Army General Nikolai Yegorovich Makarov (Russian: ??????´? ???´????? ????´???, IPA: [n??k?'laj j?'gor?v??t? m?'kar?f]; born 7 October 1949) was Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia and First Deputy Minister of Defence from 2007 to 2012 when he was replaced by Valery Gerasimov.