Nikolai Ivanovich Krylov (; 29 April 1903 – 9 February 1972) was a Russian Marshal of the Soviet Union (from 1962). He was commander of the Strategic Missile Troops from 1963 to 1972.
Early life
Krylov was born into a family of rural teachers. He joined the Komsomol in 1918, and was the secretary of the district Komsomol cell and a fighter of the volunteer party Komsomol Red Guard detachment.
Post-civil war
thumb|150px|left|Nikolay Krylov (1940)
After the end of the civil war, Krylov remained in the Red Army and continued to serve in the Far East, where he commanded a battalion.
From 1923, he served as assistant chief of staff of a rifle regiment. Krylov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1927 and graduated from Advanced Training Courses for the Command Staff of the Red Army in August 1928.
Since there was a lack of commanders in the besieged Odessa, he became chief of the operational department of the army on 11 August and the chief of staff of the coastal army on 21 August. He remained in this position from the beginning to the end of the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. During a visit outside the dugout with two others, the Germans fired off mortar rounds, killing one of the men and severely wounding Krylov on 8 January 1942. He would suffer from this injury for the rest of his life.
On 27 December 1941, he was appointed major general and was evacuated from the city in the last days of its defense by a Soviet Navy submarine. He was in the reserve for more than a month, during which time he wrote a report on the defense of Sevastopol.
For the successful defeat of the opposing enemy groupings in this operation, Krylov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.
Krylov died on 9 February 1972, at the age of 68, just nine days after the death of Marshal Matvei Zakharov. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.