Dmitry Ustinov - Marshal of the Soviet Union, People's Commissar and Minister of Arms of the USSR. biography, awards

Dmitry Ustinov is called the best defense minister who has ever held this position in the USSR. During the war, Ustinov literally saved the military industry and developed it to unprecedented heights. He was a man of action and faith in the state

Workaholic

One of the main qualities of Ustinov, no matter what he did, was his enviable diligence, even workaholism. Colonel General Illarionov, who worked side by side with Ustinov for more than 30 years, recalled that when Ustinov became Minister of Defense Industry, he personally toured factories working for the defense industry on a weekly basis. Moreover, he did this outside of school hours. He could arrive at 10 pm and conduct an inspection until 4 am, talk with workers and management. Illarionov even said that Ustinov slept no more than two or three hours a day all his life.

When Ustinov, already as Minister of Defense, traveled around the country, he always refused to take part in the traditional feasts organized for the arrival of the distinguished guest. He said: “You sit, eat, and I’ll go talk to the soldiers and officers.” Colonel General Ivashov, who also worked for a long time next to Ustinov, argued that after Dmitry Fedorovich became Minister of Defense, drinking, partying, and hunting trips among employees of the defense department stopped (although they were a long-standing tradition). For Ustinov, nothing existed except work, public service.

Technocrat

From his youth, Ustinov was keenly interested in everything related to technology. He received a good engineering education. He carried his love for mechanisms and technical achievements throughout his life, and everyone noticed this passion. At the age of 29, he became the director of the plant, was awarded the Order of Lenin, and at 32 and a half - the People's Commissar of Armaments. Ustinov was not “moved”; he was noticed, including by Stalin personally.
Ustinov relied on technology, for which he was even called a technocrat, but it was when he was Minister of Defense that strategic and operational-technical missiles, MiG-29 and Su-27, S-300 complexes, and modern naval weapons, infantry fighting vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles. Ustinov's innovative military-technical policy was not always perceived unambiguously, but he intuitively felt the priority of types of weapons. Until now, the Russian defense industry has been working according to Ustinov’s schemes.

Stalin's hardening

Stalin's personnel policy was based on the fact that he gathered around himself people of a new formation who did not know the “old regime”, and therefore were loyal to the party and to him personally. Ustinov was just one of those. It was not by chance that he was called “Stalin’s People’s Commissar”; Dmitry Fedorovich’s devotion definitely deserved respect. He did not renounce Stalin even during the years of debunking the cult of personality. Lieutenant General Ivan Ustinov recalled: “At the last exercise, after which he was sent on a plane sick, we sat in his residence from 9 to 3 in the morning. He was interested in everything - both in business and on a personal level... In the end, I reminded him: “Dmitry Fedorovich, it’s time to rest, because according to the plan, the training starts at 9 o’clock in the morning.” - “Ivan Lavrentievich, don’t worry, I’m Stalinist.”

Crisis manager

32-year-old Ustinov was appointed People's Commissar of Armaments a few days before the start of the war. Despite his youth, he proved himself to be a brilliant crisis manager.

During the first three months of the war, he organized the evacuation to the East of more than 1,360 large enterprises of the People's Commissariat. In the most difficult crisis conditions, Ustinov managed not only to maintain, but also to increase the output of the People's Commissariat in Moscow, Leningrad, Tula and a number of other cities of the USSR. The decline in production was stopped by December 1941, and from the beginning of the next year a general increase in production began. By the end of 1942, the defense plan was not only fulfilled in full, but also exceeded. Ustinov knew very well all the problem areas of production, he was personally acquainted not only with the directors of the factories, but also with all the shop managers, the best workers and engineers. Amazingly, he drew up a strategic plan for re-equipping the industry in the shortest possible time. Three days after the appointment, the document was on Stalin’s desk. The Secretary General, known for his meticulousness, approved Ustinov’s plan without changing a single line in it.

Dmitry Ustinov is called the best defense minister who has ever held this position in the USSR. During the war, Ustinov literally saved the military industry and developed it to unprecedented heights. He was a man of action and faith in the state

Workaholic

One of the main qualities of Ustinov, no matter what he did, was his enviable diligence, even workaholism. Colonel General Illarionov, who worked side by side with Ustinov for more than 30 years, recalled that when Ustinov became Minister of Defense Industry, he personally toured factories working for the defense industry on a weekly basis. Moreover, he did this outside of school hours. He could arrive at 10 pm and conduct an inspection until 4 am, talk with workers and management. Illarionov even said that Ustinov slept no more than two or three hours a day all his life.

