kyrgyzstani authorities at first thought not having an entire army. that idea has since has been replaced by plans to create a conscripted army of 5,000 troops. during the months since independence, kyrgyzstan advocated for a unified cis army which would replace the soviet army. those plans collapsed when russia announced that it would not finance cis troops. in april 1992, kyrgyzstan formed a state committee for defense affairs, and in june the republic took control of all troops on its soil (meaning remaining units of the former soviet army). in 1994, 30 percent of the officer corps were ethnic russians.the first commander was general valentin luk'yanov, an ethnic ukrainian. on january 25, 2017, president almazbek atambayev officially founded the kyrgyz army, with colonel erlis terdikbayev acting as its first commander.