Pavel Zyryanov

Pavel Ivanovich Zyryanov (Russian: Павел Иванович Зырянов; 16 March 1907 – 3 January 1992) was a Soviet colonel general, who served as commander of the Soviet Border Troops from 1952 to 1956 and 1957 to 1972.

Early life Zyryanov was born on 16 March 1907, to a family of Russian ethnicity. He graduated from a three-year parish school in Semipalatinsk in 1917. From 1919, he worked as a farm labourer. Zyryanov was appointed as secretary of a Komsomol cell in 1923.

Military career Zyryanov joined the Red Army in September 1924. He graduated from the Omsk Infantry School Named after M.V. Frunze in 1927. From 1927 to 1934, he served in the 9th Siberian Infantry Regiment of the Joint State Political Directorate troops in Novosibirsk and became member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He later served as platoon commander from September 1927 and became member of the assistant chief of staff of the regiment from June 1930. In January 1933, he was appointed as head of the regimental school.

In August 1945, during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, he led the district border guards based in Primorsky Krai to capture and destroy Japanese border detachments and garrisons located near the Soviet border with Manchukuo, capture and hold crossings across Amur and Ussuri rivers, and conduct offensive operations together with military units in the border. All these tasks were successfully accomplished by the troops of the district with minimal combat losses.

On 28 May 1956, Zyryanov was transferred to KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union and was appointed deputy head of the 3rd Main Directorate of the KGB. From October to November 1956, he was stationed in the Hungarian People's Republic, where he took an active role in crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

The twenty-year tenure of Zyryanov as chief of the Soviet Border Troops was assessed in most modern publications as positive and reformist. Ensuring reliable protection of the state border, Zyryanov carried out the reorganization and rearmament of the troops, ensuring their equipment was at the most modern level.

Awards and decorations USSR

Foreign

Dates of rank Captain: 1936 Major: 27 September 1937 Colonel: 31 May 1939 Major general: 3 May 1942 Lieutenant general: 15 July 1957 Colonel general: 23 February 1961