When Ustinov, already as Minister of Defense, traveled around the country, he always refused to take part in the traditional feasts organized for the arrival of the distinguished guest. He said: “You sit, eat, and I’ll go talk to the soldiers and officers.” Colonel General Ivashov, who also worked for a long time next to Ustinov, argued that after Dmitry Fedorovich became Minister of Defense, drinking, partying, and hunting trips among employees of the defense department stopped (although they were a long-standing tradition). For Ustinov, nothing existed except work, public service.

Technocrat

From his youth, Ustinov was keenly interested in everything related to technology. He received a good engineering education. He carried his love for mechanisms and technical achievements throughout his life, and everyone noticed this passion. At the age of 29, he became the director of the plant, was awarded the Order of Lenin, and at 32 and a half - the People's Commissar of Armaments. Ustinov was not “moved”; he was noticed, including by Stalin personally.
Ustinov relied on technology, for which he was even called a technocrat, but it was when he was Minister of Defense that strategic and operational-technical missiles, MiG-29 and Su-27, S-300 complexes, and modern naval weapons, infantry fighting vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles. Ustinov's innovative military-technical policy was not always perceived unambiguously, but he intuitively felt the priority of types of weapons. Until now, the Russian defense industry has been working according to Ustinov’s schemes.

Stalin's hardening

Stalin's personnel policy was based on the fact that he gathered around himself people of a new formation who did not know the “old regime”, and therefore were loyal to the party and to him personally. Ustinov was just one of those. It was not by chance that he was called “Stalin’s People’s Commissar”; Dmitry Fedorovich’s devotion definitely deserved respect. He did not renounce Stalin even during the years of debunking the cult of personality. Lieutenant General Ivan Ustinov recalled: “At the last exercise, after which he was sent on a plane sick, we sat in his residence from 9 to 3 in the morning. He was interested in everything - both in business and on a personal level... In the end, I reminded him: “Dmitry Fedorovich, it’s time to rest, because according to the plan, the training starts at 9 o’clock in the morning.” - “Ivan Lavrentievich, don’t worry, I’m Stalinist.”

Crisis manager

32-year-old Ustinov was appointed People's Commissar of Armaments a few days before the start of the war. Despite his youth, he proved himself to be a brilliant crisis manager.

During the first three months of the war, he organized the evacuation to the East of more than 1,360 large enterprises of the People's Commissariat. In the most difficult crisis conditions, Ustinov managed not only to maintain, but also to increase the output of the People's Commissariat in Moscow, Leningrad, Tula and a number of other cities of the USSR. The decline in production was stopped by December 1941, and from the beginning of the next year a general increase in production began. By the end of 1942, the defense plan was not only fulfilled in full, but also exceeded. Ustinov knew very well all the problem areas of production, he was personally acquainted not only with the directors of the factories, but also with all the shop managers, the best workers and engineers. Amazingly, he drew up a strategic plan for re-equipping the industry in the shortest possible time. Three days after the appointment, the document was on Stalin’s desk. The Secretary General, known for his meticulousness, approved Ustinov’s plan without changing a single line in it.

Personnel officer

Ustinov had a good understanding of people and always strived to work with the best of the best. His charges had to combine military, engineering, and human qualities. Colonel General Ivashov said that movements in Ustinov’s department took place solely on the basis of professional qualities. He didn’t push or protect anyone. Ustinov without hesitation removed Kulikov from his post as Chief of the General Staff, who was distinguished by military discipline and uncompromisingness, but he did not have the flexibility and intelligence necessary for the Chief of the General Staff in the new conditions. Therefore, Ustinov appointed Marshal Nikolai Vasilyevich Ogarkov to this post, who was a man of broad views and could even, as Ivashov put it, discuss on equal terms with the colonels.

Marshal of the Soviet Union,
Minister of Defense of the USSR

Originally from Samara, grew up in a working-class family. In 1922–1923 he served in the Red Army.

After service, he graduated from vocational school and fur. Institute (1934). He worked as a mechanic, engineer, designer, and plant director. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), only 33 years old, at the direction of I.V. Stalin, he was appointed People's Commissar of Armaments, made a major contribution to achieving victory, for which in 1942 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

In 1953 he was awarded the “Stalin Prize” 1st class.

