Dmitri Ustinov: 1908-1984
His khaki uniform, decorated with rows of multicolored ribbons, always set him apart from other members of the Politburo at Kremlin receptions. With the notable exception of Leonid Brezhnev, no one else in that select group could have boasted, as he could, of being a marshal of the Soviet armed forces. But for all his military trappings, Defense Minister Dmitri Fedorovich Ustinov, whose death last week at the age of 76 opened up a key post in the Kremlin hierarchy, was a civilian engineer who had never commanded soldiers on the battlefield.
Ustinov owed his position at the top of the mammoth Soviet military machine to a simple truth: no matter how daring a general may be, he cannot wage and win wars if no one provides him with weapons. In that category, Ustinov excelled. During a career in the armaments industry that spanned five decades, he made certain that Soviet arsenals were never empty and lived to see his country surpass the U.S. in arms production.
The news of Ustinov's death first emerged last week after a world chess championship game was unexpectedly canceled in Moscow. The match had been scheduled for Friday evening at the House of Trade Unions, the hall where Soviet dignitaries traditionally lie in state. Questioned by a Western reporter, an elderly door attendant angrily said that Ustinov had died. Official confirmation came several hours later from Politburo Member Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended his trip to Britain a day early in order to return to Moscow. "We have had a great and tragic loss," Gorbachev explained before leaving Edinburgh. "Marshal Ustinov, our old friend and comrade-in-arms, has passed away."
Ustinov, who had been rumored to be ill for several months, was the first civilian to head the Soviet military since Leon Trotsky. He personified the principle that the Soviet armed forces must ultimately be the servant of the Communist Party. Still, during his eight years in the post, the military appeared to have gained unprecedented influence within the Kremlin. Politburo Member Grigori Romanov, 61, was named head of Ustinov's funeral committee, prompting speculation that he would become Defense Minister. But Moscow announced on Saturday that Marshal Sergei L. Sokolov, 73, would replace Ustinov.
The departure added to a sense of uncertainty in the Soviet military. With arms negotiations on hold, the Kremlin has seemed baffled about how to react to the defense policies of the West, particularly to those of the Reagan Administration. The abrupt transfer of Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov from his post as chief of the general staff last September suggested that the leadership was divided over nuclear and conventional strategy.