Pavel Ivanovich Zyryanov (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Павел Иванович Зырянов; 16 March 1907 – 3 January 1992) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

, who served as commander of the

Soviet Border Troops The Soviet Border Troops () were the border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to the Soviet state security agency: first to the ''Cheka''/State Political Directorate, OGPU, then to NKVD/Ministry for State Security (USSR), MGB and, final ...

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 Semey (; , formerly known as Semipalatinsk ( ) until 2007 and as Alash-Qala ( ) from 1917 to 1920, is a city in eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre. I ...

in 1917. From 1919, he worked as a farm labourer. Zyryanov was appointed as secretary of a

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

cell in 1923.

Military career

Zyryanov joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

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 The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...

troops in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

and became member of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

. 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. After graduating from the Military Academy of the Red Army named after M.V. Frunze in 1937, he was requested to transfer to headquarters of the Border Troops. Zyryanov agreed, but only after receiving a command position. In September 1937, he served as the head of the 9th Komissarov (Khanka) Border Detachment of

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

at the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District () was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific Fleet and part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Eastern Military District. Histo ...

. From May 1939, he served as the Chief of Staff of the NKVD Border Troops at

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

World War II

In January 1942, he was appointed as the chief of the Border Troops in Primorsky Krai, which consisted units from Ministry of State Security and NKVD. During his service in the Far East, he actively participated in operations against

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

and White Guard sabotage and reconnaissance groups, in continuous border skirmishes and battles. In August 1945, during the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

, 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 Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

, capture and hold crossings across

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

and

Ussuri The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and formi ...

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.

Post war

On 20 May 1952, he was appointed as head of the main directorate of border troops of the Ministry of State Security. In March 1953, the Ministry of State Security was abolished and the border troops were transferred to the jurisdiction of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

. On 12 June 1954, he became a member of the Collegium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.Petrov. Page 408. On 28 May 1956, Zyryanov was transferred to

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

under the

Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

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 The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

, where he took an active role in crushing of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. Zyryanov was appointed as commander of the Soviet Border Troops in April 1957, and was transferred to the KGB at the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. At the same time, from September 1959, he was a member of the KGB Collegium under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. From February 1964, he was part of the Soviet delegation to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to hold negotiations on controversial border issues between Soviet Union and China. In August 1964, he was the head of Soviet delegation at the negotiations on the determination of the border on the disputed areas between the two countries. During his tenure, China and Soviet Union fought in violent border clashes near

Damansky Island Zhenbao Island () or Damansky Island () is an island in Hulin, Jixi, Heilongjiang Province, China, with an area of only . It is on the Ussuri River on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia, and Heilongjiang, Heilongjiang Province, China. P ...

and

Tielieketi Tielieketi () or Terekty (, ) is located in Yumin County, Xinjiang, China, adjacent to the border with Kazakhstan. The name comes from the Terekty River, an intermittent stream which flows from China to Kazakhstan. Tielieketi incident The Tielie ...

in 1969. 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. He was the author of the idea of creating mobile maneuverable firing units in the most dangerous sections of the border for rapid build-up of forces in an event of a threat of violation to the border. This idea was rejected by Zyryanov's successor Vadim Matrosov, but later it was implemented during the Soviet-Afghan War. In December 1972, he retired from military service.

Later life

After his retirement, he resided in Moscow. Zyryanov died on 3 January 1992, at the age of 84, and was buried at the

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery () is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation of the Kutuzovsky Prospekt). The local five-domed church was commissioned in 16 ...

in Moscow.

Awards and decorations

;USSR ;Foreign

Dates of rank

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

: 1936 *

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

: 27 September 1937 *

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

: 31 May 1939 * Major general: 3 May 1942 *

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

: 15 July 1957 *

Colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

: 23 February 1961

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zyryanov, Pavel 1907 births 1992 deaths People from Semipalatinsk Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet border guards KGB officers Soviet military personnel of World War II Russian people of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR" Frunze Military Academy alumni Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery Soviet colonel generals