20 February 2014|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=27 July 2012}}{{cite web|title=BLAСKSEAFOR authorities transferred to Ukrainian Navy|url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=en&part=news&sub=read&id=30478|work=Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Website|publisher=Ministry of Defence of Ukraine|access-date=20 February 2014|date=19 August 2013}} and promoted to the rank of Admiral on 24 August 2013.{{cite web|title=Начальник Генерального штабу - Головнокомандувач Збройних Сил України|url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?part=command&sub=Ilyin|work=Official site of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (Native Language)|publisher=MoD Ukraine|access-date=20 February 2014}} He was then appointed Chief of the General Staff on 19 February 2014 after President Viktor Yanukovych dismissed the incumbent officeholder, Colonel General Volodymyr Zamana, at the height of the Euromaidan riots.{{cite web|title=Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - Admiral - Yurii Ivanovych Ilin|url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=en&part=command&sub=Ilyin|work=Official site of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine|publisher=MoD Ukraine|access-date=20 February 2014}}{{cite news|title=Ukraine President Yanukovych sacks army chief amid crisis|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26265808|access-date=20 February 2014|newspaper=BBC News|date=19 February 2014}}{{cite news|last=Krasnolutska|first=Daryna|title=Yanukovych Fires Army Chief, Replaces Him With Head of Navy|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/yanukovych-fires-army-chief-replaces-him-with-head-of-navy-1-.html|access-date=20 February 2014|newspaper=Bloomberg News|date=19 February 2014}} Shortly after Yanukovych fled the presidential palace, Ilyin issued a statement claiming, "As an officer I see no other way than to serve the Ukrainian people honestly and assure that I have not and won't give any criminal orders".{{cite news|last=Herszenhorn|first=David M.|title=Ukraine Rushes to Shift Power and Mend Rifts|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/world/europe/ukraine.html?_r=0|access-date=28 February 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 February 2014}} and defected from the Ukrainian Military.

Ilyin was reported to have been admitted to hospital after suffering a heart attack on 27 February 2014;{{cn|date=May 2023}} he was subsequently dismissed as Chief of the General Staff by the interim President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov.{{cite news|title=Ukraine crisis: 'Russians occupy' Crimea airports|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26379722|access-date=28 February 2014|newspaper=BBC News|date=28 February 2014}}{{cite web|title=УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ № 168/2014|url=http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/16555.html|work=Ukraine Presidential Website|publisher=Administration of the President of Ukraine|access-date=28 February 2014}}