Yakov Arkadievich Melkumov (Russian: Я́ков Арка́дьевич Мельку́мов; Armenian: Հակոբ Արշակի Մելքումյան Hakob Arshaki Melk’umyan; 24 December [O.S.

[1] In February 1921, he took part in the defeat of Mohammed Alim Khan near the town of Boysun and the capture of the cities of Denau, Yurchi, Sary-Assiya, Karatag, Gissar and Dyushambe for which he was awarded his first Order of the Red Banner.

According to Melkumov's memoirs, Enver Pasha fled to the village of Chagan after he had been defeated in a battle near Baljuvon (modern-day Tajikistan) in August 1922.

He was ambushed in Chagan by a squadron of Red Army cavalry and killed by machine-gun fire outside the village mosque,[5] although there are other versions of Enver's death.

[8][9] For his military achievements during the Gissar campaign and for his defeat of Enver Pasha's army, Melkumov was awarded his second Order of the Red Banner.

[1] From 1926 to 1931, as a division commander, he took part in the defeat of the Basmachi rebels in the territory of the Turkmen and Tajik Soviet Socialist Republics.

[1] In particular, in September 1931 he participated in a large-scale combined operation of the Red Army, the OGPU, border troops, cadets of the Tashkent military school and fighters of volunteer detachments to eliminate Basmachi forces on the territory of Turkmenistan and Khorezm under the general leadership of the commander of Central Asian Military District Pavel Dybenko.

[10] On June 20, 1930, Melkumov's cavalry brigade, in agreement with the Afghan government, invaded Afghanistan to strike at the Basmachi bases.

[2] In November 1937, during the Great Purge, Melkumov was arrested on charges of participation in a purported anti-Soviet nationalist organization, and in April 1940 was sentenced to be shot.