 After a mixed career in field troops of World War II and three post-war years, Maslennikov returned to NKVD in 1948 and stayed there, despite political changes, until his suicide in 1954.Ivan Maslennikov, born on a remote railroad station in present-day Saratov Oblast, joined the pro-bolshevik Red Guards in 1917, fighting near Astrakhan.He served in the Red Army in southern theaters throughout the Civil War, progressing to commander of cavalry brigade in 1921.