Dmitriy Ustinov - Personality and Family

Personality and Family

In his memoirs Mikhail Gorbachev describes Ustinov as a man who normally had an energetic and bright personality. When Gorbachev was facing opposition in the Politburo shortly after Andropov's death, Ustinov told Gorbachev to "stand firm" and to "take heart".

Soviet Army Colonel General Igor Illarionov, who was an assistant of Ustinov for 30 years described him as "the most Stalinist of all the Commissars". Illarionov spoke that Ustinov, like many of his contemporaries were shaped by their experiences in the Great Patriotic War, and were brought up and groomed under Joseph Stalin to maintain the established system. He further described Ustinov as a man who was very passionate about his work, and like Stalin, Ustinov had a habit of working late at night and sleeping for a couple of hours during the day.

The former head of the 4th Chief of the Ministry of Health, Academician Yevgeniy Chazov wrote about Ustinov: "I met him for the first time thanks to Andropov, who was his close friend. From the first moment I liked his will power, speed decision making, optimism, drive, expertise, combined with a certain simplicity and openness. In my mind, he represented the best representatives of the so-called command-and-control systems by which we defeated in World War II, created a highly advanced technology, which provides, inter alia, the conquest of space: His only mistake, which, I think, he may not realized, was the Afghan war. Bad politician and diplomat, he, as a representative of the old Stalinist "guard", believed that all issues can be solved with a position of strength. If I've seen tossed and nervous because of the Afghan war, Andropov, who understood ultimately their mistake, Ustinov was always calm and apparently convinced that he was right."

Ustinov was married to Taisa Alekseevna Briekalova-Ustinova. They had two children together: a daughter, Vera Dmitriyvna Ustinova, and a son, Nikolai Dmitriyvich Ustinov (1931-1992). Ustinov also had a granddaughter named Nastya Nemtsova.