Awards and decorations received by Leonid Brezhnev

The following is a full list of awards and decorations of Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet General Secretary and statesman, sorted into two sections; foreign and domestic.

Domestic

Award or decoration Date Awarded for
Hero of the Soviet Union 18 December 1966
18 December 1976
19 December 1978
18 December 1981
"Heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society." The medals were also awarded on his birthdays.
Hero of Socialist Labour 17 June 1961 "Exceptional achievements in national economy and culture."
Order of Lenin 2 December 1947
18 December 1956
17 June 1961
18 December 1966
2 October 1971
18 December 1976
19 December 1978
18 December 1981
Outstanding services rendered to the State.
Order of the October Revolution 14 March 1979
18 December 1980
"Services furthering communism or the state, or in enhancing the defences of the Soviet Union"
Order of the Red Banner 12 March 1942
29 May 1944
Heroism in combat or other extraordinary accomplishments of military valor during combat operations
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class Exceptional duty in combat operations that led to the liberation of the Soviet territory
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class Exceptional duty and courage in the battle for the Soviet Motherland, and soldiers whose actions contributed to the success of military operations
Order of the Red Star Exceptional service in the cause of the defence of the Soviet Union in both war and peace
Medal for Combat Service
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
Medal "For the Defence of Odessa" For all the participants of the defence of Odessa
Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" For all the participants of the defence of Caucasus
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" To all civilian and military personnel in the Soviet army, navy and the NKVD.
Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" To all civilian and military personnel in the Soviet army, navy and the NKVD.
Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" To all civilian and military personnel in the Soviet army, navy and the NKVD.
Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" To all civilian and military personnel in the Soviet army, navy and the NKVD who were directly involved in the liberation of Warsaw
Medal "For the Capture of Vienna" To all civilian and military personnel in the Soviet army, navy and the NKVD who were directly involved in the siege of Vienna
Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" Workers, technicians and employees of industry and transport, farmers and agricultural experts, scientists, artists, authors, officials, party members, trade union members and members of other public organisations who contributed to the Soviet war effort against Germany.
Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation" 1979 Contribution to strengthening the military cooperation between various military branches
Medal "For the Restoration of the Black Metallurgy Enterprises of the South" Workers, technicians and employees of industry and transport, farmers and agricultural experts, scientists, artists, authors, officials, party members, trade union members and members of other public organisations who contributed to the Soviet war effort against Germany.
Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands" Collective farmers, workers on state farms, common labourers, Party and state officials, trade union members and Komsomol members for contributions they made during the Virgin Lands Campaign
Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" 1958 Awarded to marshals, generals, admirals, officers and servicemen to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Soviet armed forces
Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" 1968 Awarded to marshals, generals, admirals, officers and servicemen to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Soviet armed forces
Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" 1978 Awarded to marshals, generals, admirals, officers and servicemen to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Soviet armed forces
Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad" 1957 Awarded to civilians and armed forces personnel to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the city of Leningrad.
Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kiev" 1982 "his contribution to the socio-cultural and economic development of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev."
Lenin Prize for Literature 1979 for The Small Land, part of a series popularly referred to as Brezhnev's trilogy.
Lenin Peace Prize 1973
Order of Victory 20 February 1978
(revoked in 1989)

Brezhnev's receipt of the Order of Victory was controversial; the award was restricted to commanding officers of high rank who successfully changed the course of the war in favor of the Red Army during World War II. Brezhnev was a young political officer during the war who did reach the rank of lieutenant general, but did not command responsibility close to the other recipients of the Order. He only received the decoration after he was Premier and thus able to essentially award the medal to himself. As a result of the controversy, the Order of Victory was revoked in 1989.

Honorary Citizen

The Kyiv City Council stripped the title (granted in 1982) of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Kyiv" from Brezhnev on 25 May 2023. The Dnipro City Council (Dnipropetrovsk was renamed to its current name Dnipro in 2016) stripped the title (granted in 1979) of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Dnipropetrovsk/Dnipro" from Brezhnev on 20 December 2023. They both stated they did so in accordance with Ukrainian decommunization laws.

