Ivan Ustinov

Ivan Lavrentevich Ustinov (; 1 January 1920 – 15 January 2020) was a Soviet intelligence officer who held a number of posts in Soviet military counterintelligence, reaching the rank of general-lieutenant.

Born in 1920, Ustinov joined the Red Army in 1939 and was assigned to serve in the state's security organs. He had begun his operational studies two weeks before the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, and was soon in service in the front lines. He saw action at the Battle of Smolensk and the fighting around Vyazma, having to escape encirclement before he could rejoin the Soviet forces. He served on several of the fronts during the Second World War, as part of the detachments of NKVD and SMERSH operatives assigned to army groupings. By the end of the war he was head of a SMERSH detachment with a regiment, and during the 1950s was part of military counterintelligence assigned to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, as part of the Ministry of State Security (MGB), and its successors the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), and finally the Committee for State Security (KGB).

Ustinov then served in various positions with the KGB's Third Directorate in the 6th Guards Tank Army, and the Far Eastern Military District, eventually becoming deputy head and then head of the KGB's entire Third Directorate, effectively leading the Soviet Union's military counterintelligence. His final active posting was a return to the Soviet Forces in Germany as Head of the KGB's Special Directorate there. In the KGB's reserve after 1981, he served as advisor to the chairman of Gosplan on security issues until his retirement in 1991.

In retirement Ustinov published on the subject of the history of military counterintelligence, took part in anniversary events and was a consultant on documentary films. He had received a number of honours and awards over his career, and died in 2020, shortly after his 100th birthday.

Early life and wartime service 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.

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.