After the war - Minister of Armaments, Minister of Defense Industry, Deputy. Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR. In 1961 he was awarded the second Gold Medal "Hammer and Sickle". In 1965–1976, he coordinated and directed the work of scientific institutions, design bureaus, and defense industrial enterprises. From 1976 to 1984 he was the Minister of Defense of the USSR. July 30, 1976 D.F. Ustinov was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. In connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Laureate of Lenin (1982) and State Prizes (1953, 1983).

He was buried on Red Square in Moscow near the Kremlin wall.

A bronze bust was installed in Samara.

Marshall D.F. Awards Ustinova:

• Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union (10/27/1978), 2 Gold Sickle and Hammer medals of the Hero of Socialist Labor (06/3/1942, 06/7/1961),
• 11 Orders of Lenin,
• Order of Suvorov 1st degree,
• Order of Kutuzov 1st degree,
• 16 medals,
• as well as orders and medals of foreign countries; he was awarded the title of Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (10/6/1982).

V.A. Egorshin, “Field Marshals and Marshals.” M., 2000

Ustinov Dmitry Fedorovich

Born October 17 (October 30), 1908 in Samara; Russian. In 1927 he graduated from a vocational school in Makaryev, in 1934 - from the Leningrad Military Mechanical Institute.

In 1922, he volunteered to join the Red Army and served as a private. After demobilization in 1923, he worked his way up from a mechanic to a plant director.

During the Great Patriotic War - People's Commissar of Armaments of the USSR (1941–1946).

After the war - Minister of Armaments of the USSR (1946–1953), Minister of Defense Industry of the USSR (1953–1957).

In 1955, the Ministry of Defense decided to “... consider the Minister of Defense of the USSR to be in active military service from the day he was assigned a military rank with secondment to the Ministry of Defense Industry of the USSR.”

From 1957 to 1963 - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, from 1963 to 1965 - First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR, from 1965 to 1976 - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, from 1976 Mr. - Minister of Defense of the USSR.

D. F. Ustinov - Hero of the Soviet Union (10/27/1978), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1942, 1961). He was awarded 11 Orders of Lenin, the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree, and the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree. 16 medals, as well as orders and medals of foreign countries. D. F. Ustinov is a laureate of the Lenin (1982) and State Prizes (1953, 1983).

The departure of the hero of the Syrian campaign “to the south” launched a chain of reshuffles in the Central Military District

Reshuffles in the general ranks of the Russian Armed Forces continue. Only URA.Ru knows who will take the place of the hero of the Syrian campaign, the already former commander of the Central Military District, Alexander Dvornikov. Details are in our material.

Lieutenant General Evgeny Ustinov. All military personnel should urgently study his biography

Colonel General Alexander Dvornikov will soon change the prefix of acting commander of the Southern Military District to a full-fledged position. Information about this was perceived unambiguously - this is a reward for the victorious organization of the Syrian campaign. There was no doubt that the 55-year-old chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Central Military District, awarded the Star of the Hero of Russia, would “grow up.” However, the forecasters were only wrong with geography. The Colonel General was expected to lead the Eastern Military District, where he was from. However, the combat experience of the “Ural” Dvornikov turned out to be in demand in the most alarming direction.

Dvornikov met his assignment in the “far south” - this is how the theater of military operations in Syria is called in army slang. Naturally, the general never returned to Yekaterinburg, leaving his position to his successor. According to an insider, Lieutenant General Yevgeny Ustinov became the first deputy commander of the Central Military District and at the same time the chief of staff (currently in acting status).

Until recently, he held the position of deputy commander of the troops with a function that can be described as broadly as possible: combat training of troops. Ustinov is familiar to the public - among the top officials of the district, he is the only media general. He could be seen at press conferences and public events such as the sports and patriotic “Race of Heroes”.

“For Ustinov, this appointment is a clear promotion. In a year or less, he can count on the rank of colonel general. Either he will receive a promotion or remain in the Central Military District. In any case, some changes are expected from his appointment. Dvornikov had a reputation as a boss who could work around the clock, assigning tasks overnight or holding endless meetings. In meticulousness in detail, he and [Commander of the Central Military District Vladimir] Zarudnitsky were somewhat similar.

Ustinov, on the other hand, is used to solving problems “on the fly,” without lengthy meetings, delegating little things to his subordinates.

