Future military Dmitry Ustinov was born in Samara in an ordinary working-class family. Despite the fact that he was born in 1908 (quite shortly before the start of the Revolution), he managed to take part in the Civil War - at its very end. The teenager did not even finish his studies.
Service in the Red Army
In 1922, he voluntarily joined the Red Army. He was assigned to the so-called special purpose units (CHOZ). They were created in the early years of the Soviet state. These were “military-party” detachments that appeared at party cells and regional committees in order to fight counter-revolution.
Young Dmitry Ustinov was sent to Central Asia. In Turkestan, he had to make war with the Basmachi, who were one of the last strongholds of resistance to the new communist government.
Study
The next year, 1923, the volunteer is demobilized and sent to the Kostroma province. There he studies in the city of Makariev at a vocational school. In the last year, Dmitry Ustinov joins the CPSU (b). After graduation, he works a little as a locksmith. First in Balakhna at a paper mill,then at the Ivanovo-Voznesensk factory.
In the new year 1929, a young man enters the local polytechnic institute. There he quickly makes his way up the Komsomol ladder and becomes one of the members of the party bureau. The inclinations of a leader allowed him to go to Leningrad, where at that time the Military Mechanical Institute was being staffed.
It existed back in tsarist times and changed many times after the revolution, including into a secondary educational institution. Now the faculties of artillery and ammunition have been opened there. In 1934, Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov graduated from there with a degree in engineering. Today the university bears his name.
Bolshevik
Immediately, the talented engineer got to the Leningrad Artillery Research Marine Institute. Professors of many years of hardening and titanic experience worked here. The head of Ustinov was the famous Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov, a mechanic, mathematician and shipbuilder. He was known for numerous theoretical works, for which he received awards from both the tsarist and the Soviet state. According to Ustinov himself, this was his main teacher, who instilled in him organization and inquisitiveness in his own research.
In these years, mass repressions were going on in the ranks of the nomenklatura and the technical elite of the Soviet Union. Old cadres perished in the Gulag, they were replaced by new names. Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov was from this very "young" draft.
He gets to the "Bolshevik", where very quickly (in 1938) he becomes a director. This company was the successorthe famous Obukhov plant and an important strategic object. The first Soviet tractors and tanks appeared here a little earlier.
Dmitry Ustinov got here under the patronage of the first secretary of the Leningrad regional committee and city committee Andrei Zhdanov. He demanded maximum return from the subordinate. The planned economy worked with might and main, everyone was required to comply with the norms. Ustinov accepted the enterprise in a sad state. But he was not afraid to take risky measures: he changed equipment for imported samples, retrained workers, etc. As a result, the plant began to supply high-quality tools. The State Planning Commission was overfulfilled, and the young director received the Order of Lenin.
Ustinov, like many of his galaxy, remained a solid Stalinist until the end of his life. When the repressions affected his entourage, including Nikolai Voznesensky, he attributed these events to the intrigues of the leader's entourage.
Commissar for armaments
Two weeks before the start of the war, a young and promising director was appointed People's Commissar of Armaments of the USSR. Stalin believed that a direct conflict with the Reich was inevitable, but it would not happen earlier than in a year or two. During this time, he expected to rearm the country, relying on the abilities and devotion of the Ustinov generation.
It is believed that the appointment of the director of the "Bolshevik" to the post of People's Commissar was patronized by Lavrenty Beria. At this time, he was Stalin's main confidant, and his voice was decisive in personnel matters.
The appointee did not have time to delve into the affairs of the entrusted department, as on June 22Nikolai Voznesensky, Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR, woke him up with a call and said that the war had begun. The time has come for the laborious daily work of evacuating the entire military-industrial complex to the east of the country, away from the impending front.
Stalin hardly had "untouchables", so the very fact that the future marshal of the Soviet Union remained alive and in his post already says a lot. However, his success was obvious even without such comparisons. The well-established work of enterprises in the rear helped in many ways to defeat Germany in the war of attrition. Later, already in the Brezhnev era, the Marshal of the Soviet Union was especially respected precisely for the successful evacuation of production.
There were also funny incidents in the work. For example, Ustinov broke his leg while riding a motorcycle (he generally loved motorcycles). Fearing punishment from his superiors, he arrived at the Kremlin. But Stalin, according to his peculiar sense of humor, ordered to give the People's Commissar a new car so that he would not break any more limbs.
Further career
After the war, Ustinov remained in his post. In 1946, the people's commissariats were reformed. They were renamed ministries (Dmitry Fedorovich's department became the Ministry of Armaments of the USSR). In 1953, he changed his chair and became head of the state's defense industry.
For six years (from 1957 to 1963) he worked in the Council of Ministers, where he headed the commission in his field. As one of those involved in Gagarin's flight into space, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Defense Minister
Ustinov was opposed to Khrushchev and joined the ranks of the conspirators who deposed him. When Brezhnev came to power, Dmitry Fedorovich naturally retained his place in the state elite. Since 1976, he has been the Minister of Defense of the USSR and a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. He will keep these posts until his death.
In the Brezhnev years, he was one of the few who took part in the discussion of key issues of Soviet politics. This small group also included Leonid Ilyich himself, Suslov, Andropov, Gromyko and Chernenko.
As Minister of Defense, Ustinov is primarily known for his doctrine. According to it, the Soviet troops were re-equipped and received new equipment. This concerned nuclear (RSD-10) and non-nuclear weapons (armored forces).
Ustinov was one of the initiators of the war in Afghanistan, including the very first landing operations. In many ways, it was his activity that led to this decision of the Politburo. So Ustinov opposed the Chief of the General Staff Ogarkov, who, on the contrary, did not want to send troops.
Under the leadership of Ustinov, one of the largest military exercises in Soviet history took place. They received the code name "West-81". Then, for the first time, automated control systems and several types of high-precision weapons were tested in the Soviet army.
The minister's decisions were largely dictated by the country's participation in the Cold War, when relations between the USSR and the USA were either restored or cooled again.
Death
The last person whose ashes were buried in an urn in the Kremlin wall was Dmitry Ustinov. The family received their pension. He died at the end of 1984 after he caught a cold at the next review of military equipment. At that time, Andropov had already died and was living out the last days of Chernenko. The generation of Soviet leaders of the period of stagnation imperceptibly faded away due to old age. The people called this series of deaths the "carriage race." Ustinov was 76 years old.
Izhevsk, the city of gunsmiths, was briefly renamed in honor of the marshal. However, the citizens did not approve of the change, and after three cities the historical name was returned.
Awards
Ustinov's biography includes receiving many awards, including the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor (twice), as well as 11 Orders of Lenin and one more Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov (both first degree).
In addition, it was celebrated several times by the governments of the Warsaw Pact countries and the entire communist axis: Mongolia, Czechoslovakia, Vietnam, Bulgaria, etc.
