1971 in the Soviet Union

• General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: Leonid Brezhnev • Premier of the Soviet Union: Nikolai Bulganin • Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR: Mikhail Yasnov ==Events==

January • January 1 — Veronika Mavrikievna and Avdotya Nikitichna, a comic variety duet of actors, appear in the telecast 'Terem-Teremok'. April • April 19 — The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1. ==Births==

• January 31 —Andriy Parubiy, Ukrainian politician (d. 2025) • February 8 — Dmitry Nelyubin, track cyclist (d. 2005) • February 27 — Zaal Udumashvili, Georgian politician • March 31 — Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player • April 3 — Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, Russian actress and television presenter (d. 2024) • April 21 — Valentin Morkov, Russian professional football coach and a former player • July 22 — Mikheil Kavelashvili, 6th President of Georgia • August 5 — Valdis Dombrovskis, 20th Prime Minister of Latvia • September 1 — Gennady Bachinsky, Russian TV and radio host (d. 2008) • December 15 — Vasily Aleksanyan, Russian lawyer and a former Executive Vice President of Yukos oil company (d. 2011) • December 25 — Vladislav Galkin, Russian actor (d. 2010) ==Deaths==

• January 10 — Nadezhda Peshkova, artist (b. 1901) • January 31 — Viktor Zhirmunsky, literary historian and linguist (b. 1891) • April 2 — Vladimir Krinsky, artist and architect (b. 1890) • April 12 — Igor Tamm, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895) • April 29 — Nikolai Barabashov, Ukrainian astronomer (b. 1894) • June 18 — Vladimir Biryukov, lexicographer (b. 1888) • June 29 — Crew of Soyuz 11 • Georgy Dobrovolsky (b. 1928) • Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933) • Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935) • July 22 — Roman Mashkov, military intelligence officer (b. 1922) • September 11 — Nikita Khrushchev, 3rd Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1894) • September 18 — Aleksandr Prokofiev, poet (b. 1900) • September 28 — Vasily Butusov, footballer (b. 1892) • October 17 — Sergey Kavtaradze, politician and diplomat (b. 1885) • October 20 — Nikolai Basistiy, Soviet Navy officer (b. 1898) • November 1 — Mikhail Romm, film director, screenwriter and pedagogue (b. 1901) • November 15 — Rudolf Abel, intelligence officer (b. 1903) • November 29 — Ivan Samylovsly, diplomat, politician and journalist (b. 1905) • December 5 — Andrey Andreyev, former Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (b. 1895) • December 8 — Ernst Krenkel, Arctic explorer and radio operator (b. 1903) • December 18 — Aleksandr Tvardovsky, poet and writer (b. 1910) ==References==