Chief political commissar of the post-Stalin Soviet military who helped bring down Zhukov
Zheltov, once Zhukov's own military council commissar, became the marshal's fiercest denouncer at the October 1957 Central Committee plenum.
General-Colonel Aleksei Zheltov headed GlavPUR, the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, from 1953 to 1958. He was the chief political commissar of the armed forces during the early post-Stalin transition. He served on the military councils of the Karelian, Don, Southwestern, and 3rd Ukrainian fronts during the war, directing party-political work at Stalingrad and in the liberation of Ukraine and the Balkans. In 1957 he was among the most active participants in the anti-Zhukov campaign, helping Khrushchev remove the marshal and eliminate the last independent power centre in the military. After heading the CPSU Central Committee's Administrative Department, overseeing the military, KGB, MVD, procuracy, and judiciary, he directed the Lenin Military-Political Academy for twelve years.
Career Timeline
- 1924–1927Joined Red Army, graduated 2nd Moscow Infantry School, platoon commander
- 1937–1939Commissar, 24th Rifle Division → Military Council, Volga Military District
- 1941–1944Military Council, Far Eastern, Karelian, Don, Southwestern, and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts
- 1945–1950Military Council, Central Group of Forces; Deputy Supreme Commissar in Austria
- 1951–1953Head, Main Personnel Directorate, Soviet Army
- 1953–1958Head, Main Political Directorate (GlavPUR), Soviet Army and Navy
- 1958–1959Head, Administrative Department, CPSU Central Committee
- 1959–1971Head, Lenin Military-Political Academy
- 1971–1991Consultant, Group of General Inspectors; Chairman, War Veterans Committee (1981–87)