All articles A–Z
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Soviet ruble
The Soviet ruble was the non-convertible, state-managed fiat currency of the Soviet Union, issued by Gosbank, closed to foreign exchange from 1926, and destroyed by the 1991 collapse.
Soviet school of translation
The Soviet school of translation was the body of translators and principles that organized literary translation in the USSR from 1918, beginning with the Vsemirnaya Literatura publishing house in Petrograd.
Soviet science fiction
Soviet science fiction, known in Russian as nauchnaia fantastika (научная фантастика), was a popular genre combining science education with socialist ideology, peaking with Efremov and the Strugatsky brothers.
Soviet space dogs
The Soviet space dogs were stray dogs from Moscow flown between 1951 and 1966 to test survival in space, most famously Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth.
Soviet space program
The Soviet space program, known as Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR, was the USSR's state-run spaceflight effort from 1946 until 1991, which put the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit in 1957.
Soviet steam locomotive classes
Soviet steam locomotive classes were the standardized steam designs of Soviet Railways, replacing the Russian Empire's varied roster with mass-produced types like the SO, FD, L, and SU.
Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)
Soviet submarine K-129 (К-129) was a Golf II ballistic missile submarine of the Soviet Navy that sank with all 98 men aboard in the North Pacific in March 1968.
Soviet submarine K-19
Soviet submarine K-19 was the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine of the Soviet Navy, known for a 1961 reactor accident that killed eight crew members.
Soviet submarine K-219
Soviet submarine K-219 was a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine that sank northeast of Bermuda on 6 October 1986, three days after an explosion in a missile tube.
Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets
Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets (К-278 «Комсомолец») was a unique Soviet nuclear submarine with a titanium hull that sank after a fire in 1989, killing 42 of 69 crew.
Soviet submarine K-3 Leninsky Komsomol
Soviet submarine K-3 Leninsky Komsomol, the first Soviet nuclear-powered submarine, passed under the North Pole in 1962, suffered a deadly 1967 fire, and is now a museum ship in Kronstadt.
Soviet Top League
The Soviet Top League, also known as the USSR Top Division, was the top-division football championship of the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1991, with Dynamo Kyiv winning a record 13 titles.
Soviet troops in Mongolia
Soviet troops in Mongolia were ground, air, and air-defense forces of the Soviet Union stationed in the Mongolian People's Republic in three deployments between 1921 and 1992.
Soviet Union (Советский Союз)
Soviet Union (Советский Союз, USSR): single-party federal state founded 30 December 1922, dissolved December 1991; 15 republics, planned economy; Russia claimed continuity of its UN seat.
Soviet Union and weapons of mass destruction
The Soviet Union maintained one of the world's two largest weapons of mass destruction arsenals from the late 1940s until its dissolution in 1991, spanning nuclear, chemical, and biological arms.
Soviet Union at the Olympics
Soviet Union at the Olympics: USSR (URS) competed 1952–1988 after 40 years absent, winning 1,204 medals (473 gold); Latynina led; 1992 republics competed as Unified Team (EUN).
Soviet Union at the Paralympics
Soviet Union at the Paralympics (URS): competed only in 1988, at Seoul Summer Games (56 medals, 12th) and Innsbruck Winter Games (2 bronze), after decades of refusing to participate.
Soviet Union in World War II
The Soviet Union in World War II: from the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the June 1941 German invasion through Stalingrad, Kursk, and the 1945 capture of Berlin, with roughly 26 million Soviet dead and substantial Lend-Lease aid from the Western allies.
Soviet Union national football team
The Soviet Union national football team (сборная) competed from 1924 to 1991, winning the European Championship in 1960. It also achieved Olympic gold in 1956 and 1988.
Soviet Union–United States relations
Soviet Union–United States relations (USSR–US, Soviet-American relations) spanned 1917–1991: nonrecognition until 1933, the WWII Lend-Lease alliance, Cold War rivalry, the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, détente, and collapse of the USSR.
Soviet war crimes
Soviet war crimes: violations of the laws of war by the USSR's Red Army and NKVD, 1939-1945, including the Katyn massacre of 21,857 Polish prisoners, violence against German civilians in 1944-1945, and NKVD mass operations.
Soviet war crimes in the Soviet–Afghan War
Soviet war crimes in the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989): Red Army and allied Afghan forces' intentional attacks on civilians, village destruction, torture, prisoner killings, and mass displacement documented by HRW, Amnesty, and the UN.
Soviet War Memorial (Schönholzer Heide)
Soviet War Memorial (Schönholzer Heide), Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Schönholzer Heide: Berlin-Pankow military cemetery and memorial dedicated 7 November 1949, largest Soviet cemetery in Berlin with about 13,200 Red Army dead, 33.5 m syenite obelisk, Mother Heimat statue.
Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park)
Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park), Sowjetisches Ehrenmal im Treptower Park: Berlin war memorial and cemetery for Red Army soldiers of the Battle of Berlin, built 1946–1949, largest Soviet memorial in Germany, with Vuchetich's soldier statue.
Soviet withdrawal from Mongolia
The Soviet withdrawal from Mongolia was the staged removal of a Soviet garrison of about 100,000 troops, announced by Gorbachev in 1986 and completed in December 1992.
Soviet-Baltic Mutual Assistance Treaties of 1939
The Soviet-Baltic Mutual Assistance Treaties of 1939 were three pacts signed in Moscow by which Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania granted the Soviet Union naval and air bases.
Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact
The Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact was a treaty signed in Moscow on 13 April 1941, under which the Soviet Union and Japan each promised neutrality if the other faced attack.
Soviet–Afghan War
Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989): ten-year conflict in which the Soviet 40th Army sustained Afghanistan's communist government against US-backed mujahideen; over 14,000 Soviet and up to 1.2 million Afghan deaths, ending in the February 1989 withdrawal.
Soviet–American Gallium Experiment
The Soviet–American Gallium Experiment, also known as the Russian American Gallium Experiment, is a radiochemical solar neutrino detector at the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in Russia operating since 1989.
Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty
Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty (Bases Treaty), signed 28 September 1939 in Moscow by Karl Selter and Vyacheslav Molotov; leased Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, and Paldiski bases to the USSR, capped Soviet troops at 25,000, and preceded Estonia's 1940 occupation.