If his working principles get along with Zarudnitsky’s principles, then we can count on changing the rules of work of the Central Military District headquarters,” says the source. He hints that it will not be easy for Alexander Dvornikov’s new subordinates in the Southern Military District, where he began large-scale checks of subordinate units. One of the first took place in Chechnya.

Reference

Evgeny Ustinov is 55 years old, he is a native of the village of Kaidalovo, Sosnovsky district, Gorky region. In 1984 he graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, in 1998 - from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, in 2005 - Military Academy of the General Staff. After graduating from college, he served in the Airborne Forces, holding all command positions from platoon commander to deputy commander of the Airborne Forces.

From 1985 to 1987 he fought in Afghanistan. From 2009 to 2011 - deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District, then commanded the combined arms army of the Western Military District. In the position of Deputy Commander of the Central Military District - since April 2013.

There is no appointment of Dvornikov and Ustinov yet.

“The official position of Colonel General Dvornikov is First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District - Chief of Staff. He was temporarily admitted to command of the Southern Military District. Ustinov's position is, accordingly, deputy commander. In order to talk about new appointments, we need a presidential decree,” Yaroslav Roshchupkin, press attache of the commander of the Central Military District, told URA.Ru.

To change personnel, you need an official document that starts a chain of resignations and appointments. Due to the lack of an official document, it is unknown who will take Ustinov’s post and where the ex-commander of the Southern Military District troops, Colonel General Alexander Galkin, will be appointed.

The latter, together with his deputy Turchenyuk, carried out the Crimean operation in 2014. General Galkin, according to a representative of the press service of the southern district, is on vacation. Who he will be after his release is unknown. There is no data about this on the website of the Ministry of Defense.

Arseny Vaganov

Marshal of the USSR Dmitry Ustinov is called “the most Stalinist minister,” as respect and honor came to him in the post-war years. And twice more, the Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of the Soviet Union and holder of 11 orders is called the last defender of socialism. Soon after his departure, the Soviet system began to crack and collapse.

Childhood and youth

The future Marshal of the Land of the Soviets was born in the late autumn of 1908 into the family of a Samara worker. In addition to Dmitry, the eldest son Nikolai was growing up in the family. I had a difficult childhood in Samara. It ended when the boy was 10 years old: poverty forced him to work.

At the age of 14, Dmitry Ustinov volunteered in special-purpose units, or, as they were called, military party detachments in Samarkand, created at factory party cells. And at 15, the young man joined the 12th Turkestan Regiment and fought with the Basmachi for five months.

In 1923, after demobilization, Ustinov went to study. He received his vocational education in Makaryev near Kostroma. There, after graduating from a vocational school in 1927, he became a member of the Bolshevik Party.

For two years, until 1929, Dmitry Ustinov worked as a mechanic at a paper mill in the town of Balakhna, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, then moved to a textile factory in Ivanovo (then Ivanovo-Voznesensk).

Dmitry Ustinov studied without interrupting his work. He received his higher education at the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Polytechnic University, where a responsible young man was elected a member of the institute’s party bureau and entrusted with leading the Komsomol organization.

In 1930, the group where the future Minister of Defense of the country studied was sent to the Moscow Military Mechanical Institute. After 2 years, the students were transferred to the city on the Neva, where they joined a university of the same profile.

In 1934, Dmitry received a diploma from LVMI and went to work as an engineer at the Leningrad Marine Research Institute. The young specialist’s career developed rapidly: Ustinov headed the operation bureau, and after 3 years became deputy chief designer.

In 1937, Dmitry Ustinov was appointed to head the Bolshevik plant, a large metallurgical and machine-building enterprise located in the northern capital.

The story has been preserved of how the latest equipment was brought to the plant headed by Ustinov, but the installation was delayed. An inspection commission from the Central Committee came to the enterprise to inspect it. Soon, the leadership of Bolshevik was called to Moscow, to the Politburo, for a “debriefing”. The head of the commission criticized the delay in installing the machines, supporting the report with photographs of empty workshops.

Angrily demanded an explanation from the plant management. Dmitry Ustinov greatly surprised the head of state by presenting photographs of the same workshops on the 2nd day after the departure of the inspectorate. With the installed equipment, workers produced the first products.

Military service and politics

In June 1941, Ustinov was appointed to head the People's Commissariat of Armaments in place of the arrested Boris Vannikov. According to his son, Sergo, his father made the choice in favor of Ustinov. In July, Vannikov was released, and he became Dmitry Fedorovich’s deputy and right-hand man. Together they made a lot of efforts to evacuate the country's factories and industrial enterprises to the rear.

