The following lists events that happened during 1978 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Incumbents General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: Leonid Brezhnev Premier of the Soviet Union: Alexei Kosygin Chairman of the Russian SFSR: Mikhail Solomentsev
Events
January 24 January – The Kosmos 954 ends its mission February
March April 14 April – 1978 Georgian demonstrations 20 April – The Soviet Air Force shoots down Korean Air Lines Flight 902, a civilian airliner that flew into Soviet airspace. 25 April – 18th Komsomol Congress
May
June 21 June – 1978 Iranian Chinook shootdown: 2 Boeing CH-47 Chinook belonging to the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces strayed into Soviet airspace over the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic during a training mission, resulting in the Shootdown of both aircraft by the Soviet Air Forces.
July
September 28 September – one of the last Forest Brother guerilla movement fighter August Sabbe was discovered and killed in Estonia. October
November
December
Births 25 January – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine since 2019
Deaths January 2 — Boris Chernousov, 10th Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR (b. 1908) January 18 — Ivan Dzerzhinsky, composer (b. 1909) January 28 – Nadezhda Fedutenko, red army officer (b. 1915) February 17 — Artemiy Artsikhovsky, archaeologist and historian (b. 1902) February 19 — Mikhail Zakharov, navy officer (b. 1912) February 27 – Vadim Salmanov, composer (b. 1912) April 4 — Semyon Kirlian, Russian inventor (b. 1898) April 28 — Roman Karmen, film director, war cinematographer, documentary filmmaker, journalist, screenwriter, pedagogue and publicist (b. 1906) May 1 — Aram Khachaturian, composer and conductor (b. 1903) May 25 — Artur Vader, 8th Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR (b. 1920) May 26 — Tamara Karsavina, ballerina (b. 1885) June 24 — Mstislav Keldysh, mathematician (b. 1911) July 17 — Fyodor Kulakov, statesman (b. 1918) July 22 — Mikhail Pervukhin, statesman (b. 1904) July 31 — Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1902) September 5 — Nikodim Rotov, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod (b. 1929) September 27 — Sergei Aslamazyan, composer (b. 1897) September 28 – August Sabbe, Estonian anti-communist of the Forest Brother (b. 1909) October 18 — Ramón Mercader, Spanish communist and NKVD agent (b. 1913) October 21 — Anastas Mikoyan, statesman (b. 1895) October 23 — Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia (b. 1896) December 18 — Lev Uspensky, writer and philologist (b. 1900) December 30 — Mark Naimark, mathematician (b. 1909)
See also 1978 in fine arts of the Soviet Union List of Soviet films of 1978
References