World War II

In January 1942, he was appointed as the chief of the Border Troops in Primorsky Krai, which consisted units from Ministry of State Security and NKVD. During his service in the Far East, he actively participated in operations against Japanese, Manchu and White Guard sabotage and reconnaissance groups, in continuous border skirmishes and battles.^[4]

In August 1945, during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, he led the district border guards based in Primorsky Krai to capture and destroy Japanese border detachments and garrisons located near the Soviet border with Manchukuo, capture and hold crossings across Amur and Ussuri rivers, and conduct offensive operations together with military units in the border. All these tasks were successfully accomplished by the troops of the district with minimal combat losses.^[4]

Post war

On 20 May 1952, he was appointed as head of the main directorate of border troops of the Ministry of State Security. In March 1953, the Ministry of State Security was abolished and the border troops were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On 12 June 1954, he became a member of the Collegium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.^[5]

On 28 May 1956, Zyryanov was transferred to KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union and was appointed deputy head of the 3rd Main Directorate of the KGB. From October to November 1956, he was stationed in the Hungarian People's Republic, where he took an active role in crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.^[5]

Zyryanov was appointed as commander of the Soviet Border Troops in April 1957, and was transferred to the KGB at the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. At the same time, from September 1959, he was a member of the KGB Collegium under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

From February 1964, he was part of the Soviet delegation to China to hold negotiations on controversial border issues between Soviet Union and China. In August 1964, he was the head of Soviet delegation at the negotiations on the determination of the border on the disputed areas between the two countries. During his tenure, China and Soviet Union fought in violent border clashes near Damansky Island and Tielieketi in 1969.^[6][7][8]

The twenty-year tenure of Zyryanov as chief of the Soviet Border Troops was assessed in most modern publications as positive and reformist. Ensuring reliable protection of the state border, Zyryanov carried out the reorganization and rearmament of the troops, ensuring their equipment was at the most modern level.^[6]

He was the author of the idea of creating mobile maneuverable firing units in the most dangerous sections of the border for rapid build-up of forces in an event of a threat of violation to the border. This idea was rejected by Zyryanov's successor Vadim Matrosov, but later it was implemented during the Soviet-Afghan War.^[6]

In December 1972, he retired from military service.^[4]