Heroes of the Soviet Union

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili; 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and political leader who governed the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He served as both General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Despite initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he ultimately consolidated power to become the Soviet Union's dictator by the 1930s. A communist ideologically committed to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, Stalin formalised these ideas as Marxism–Leninism while his own policies are known as Stalinism.

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin  (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet Air Forces pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space, achieving a major milestone in the Space Race; his capsule, Vostok 1, completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. Gagarin became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, his nation's highest honour.

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, (Russian: Людми́ла Миха́йловна Павличе́нко, Ukrainian: Людмила Михайлівна Павличенко, Lyudmyla Mykhailivna Pavlychenko, (née Belova; 12 July [O.S. 30 May] 1916 – 10 October 1974) was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II, credited with 309 confirmed kills, making her the most successful female sniper in history. Lyudmila was nicknamed "Lady Death" due to her incredible ability with a sniper rifle. She served in the Red Army during the Siege of Odessa and the Siege of Sevastopol, during the early stages of the Eastern Front in WWII.

Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak (Russian: Лидия Владимировна Литвяк; 18 August 1921, in Moscow – 1 August 1943, in Krasnyi Luch), also known as Lilya, was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Historians' estimates for her total victories range from five to twelve solo victories and two to four shared kills in her 66 combat sorties. In about two years of operations, she was the first female fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, the first of two female fighter pilots who have earned the title of fighter ace and the holder of the record for the greatest number of kills by a female fighter pilot. She was shot down near Orel during the Battle of Kursk as she attacked a formation of German aircraft.

Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; Polish: Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who became Marshal of the Soviet Union, Marshal of Poland, and served as Poland's Defence Minister from 1949 until his removal in 1956 during the Polish October. He became one of the most prominent Red Army commanders of World War II.

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, ; born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut, being the first woman ever to fly in space. She was the first woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, is the only woman to have been on a solo space mission and is the last surviving Vostok programme cosmonaut. She was the youngest woman to fly in space until 2023 when Anastatia Mayers flew on Galactic 02 at the age of 18. Since Mayers flew a suborbital mission, Tereshkova remains the youngest woman to fly in Earth orbit.

Natalya Fyodorovna Kravtsova née Meklin (Russian: Наталья Фёдоровна Меклин; 8 September 1922 – 5 June 2005) was a flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The regiment later came to be known as the "Night Witches" by German targets. She was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in February 1945 for completing 840 sorties, and gained significant publicity.

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Георгий Константинович Жуков, 1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He also served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and was a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party (later Politburo). During World War II, Zhukov oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories.

Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova (Russian: Мари́на Миха́йловна Раско́ва, née Malinina; 28 March 1912 – 4 January 1943) was the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the diploma of professional air navigator. Raskova went from a young woman with aspirations of becoming an opera singer to a military instructor to the Soviet first female navigator. She was the navigator to many record-setting as well as record-breaking flights and the founding and commanding officer of the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment, which was renamed the 125th M.M. Raskova Borisov Guards Dive Bomber Regiment in her honor. Raskova became one of over 800,000 women in the military service, founding three female air regiments, one of which eventually flew over 30,000 sorties in World War II and produced at least 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny (Russian: Семён Миха́йлович Будённый, 25 April [O.S. 13 April] 1883 – 26 October 1973) was a Russian cavalryman, military commander during the Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War and World War II, and a close political ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.