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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position
Citizenship
Background(set)
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
GlossarySoviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks→
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Vasily Stepanovich Ryasnoy Василий Степанович Рясной
NKVD chief who directed the suppression of Ukraine's nationalist insurgency
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1904–1995
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Ivan Iosifovich Proskurov Иван Иосифович Проскуров
The GRU chief who warned Stalin of the German invasion, and was shot for it
Military command · Soviet Union
1907–1941
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Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky Иван Данилович Черняховский
The youngest front commander in Red Army history: twice Hero of the Soviet Union, killed in East Prussia weeks before victory
Military command · Soviet Union
1907–1945
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Sergei Pavlovich Korolev Сергей Павлович Королёв
From the Gulag to space. The designer whose name was a state secret
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1907–1966
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Boris Yevstafyevich Butoma Борис Евстафьевич Бутома
Architect of the nuclear submarine fleet who led Soviet shipbuilding for 19 years
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1907–1976
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Roman Andreyevich Rudenko Роман Андреевич Руденко
Chief Soviet prosecutor at Nuremberg, the longest-serving head of the Soviet procuracy
Law and justice · Soviet Union
1907–1981
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Petro Grigoryevich Grigorenko Пётр Григорьевич Григоренко
Soviet major general who turned dissident to defend human rights and deported nations
Military command · Soviet Union
1907–1987
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Georgy Karpovich Tsinev Георгий Карпович Цинёв
Brezhnev's other pair of eyes inside the KGB
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1907–1996
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Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov Павел Анатольевич Судоплатов
Stalin’s spymaster who eliminated Trotsky, then spent fifteen years in Stalin’s prisons
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1907–1996
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Aleksey Illarionovich Kirichenko Алексей Илларионович Кириченко
Khrushchev-era secretary for party appointments
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1908–1975
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Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyulka Архип Михайлович Люлька
The designer who opened the Soviet jet age without copying a single German engine
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1908–1984
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Valentin Petrovich Glushko Валентин Петрович Глушко
Founder of Soviet liquid rocketry: his engines carried Sputnik, Gagarin, and Buran
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1908–1989
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Petro Yefimovich Shelest Пётр Ефимович Шелест
The republic first secretary removed for investing in Ukrainian culture
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1908–1996
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Ivan Grigoryevich Pavlovsky Иван Григорьевич Павловский
The ground forces commander who invaded Czechoslovakia and opposed Afghanistan
Military command · Soviet Union
1909–1999
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Pavel Yakovlevich Meshik Павел Яковлевич Мешик
Beria's inner circle and an organiser of the Great Terror
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1910–1953
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Pyotr Fyodorovich Krivonos Пётр Фёдорович Кривонос
The locomotive driver who carried productivity innovation onto the railways
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1910–1980
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Pavel Fyodorovich Batitsky Павел Фёдорович Батицкий
The marshal who built Soviet air defence and personally executed Beria
Military command · Soviet Union
1910–1984
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Pyotr Stepanovich Neporozhny Пётр Степанович Непорожний
The longest-serving energy minister who built the Unified Energy System
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1910–1999
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Vladimir Fyodorovich Tolubko Владимир Фёдорович Толубко
The SRF commander who brought Soviet missile forces to strategic parity with the United States
Military command · Soviet Union
1914–1989
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Alexander Pavlovich Lyashko Александр Павлович Ляшко
The Donetsk-born Soviet economic manager who led Ukraine's government for 15 years through the Brezhnev era
Government and administration · Soviet Union
1915–2002
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Stepan Vasilievich Chervonenko Степан Васильевич Червоненко
Soviet ambassador for 24 years across the Sino-Soviet split, Prague Spring, and détente
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1915–2003
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Semyon Kuzmich Tsvigun Семён Кузьмич Цвигун
Brezhnev's watcher planted beside Andropov
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1917–1982
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Dmitry Stepanovich Polyansky Дмитрий Степанович Полянский
Brezhnev-era official across agriculture and government
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union
1917–2001
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Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbitsky Владимир Васильевич Щербицкий
The Brezhnev-era republic-builder who led Ukraine for 17 years, linchpin of the Dnepr clan
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1918–1990
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Grigory Vasilyevich Kisunko Григорий Васильевич Кисунько
Soviet military scientist who designed the world's first operational anti-ballistic missile defense system
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1918–1998
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Vitaly Vasilyevich Fedorchuk Виталий Васильевич Федорчук
The brief KGB chairman after Andropov
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1918–2008
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Ivan Pavlovich Kazanets Иван Павлович Казанец
From Ukrainian premier to USSR steel minister: a Dnieper-born technocrat who ran Soviet ferrous metallurgy for twenty years
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1918–2013
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Boris Yevdokimovich Shcherbina Борис Евдокимович Щербина
The Chernobyl commander who built Siberia's oil empire
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1919–1990
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Boris Pavlovich Bugayev Борис Павлович Бугаев
Brezhnev's personal pilot who became Chief Marshal and the head of Soviet civil aviation
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1923–2007
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Ivan Moiseevich Tretyak Иван Моисеевич Третьяк
Soviet air defence chief who ordered the KAL 007 shootdown
Military command · Soviet Union
1923–2007
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Georgy Markovich Korniyenko Георгий Маркович Корниенко
Gromyko's point man on America who ran arms-control talks, opposed the Afghan invasion, and demanded truth over KAL 007
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1925–2006
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Yakov Petrovich Pogrebnyak Яков Петрович Погребняк
CPU secretary who oversaw the anti-alcohol campaign in Ukraine and testified that Ligachev ordered the Massandra wine library destroyed
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1928–2016
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Anatoly Ivanovich Mayorets Анатолий Иванович Майорец
The last Soviet energy minister sent into the Chernobyl disaster zone
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1929–2016
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Pavel Romanovich Popovich Павел Романович Попович
Cosmonaut No. 4, Vostok 4 pilot of the first simultaneous crewed spaceflight
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1930–2009
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Viktor Sergeyevich Makarenko Виктор Сергеевич Макаренко
Crimean party administrator who helped protect Massandra
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1931–2007
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Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko Владимир Антонович Ивашко
The last deputy general secretary before dissolution
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1932–1994
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Vitold Pavlovych Fokin Вітольд Павлович Фокін
From Soviet economic planner to independent Ukraine’s first prime minister
Government and administration · Ukraine state institutions
1932–2025
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Valentyna Semenivna Shevchenko Валентина Семенівна Шевченко
Ukrainian SSR head of state during Chernobyl who pushed the evacuation of 526,000 children from Kyiv against Moscow's resistance
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union
1935–2020
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Grigory Ivanovich Revenko Григорий Иванович Ревенко
From Kiev regional party leader to Gorbachev's last chief of staff
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1936–2014
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Grigory Petrovich Kharchenko Григорий Петрович Харченко
Organizational-Party Work deputy chief who witnessed Sumgait, and said 'we were a day late'
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1936–
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Vitaly Alekseevich Korotich Виталий Алексеевич Коротич
The editor who turned Ogonyok into the battering ram of glasnost, publishing what the system suppressed for seventy years
Literature and arts · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1936–2025
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Konstantin Ivanovich Kobets Константин Иванович Кобец
The highest-ranking general who sided with Yeltsin during the August coup, commanding the White House defense
Military command · Soviet Union
1939–2012
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Nikolai Nikolayevich Gubenko Николай Николаевич Губенко
The last Soviet culture minister
Literature and arts · Soviet Union
1941–2020