ABSTRACT
The Politburo, in a conspicuous assertion of civilian authority over the military, adopted a decision to strengthen the leadership of the Ministry of Defense. The dismissals of Sokolov and Koldunov resembled the punishment of Army General Aleksandr Altunin, who had been replaced as chief of Civil Defense after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Since Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power there had been several personnel changes in the senior ranks of the Soviet defense establishment. According to rumors in Moscow, Gorbachev was impressed by Iazov when he met him while touring the Soviet Far East in the summer of 1986. In December 1986, Iazov was transferred to Moscow to take over a position as Deputy Defense Minister, replacing Ivan Shkadov as head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. As early as 1983, Iazov was already projecting the image of a leader in the Gorbachev mold.
