Ivan Ustinov

Ustinov was born on 1 January 1920 in the village of Malaya Bobrovka, then part of , in the Russian SFSR, USSR. He attended the Irbitsky feldsher-obstetric school, graduating in August 1938 and being assigned to work in the NKVD's North Ural . He joined the Red Army in November 1939. Assigned to the state's security organs, he began the course of operational studies at the NKVD's school in Mogilev on 10 June 1941, less than two weeks before the outbreak of war. Later in the war he saw action with the 11th Guards Army as part of the NKVD Special Division, taking part in the offensives in Operation Kutuzov in 1943, and Operation Bagration in 1944. ==Postwar==

From November 1945 Ustinov was deputy head of the SMERSH detachment for the 36th Guards Rifle Corps in the Baltic Military District. Promoted to general-lieutenant on 15 June 1971, Ustinov was next appointed Head of the KGB's Special Directorate for the Soviet Forces in Germany from November 1973 until July 1981. He was then transferred to the KGB's reserve and served as advisor to the chairman of Gosplan on security issues until Ustinov's retirement in September 1991. ==Retirement==

In retirement Ustinov wrote and published on the subject of the history of military counterintelligence. His book Strengthened by Steel was published in 2005, and reprinted in 2008 as At the Frontier of Historical Change. Ustinov died in Moscow on 15 January 2020, aged 100. His funeral took place on 17 January, and he was buried in the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery. Ustinov had received a number of awards and honours over his career. He was twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner, on 30 October 1967 and 31 December 1976; as well as three Orders of the Red Star, on 30 April 1944, 5 November 1954 and 6 May 1985; the Order of the Patriotic War First Class on 11 March 1985; as well as the Medals "For Courage", "For the Defence of Moscow", "For the Capture of Königsberg" and "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945". He also held 17 awards from foreign states. In 1969 he was given the title of , and in 2010 he was awarded the Order of Honour by the Russian Federation. Shortly before his death he was awarded the Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour. ==References==