Background
Kuzmuk was born on April 17, 1954 in a family of military officer Ivan Fedorovych Kuzmuk (?-1973) and Rayisa Mykhailivna Kuzmuk in a village of Diatylivka, Slavuta Raion (Khmelnytskyi Oblast).
Kuzmuk was born on April 17, 1954 in a family of military officer Ivan Fedorovych Kuzmuk (?-1973) and Rayisa Mykhailivna Kuzmuk in a village of Diatylivka, Slavuta Raion (Khmelnytskyi Oblast).
In 1975 he graduated the Kharkiv Higher Armor Command College.
In 1975-1980 Kuzmuk starting out as a platoon leader of armor forces served until becoming the deputy chief of staff of an armor regiment. In 1980-1983 he was an audit student of the Malynovsky Military Academy of Armor Forces (Moscow). After that until 1988 Kuzmuk was an instructor at the academy.
In 1988-1993 he was in leading positions of mechanized rifle division.
From 1975 to 1993 Kuzmuk served in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, Belorussian Military District, Moscow Military District, Leningrad Military District, Carpathian Military District and Odessa Military District. In 1993-1995 he was a commander of the 32nd Army Corps, senior military chief of Crimea.
In 1995-1996 Kuzmuk was a commander of the National Guard of Ukraine and in 1996-2001 - the Minister of Defense. At the end of 2001 he finished his military career and became a politician by participating in the Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002 on the party list of Foreign United Ukraine.
Soon after winning some seats in the Verkhovna Rada, Foreign United Ukraine fell apart and Kuzmuk stayed with the Labour Ukraine (an off-shot of the Labour Party of Ukraine).
During that time in 2004 he was again appointed the Minister of Defense, while keeping his parliamentary seat. After the Orange Revolution Kuzmuk lost his ministerial seat and was replaced by Anatoliy Hrytsenko.
In the 2012 parliamentary election Kuzmuk was elected into parliament as a member of Party of Regions.