Ivan Ustinov | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Иван Лаврентьевич Устинов |
| Born | 1 January 1920 Malaya Bobrovka, Yekaterinburg Governorate, Russian SFSR |
| Died | 15 January 2020 (aged 100) Moscow, Russia |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union Russia |
| Service | NKVD SMERSH MGB MVD KGB |
| Years of service | 1939–1991 |
| Rank | General-Lieutenant |
| Commands | Third Directorate of the KGB Office of Special Divisions of the KGB for the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany |
| Awards | Order of Honour Order of the Red Banner (twice) Order of the Red Star (three times) Order of the Patriotic War First class Medal "For Courage" Medal "For Battle Merit" |
Ivan Lavrentevich Ustinov (Russian: Иван Лаврентьевич Устинов; 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.