@vnikolov Yes, he was educated as a software engineer at the Higher Engineering Radio-Technical College of the Soviet Air Force in Kiev. The point about him not being a military man are actually his own words. "my colleagues were all professional soldiers, they were taught to give and obey order" - he was the only one among his colleagues with a civilian education (Aksenov 2013) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24280831