Rustam Djuraev appointed First Deputy Interior Minister as Bakhodir Toshmatov takes command of National Guard

Bakhodir Toshmatov has been named commander of the National Guard, replacing Rustam Djuraev, who had held the post since March 16, 2020. The presidential decree confirming Toshmatov’s appointment was announced by the president’s press secretary, Sherzod Asadov. Prior to this role, Toshmatov served as deputy secretary of the Security Council under the president.

Born in 1964, Toshmatov has an extensive military and academic background. He graduated from the Tashkent Higher Combined Arms Command School, the Academy of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan, the Higher Academic Courses of the Military Academy of the General Staff of Russia, and Fergana State University. A Doctor of Philosophy in Military Sciences and associate professor, he has held numerous leadership positions within the Turkestan Military District and the Ministry of Defense. Between 2008 and 2011, he served as deputy and first deputy minister of defense, followed by a term as secretary of the National Security Council (2011–2013) and first deputy minister of defense (2013–2017). Toshmatov previously commanded the National Guard from 2017 to 2020 and briefly chaired the State Security Service of the President in 2020 before returning to the Security Council.

Rustam Djuraev, born in 1968, has been appointed First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and head of the Department of Public Safety. Djuraev, who led the National Guard from 2020 until Toshmatov’s appointment, brings extensive experience in law enforcement and public security. A 1994 graduate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Academy, he held various positions in the Interior Ministry between 1994 and 2008 and worked in the presidential administration from 2008 to 2012. Djuraev later served as deputy chief of Tashkent city police, headed regional police departments in Namangan and Khorezm, led the Ministry for Emergency Situations, and subsequently acted as deputy interior minister overseeing Tashkent’s police before assuming command of the National Guard.

The leadership changes follow a broader restructuring within the Ministry of Internal Affairs after the arrest of the former deputy minister and head of the Department of Public Safety, Bekmurod Abdullaev, in connection with the alleged embezzlement of UZS 186 billion in state procurement. In November, Abdullaev and Rustam Tursunov, head of the Ministry’s Penitentiary Department, were dismissed from their positions.