 In February 1939, newly appointed NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria promoted Maslennikov to the position of Deputy NKVD Commissar for the troops, placing him in control of Soviet Border Troops as well as Internal Troops.According to Sergo Beria, the choice was made based on the simple fact that Maslennikov was an experienced combat commander.The exact degree of Maslennikov's affiliation with Beria remains unknown; some modern authors tend to include Maslennikov in Beria's "inner circle" (with Bogdan Kobulov, Vladimir Dekanozov and others) based on circumstantial evidence (like Pavel Sudoplatov's account of his meeting with Beria in October 1939); others (Viktor Suvorov) treat him as a NKVD henchman despite his experience and formal training in the regular army.