The defence minister removed after the Rust affair
On 28 May 1987, 19-year-old West German Mathias Rust flew a Cessna through Soviet air defences and landed on Red Square. Two days later at the Politburo, Gorbachev proposed Sokolov's dismissal — no one dared object. The veteran marshal's 55-year career ended with a boy and a single flight.
A Soviet military elite forged in the Battle of Lake Khasan and the German-Soviet war, he served 17 years as First Deputy Minister of Defence (1967–1984), becoming the institutional backbone of the armed forces. Promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1978, he exercised de facto command of Soviet operations in Afghanistan as head of the Defence Ministry's Operational Group. He rose to Minister of Defence in 1984 but was dismissed by Gorbachev after Mathias Rust landed on Red Square in 1987. The only Marshal of the Soviet Union to reach 100, he witnessed both the zenith and the end of the Soviet military.
Career Timeline
- 1941–1945Serves in the German-Soviet war, gaining armored and mechanized command experience
- 1960s–1970sRises through Leningrad Military District and to first deputy defense minister
- 1979–1980sDeeply involved in command and oversight of the Afghan war
- 1984–1987Defense minister and conservative military face in early Gorbachev years
- 1987Removed after Mathias Rust lands in Moscow
Related historical events
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic WarCommander of armored and mechanized units, fought in tank battles
- 1979–1989The Soviet-Afghan WarOperational commandA marshal who led the operational group for the Afghan deployment and later became defense minister.
- 1985–1991Perestroika and GlasnostDefense minister, dismissed after Rust affair
Operational Commander of the Afghan War
Sokolov was a central figure in the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979–1989), exercising de facto operational command. In 1980, while retaining his post as First Deputy Minister of Defence, he was appointed head of the Operational Group of the USSR Ministry of Defence in Afghanistan and served in this role until 1985. Formally tasked with liaison and coordination between Soviet and Afghan government forces, the group in practice planned and directed the combat operations of the Afghan army and the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces (OKSVA). On 28 April 1980, Sokolov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Gold Star medal 'for personal courage and skilful command of forces demonstrated in rendering international assistance to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.' Under his direction, Soviet forces conducted repeated large-scale offensives including the Panjshir Valley operations, and the war settled into a prolonged war of attrition. Appointed Minister of Defence in December 1984 after the death of Dmitry Ustinov, Sokolov continued to shape overall Afghan policy.