Born on 22/05/1982 in Leningrad and immigrated with his family to Israel aged 8 where they settled in Herzliya.
Drafted to the IDF in July 2000 to the Combat Engineering Corps where he began training in the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Unit. Yan finished training in December 2001, began active service as an EOD combat soldier and qualified as a team leader.
Yan was killed in action on 19/04/2004 by an anti-tank missile that hit the bulldozer he was commanding while disarming unidentified explosive devices on the Lebanese border.
Buried in Herzliya aged 22.
Sergeant First Class Yan is survived by his parents and a brother.