Soviet defense minister Sokolov marks centenary.

MOSCOW, July 1 (Itar-Tass) -- Former Soviet Defense Minister Sergei
Sokolov, who personally led the Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979, is
marking the hundredth birthday on Friday.
Marshal and Hero of the Soviet Union Sokolov was born in Yevpatoria
(Crimea) in 1911 and served on the Eastern front during World War Two. He
was commander of the Leningrad military district from 1965 to 1984 and
first deputy defense minister from 1967 to 1984.
In 1984 he was appointed defense minister, but three years later
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev dismissed him after German aviator
Mathias Rust succeeded to illegally fly his private plane into Russia and
land on Red Square.
The oldest living Soviet Marshal said he would mark his centenary with
the family without official celebrations.
"Young army officers face a new task - to learn to work in a new way
according to changes in the country and the armed forces. We, the
veterans, are glad to see that relations between generations are
strengthening and that new true professionals are coming to the officers'
corps," Sokolov said.