1985 in the Soviet Union

The following lists events that happened during 1985 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

← 1984 1983 1982 1985 in the Soviet Union → 1986 1987 1988
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	History of the Soviet Union List of years in the Soviet Union

Incumbents

• General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: Konstantin Chernenko (until 10 march), Mikhail Gorbachev (starting 11 March)
• Premier of the Soviet Union: Nikolai Tikhonov
• Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR: Mikhail Yasnov (until 26 March), Vladimir Orlov (starting 26 March)

Events

February

• February 24 — 1985 Russian Supreme Soviet election
• February 28 — Konstantin Chernenko makes a rare and last appearance on TV.^[1]

March

• March 10 — At 15:00, Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko fell into a coma and died later that evening at 19:20, at age 73.
• March 11 — Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as General Secretary.^[2]
• March 13 — Konstantin Chernenko was honored with a state funeral and was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, he was the last person to be interred there.

April

• The Soviet Union begins to transfer the burden of fighting the mujahideen to the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

May

• May 9 — The 3rd total Victory Day Parade is held on Red Square in Moscow in the Soviet Union.^[3]

November

• November 19 — Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan meet for the first time in Geneva.^[4]

Births

• January 25 — Tina Karol, Ukrainian singer
• April 25 — Vladimir Balyntec, Russian powerlifter
• September 17 — Alexander Ovechkin, Russian ice hockey player
• November 28 — Evgeny Alekseev, Russian chess grandmaster

Deaths

• January 7 — Vladimir Kokkinaki, test pilot (b. 1904)
• January 22 — Mikhail Gromov, military aviator and test pilot (b. 1899)
• February 24 — Nigol Andresen, politician, writer, literary critic and translator (b. 1899)
• March 3 — Iosif Shklovsky, astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1916)
• March 10 — Konstantin Chernenko, 6th Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1911)
• March 17 — Nikolai Gusarov, 17th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (b. 1905)
• April 19
  • Pavel Batov, senior Red Army general (b. 1897)
  • Sergei Tokarev, ethnologist (b. 1899)
• May 22 — Aleksandr Babaev, Air Force fighter pilot (b. 1923)
• May 28 — Mamed Iskenderov, 6th Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (b. 1915)
• June 17 — Kirill Moskalenko, 2nd Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces (b. 1902)
• October 10 — Yul Brynner, Russian-born American actor (b. 1920)
• October 14 — Emil Gilels, pianist (b. 1916)
• November 5 — Arnold Chikobava, linguist and philologist (b. 1898)
• November 10 — Givi Javakhishvili, 11th Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (b. 1912)
• November 13 — Alexander Pokryshkin, fighter pilot (b. 1913)
• November 18 — Dmitry Ryabyshev, military commander of the 8th Mechanized Corps (b. 1894)
• November 26 — Sergei Gerasimov, film director and screenwriter (b. 1906)