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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation
Position(set)
Citizenship
Background(set)
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
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Igor Nikolayevich Rodionov Игорь Николаевич Родионов
The general who gave the operational order to clear Rustaveli Avenue
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1936–2014
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Irina Bayanovna Solovyova Ирина Баяновна Соловьёва
Tereshkova's backup cosmonaut, the physically strongest candidate Kamanin judged too reserved for the spotlight
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–
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Nikolai Maximovich Fomin Николай Максимович Фомин
The chief engineer who refused to believe the reactor was destroyed and kept pumping water into its ruins
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–
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Viktor Petrovich Polyanichko Виктор Петрович Поляничко
A field enforcer of the Soviet Union's final crisis
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–1993
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Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov Валентин Сергеевич Павлов
The last Soviet premier and an August coup participant
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–2003
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Oleg Semyonovich Shenin Олег Семёнович Шенин
The last Politburo member who tried to save the USSR and went to prison for it
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–2009
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Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev Геннадий Иванович Янаев
First and only Vice President of the USSR and the face of the August 1991 coup
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–2010
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Nikolai Yakovlevich Petrakov Николай Яковлевич Петраков
An economist who carried price theory into the transition to a market economy
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–2014
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Galina Vladimirovna Semyonova Галина Владимировна Семёнова
Architect of women's and family policy in the perestroika era, the fourth woman ever on the Politburo
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–2017
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Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin Вадим Викторович Бакатин
The last KGB chairman, appointed to dismantle it
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–2022
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Valentin Alexandrovich Kuptsov Валентин Александрович Купцов
The last-generation secretary who rebuilt the Russian Communist Party
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–
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Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova Валентина Владимировна Терешкова
The textile-worker 'Chaika,' first woman in space
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–
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Viktor Vladimirovich Gerashchenko Виктор Владимирович Геращенко
Central banker of the Soviet collapse and Russian transition
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–2022
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Vladimir Makarovich Velichko Владимир Макарович Величко
Technocrat who ran Soviet heavy machine-building in its late decades
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–
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Yegor Semyonovich Stroev Егор Семёнович Строев
Gorbachev's last agriculture Politburo member: operational chief of perestroika farm policy
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–
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Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin Виктор Степанович Черномырдин
Last Soviet gas minister who turned his ministry into Gazprom
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1938–2010
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Nina Alexandrovna Andreyeva Нина Александровна Андреева
The Leningrad chemistry lecturer whose 'I Cannot Forsake My Principles' became the manifesto of anti-perestroika forces
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1938–2020
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Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky Олег Антонович Гордиевский
The highest-ranking KGB officer to defect, and the key source on the 1983 war scare
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1938–2025
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Alexander Filippovich Katusev Александр Филиппович Катусев
The Deputy Prosecutor General whose TV broadcast lit the fuse of the Sumgait pogrom
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1939–2000
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Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov Станислав Евграфович Петров
Soviet Air Defence Forces lieutenant colonel who correctly dismissed the Oko false alarm and prevented nuclear war
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1939–2017
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Mikhail Alekseyevich Moiseyev Михаил Алексеевич Моисеев
The last Soviet Chief of General Staff, undone by the August coup
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1939–2022
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Yuri Anatolyevich Prokofyev Юрий Анатольевич Прокофьев
A Moscow party organizer at the Soviet Union's end
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1939–
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Andrei Serafimovich Grachev Андрей Серафимович Грачёв
An insider witness to the collapse of reform
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1941–
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Anatoly Mikhailovich Kornukov Анатолий Михайлович Корнуков
The air-defense general who ordered KAL 007 shot down, later commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1942–2014
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Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov Евгений Иванович Шапошников
The last Soviet defence minister and final Marshal of Aviation
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1942–2020
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Nikolai Timofeyevich Antoshkin Николай Тимофеевич Антошкин
The Soviet air force general who personally led 1,927 helicopter drops over the burning Chernobyl reactor
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1942–2021
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Ruslan Imranovich Khasbulatov Руслан Имранович Хасбулатов
The Supreme Soviet chairman who stood with Yeltsin against the coup, then fell to Yeltsin's tanks
Legislature and state representation · Russian Federation state institutions
1942–2023
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Alexander Mitrofanovich Obolensky Александр Митрофанович Оболенский
The engineer who became the first person in Soviet history to run against a sitting General Secretary
Political and party leadership
1943–
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Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov Борис Всеволодович Громов
The last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan, the face of the Soviet withdrawal
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1943–
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Viktor Petrovich Dubynin Виктор Петрович Дубынин
The 40th Army commander who halved Afghan losses, then Russia's first Chief of General Staff
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1943–1992
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Gennady Nikolayevich Osipovich Геннадий Николаевич Осипович
The Soviet air-defence interceptor pilot who shot down KAL 007
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1944–2015
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Mikhail Semyonovich Surkov Михаил Семёнович Сурков
A party cadre who moved from army organization to the late Soviet Politburo
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1945–
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Vladislav Alekseyevich Achalov Владислав Алексеевич Ачалов
Soviet airborne forces commander and deputy defence minister in the August 1991 coup
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1945–2011
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Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev Павел Сергеевич Грачёв
The airborne commander who held the coup's key and handed it to Yeltsin
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1948–2012
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Pavel Ruslanovich Palazhchenko Павел Русланович Палажченко
The interpreter who mediated summit diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1949–
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Viktor Vasilyevich Baklanov Виктор Васильевич Бакланов
Full cavalier of the Order of Labour Glory, collective-farm mechanizer
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1949–2019
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Vladimir Ivanovich Shcherbakov Владимир Иванович Щербаков
The last Gosplan chairman who presided over the dissolution of Soviet planning
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1949–
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Alexander Ivanovich Lebed Александр Иванович Лебедь
The airborne deputy commander who, sent against the White House, switched sides and helped break the August coup
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1950–2002
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Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov Александр Фёдорович Акимов
Soviet nuclear engineer and Unit 4 shift supervisor who directed the response and died of radiation exposure
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1953–1986
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Sergei Vladimirovich Yevdokimov Сергей Владимирович Евдокимов
The Tamanskaya Division battalion chief of staff who turned ten tanks to defend the White House during the August coup
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1955–
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Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov Леонид Фёдорович Топтунов
The 25-year-old senior reactor control engineer who pressed the AZ-5 button at Chernobyl's Unit 4
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1960–1986
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Aleksandr Vladimirovich Pyzhikov Александр Владимирович Пыжиков
A historian of the 1950s-60s USSR and the Russian church schism
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1965–2019
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Boris Mikhailov Борис Михайлов
The chief designer of the Volga inflatable airlock that made Leonov's spacewalk possible
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
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Genrikh Lyushkov Генрих Люшков
Far East NKVD chief, the highest-ranking defector
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1900/1902–1945
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Mikhail Kozlovsky Михаил Козловский
KGB security officer who commanded border troops under Andropov
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
?–?
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Sergei Semyonovich Biryuzov Сергей Семёнович Бирюзов
Marshal who helped plan the liberation of the Balkans, then commanded the Strategic Rocket Forces
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1904/1905–1964