Dmitry Ustinov

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Marshal of the Soviet Union Dmitriy Ustinov
Дмитрий Устинов
Ustinov in 1978
Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union
In office 26 April 1976 – 20 December 1984
Premier	Alexei Kosygin Nikolai Tikhonov
Preceded by	Andrei Grechko
Succeeded by	Sergei Sokolov
First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
In office 13 March 1963 – 26 March 1965
Premier	Nikita Khrushchev Alexei Kosygin
Preceded by	Alexei Kosygin
Succeeded by	Kirill Mazurov
Minister of the Defense Industry Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
In office 6 March 1953 – 14 December 1957
Premier	Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Sergei Sverov
Personal details
Born	(1908-10-17)17 October 1908 Samara, Russian Empire
Died	20 December 1984(1984-12-20) (aged 76) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow
Nationality	Soviet
Political party	CPSU (1927–1984)
Profession	Mechanical engineer
Awards	See List
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Branch/service	Soviet Armed Forces
Years of service	1941–1984
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union (1976–1984)
Battles/wars	World War II Soviet–Afghan War
Central institution membership 1976–1984: Full member, 25th, 26th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1966—1976: Candidate Member, 22nd, 23rd, 24th Politburo 1965—1976: Member, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, & 25th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1952–1984: Full member, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, & 26th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Other offices held 1967–76: Central Committee Secretary of Administrative Organs 1965–76: Central Committee Secretary of the Defense Industry 1957—63: Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union 1957–63: Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission 1941–53: People's Commissar of Armaments 1938–41: Director of the Leningrad Bolshevik Arms Factory

Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov (Russian: Дмитрий Фёдорович Устинов; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was a Soviet politician and a Marshal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as a Central Committee secretary in charge of the Soviet military–industrial complex from 1965 to 1976 and as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death in 1984.

Ustinov was born in the city of Samara to a Russian working-class family in 1908. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined the Communist Party in 1927 before pursuing a career in engineering. After graduating from the Institute of Military Mechanical Engineering in 1934, he became a construction engineer at the Leningrad Artillery Marine Research Institute. By 1937, he transferred to the Bolshevik "Arms" Factory where he ultimately rose to become the director. While serving as People's Commissar of Armaments during World War II, he achieved distinction within the party's ranks by successfully overseeing the evacuation of Leningrad's industries to the Ural Mountains, a feat for which he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour. At the war's end, he was entrusted with seizing raw materials, scientists and research left over from Germany's missile programme.

Under Leonid Brezhnev's leadership, Ustinov joined the Central Committee Secretariat and rose to become a candidate member of the Politburo by 1965. Following his rise to the central party apparatus, he was given the task of administering the Soviet Union's defense industry and its armed forces. By 1976, he succeeded Andrei Grechko as Minister of Defense and received the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Thereafter, Ustinov's hardline attitudes towards the West and unreserved backing for the Soviet arms buildup would dominate his country's national security policy up until his death in 1984.