Ilya Starinov

Colonel Ilya Grigoryevich Starinov (Russian: Илья Григорьевич Старинов; 2 August [O.S. 20 July] 1900, village of Voynovo, today's Oryol Oblast – 18 November 2000) was a Soviet military officer.

Ilya Grigoryevich Starinov Илья Григорьевич Старинов
Nickname(s)	Grandfather of Spetsnaz
Born	2 August [O.S. 20 July] 1900 Voinovo, Oryol Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	18 November 2000(2000-11-18) (aged 100) Moscow, Russia
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Army
Years of service	1918-1956
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Spanish Civil War Winter War World War II
Awards	Order of Lenin x 2 Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner x 5 Order of the Patriotic War (2nd Class) Order of Courage

Career

Starinov joined the Red Army in 1918 and participated in the Russian Civil War. In 1921 he attended a military college for railway troops and served with the Soviet railway troops in the 1920s. He joined the staff of the Ukrainian Military District in 1930 and took part in planning partisan warfare. In 1933 he was posted to Moscow and joined the staff of the GRU. In September 1933 he attended the Military Transport academy where he became acquainted with Michael Svechnykov.

He served with the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War and was one of the leaders of the Soviet partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. He is known as the "grandfather of the Russian Spetsnaz".

The Russian military theorist Michael Svechnykov, executed by Stalin in 1938, had previously proposed the use of very well-trained forces in unequal combat situations. This idea was realised by Ilya Starinov. The two men thought similarly about the use of such forces.

In 1945 Starinov joined the military archive, but was moved to Lvov where he took part in the conflict with the Ukrainian nationalist insurgency. He held several staff posts after 1946, concentrating on developing insurgency tactics. Starinov retired from active service in 1956, but continued lecturing at military academies and took part in writing the official history of the partisan war.

Honours and awards

• Two Orders of Lenin
• Order of the October Revolution
• Five Orders of the Red Banner
• Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (Russian Federation)
• Order of Courage (Russian Federation)
• Medal of Zhukov (Russian Federation)
• Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st class
• Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
• Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad"
• Medal "For the Defence of Moscow"
• Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"
• Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
• Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
• Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kiev"
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (Russian Federation)