Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov (1908  1984) Marshal of the Soviet Union and Soviet politician during the Cold War. Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death in 1984. While serving as People's Commissar of Armaments during World War II, he achieved distinction within the party's ranks by successfully overseeing the evacuation of Leningrad's industries to the Ural Mountains. At the war's end, he was entrusted with seizing raw materials, scientists and research left over from Germany's missile programme.