The main task that was set before the People's Commissar was to organize the production of weapons. Dmitry Ustinov became the head of a galaxy of Soviet engineers and designers and, in cooperation with the heads of military factories, worked on the uninterrupted supply of ammunition to the front lines.

In 1945, Ustinov’s deputy visited Germany, at the Rabe Institute, where specialists from the USSR studied rocket technology left over from the Nazis. After reviewing the results of the trip, the country's leadership began to think about creating a Soviet missile industry.

In mid-March 1946, Dmitry Ustinov was appointed to the post of Minister of Armaments. The opportunities that opened up made it possible to bring plans to build their own rockets into reality. During his 7 years as minister, Ustinov did a tremendous amount of work in the rocket science industry. The 7th Directorate appeared under the Ministry of Defense, whose task is to develop the missile project.

In the spring of 1953, Dmitry Ustinov was transferred to head another department - the Ministry of Defense Industry, which he headed until the end of 1957. The marshal's merit is the development of a unique air defense system for the capital and the modernized defense complex of the country. Military science and combat readiness of the Soviet Union under Ustinov increased significantly.

From December 1957 to March 1963, Ustinov headed the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, which oversaw issues of the military-industrial complex. For the next two years, Dmitry Fedorovich is deputy chairman of the country’s Council of Ministers.

Dmitry Fedorovich’s entourage spoke of the official’s incredible ability to work: he only had 3-4 hours of sleep a day, and he lived in this mode for decades. Ustinov developed this habit under the Generalissimo, who worked at night. With an inspection, he could arrive at the plant at 10 pm, then discuss what he saw and develop a strategy at the meeting until 4 am. At the same time, he kept his thoughts alive and delved into every detail.

In the spring of 1976, Dmitry Ustinov headed the Defense Ministry of the Soviet Union and worked in this position until the end of his life.

The marshal was a member of the “small” Politburo of the Central Committee - this is the name given to the unofficial core of old and influential members of the committee, headed by the Secretary General. The “small” Politburo made the most important strategic decisions in politics and the life of the country, which were then voted on at an official meeting.

When they talk about the Ustinov doctrine, they mean a shift in emphasis from the creation of powerful armored forces to the development of operational-tactical nuclear weapons. In accordance with the doctrine, medium-range missiles were replaced with the latest Pioneer missiles.

Personal life

As in work, in the marshal’s family everything was orderly and organized. Dmitry Fedorovich’s wife, Taisiya Alekseevna, is the keeper of home comfort and a reliable rear. She gave birth to her husband two children - a son and a daughter.

The first-born Nikolai Ustinov was born in 1931. Rem, that was Ustinov Jr.’s name in childhood, followed in his father’s footsteps and worked for the country’s defense industry. He became the founder and leader of the scientific school that developed the first laser technology, and wrote hundreds of scientific papers.

Daughter Vera was born 9 years after the birth of her son and chose a different sphere of application of her powers: Vera Ustinova - Honored Artist of the RSFSR, sang in the State Choir. A.V. Sveshnikova, then taught vocals at the conservatory.

Death

Many call the death of Dmitry Ustinov mysterious. He died in December 1984, when the military maneuvers of the armies of the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact ended. Following Ustinov, the defense ministers of the GDR, Hungary and Czechoslovakia died.

Conspiracy theorists see a certain pattern in the chain of deaths and associate it with the beginning of the fall of the socialist system in the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries.

Others do not see a mysterious background in Ustinov’s death and talk about his age - Dmitry Fedorovich was 76 years old, he was a seriously ill person who cared little about his health. Marshall underwent two operations to remove a cancerous tumor and suffered a heart attack. The cause of the official's death was transient pneumonia.

Dmitry Ustinov was seen off with due honors. The urn with the ashes was placed in the Kremlin wall. After 2 months, the last funeral took place at the walls of the Kremlin -. In 1984, the name of the marshal was given to Izhevsk, but soon, under the rule, the city returned its old name.

Awards

• January 24, 1944 - Lieutenant General of the Engineering and Artillery Service
• November 18, 1944 - Colonel General of the Engineering and Artillery Service
• April 29, 1976 - Army General
• July 30, 1976 - Marshal of the Soviet Union