Dmitry Ustinov (PJW)

Dmitry Ustinov (October 30, 1908 - April 18, 1992) led the Soviet Union from 1972 to 1982.

Rising through the ranks beneath First Secretary Nikita Khruschev, Ustinov was in a prime position to gain power after the First Secretary's death in 1971. Ustinov ended the subsequent power struggle by allying himself with Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko and arriving in Moscow at the head of an army. A hardliner Stalinist, Ustinov would return the Soviet Union to its previous era of repression, purging many leaders following the initial power struggle.

Energetic and determined, Ustinov sought to continue the Soviet Union's success in the Cold War. His rivalry with American President Frank Carlucci, who rose to power at nearly the same time as Ustinov, brought the two superpowers close to war. After considering himself defeated by Carlucci in the First Korean Crisis and October War in the Middle East, Ustinov sought to tighten the Soviet Union's grip over its allies.

With the nuclear taboo breaking down, Ustinov destroyed Kabul with a nuclear weapon to end the Afghan-Soviet War, as well as launching another missile during the Second Korean Crisis to deter Taiwan's and Japan's attempts to establish control in the former South Korea. When control over China could not be re-established, he funded insurgencies and rebellions in Tibet and Western China.

The ascension of the Gang of Four in China brought their relations to the breaking point. In April 1982, the Sino-Soviet War began, the first nuclear exchange in the history of the world. While the Soviet army invaded Manchuria, the two powers launched their arsenals at one another; over 90 million Soviets were killed, while the Soviet Union's much more effective nuclear arsenal utterly destroyed China and killed over half of its population. Fleeing the nuclear destruction of Moscow, it is widely suspected Ustinov was assassinated by his own guards for starting the war.

Despite the massive loss of infrastructure and life, the Soviet Union managed to survive, and with the majority of its top leadership dead, Ustinov was succeeded by Presidium official Evsei Agron.