Yezhel was born on October 19, 1952, in a small village of Sloboda-Yaltushkivska, Bar Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union.

In 1970 he completed 10th grade in a Republican specialized boarding school in Kyiv and went on military career.

[6] In March 2016 Mykhailo Yezhel together with (his successor as Minister of Defence) Pavlo Lebedyev were placed on a wanted list by Ukrainian authorities on suspicion of criminal activities and desertion.

Yezhel was specifically wanted in relation to the sale of two Tu-95MS bombers to Russia during his period as defense minister.

[6] Yezhel than confirmed that he and his family did live in Belarus, and that he will only return to Ukraine after a withdraw of the criminal charges.