Foreign

Award or decoration Country Date Place Awarded for
Grand Cross of the Order of May  Argentina 1974
Order of the Sun of Liberty Afghanistan 1981 Kabul
Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Bangladesh Bangladesh 2012 Dhaka
Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Bulgaria Bulgaria 1973
1976
1981
Sofia
Order of Georgi Dimitrov Sofia
Medal for "100 Years of Liberation from Ottoman Slavery" 1978
30th Anniversary Of The Socialist Revolution In Bulgaria 1974
90th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Georgi Dimitrov 1972
100th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Georgi Dimitrov 1982
Hero of the Republic of Cuba Cuba Cuba 1981 Havana
Order of José Martí 1974 Havana
Order of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes 1981 Havana
Order of Playa Girón 1976 Havana
Medal "20 Years Anniversary of the Moncada Barracks Attack" 1973 Havana
Commemorative Medal "For the 20th Anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces" 1976 Havana
Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia 5 May 1970
26 November 1976
16 December 1981
Prague "extraordinary merits for the republic connected with a hero achievement or repeated achievements."
Order of Klement Gottwald 1970
1976
1978
1981
Prague "outstanding merit for realisation of the socialism system in Czechoslovakia."
Order of the White Lion 1946 Prague "outstanding services to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic."
Medal "In Commemoration of the Battle of Dukla Pass" 1960
Military Commemorative Medal 1946
Czechoslovak War Cross 1945
1947
Prague "acts of military valor."
Medal for Bravery Before the Enemy 1945 Prague "for bravery against the enemy"
Order of the Star of Honor of Socialist Ethiopia Ethiopia Ethiopia 1980
Order of the White Rose of Finland Finland Finland 1976 Helsinki "civil or military merit."
Hero of the German Democratic Republic East Germany German Democratic Republic 1976
1979
1981
East Berlin "extraordinary achievements and earnings/services the hero acts for the GDR, for their development and all-round stabilization, for which international acknowledgement and authority achieved as well as for its safe military protection."
Order of Karl Marx 1974
1979
1981
East Berlin
Star of People's Friendship 1976 East Berlin
Order of the Banner Hungary Hungary 1976
1981
Budapest
Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 1st class Indonesia Indonesia 1961
National Gold Medal Laos Laos 1982
Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic Mongolia Mongolia 1976 Ulan Bator
Hero of Labor of the Mongolian People's Republic 1981
Order of Sukhbaatar 1966
1971
1976
1981
Ulan Bator
Medal "30 Years Anniversary of the Victory Over Japan"
Medal "30 years of the Victory in Khalkhin-Gol" 1969 Ulan Bator Awarded to participants of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol
Medal "40 Years Anniversary of Khalkhin Gol Victory"
Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" 1971 Ulan Bator Awarded to participants of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol
Medal "50 Years Anniversary of the Mongolian People's Army"
Order of the National Flag, 1st class  North Korea 1976
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun Peru Peru 1978 Lima
Grand Cross of the Virtuti Militari Poland Poland 21 July 1974
(revoked on 10 July 1990)
Warsaw
Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta 1976 Warsaw
Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class 1946 Warsaw
Medal "For Oder, Neisse and the Baltic" 1946 Warsaw "to commemorate the great victory of the Polish soldiers who fought for the new boundaries of the rivers Oder and Nisse and on the Baltic coast, and who saw to the return of Poland's ancient Slavic lands to the west and north, and to congratulate these participants in their struggle."
Medal of Victory and Freedom 1946 Warsaw "to commemorate the victory of the Polish Nation and Its Allies above a barbarism of hitlerism, and a triumph of a democratic freedom idea, and to award persons, who helped in this victory and triumph by their acting or suffering in the country or abroad, by May 9, 1945"
Order of the Star of Romania Romania Romania 1976 Bucharest
Order of the Victory of Socialism 1981 Bucharest
The Medal of the 14th of October  South Yemen 1982
Gold Star Order Vietnam Vietnam 1980
Hero of Labor 1980
Order of Ho Chi Minh 1982 Hanoi "outstanding achievements in one of the areas of politics, economics, literature, arts, science, technology, national defense, security, diplomacy or other fields."
Order of the Yugoslav Great Star Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 1962 Belgrade "development and strengthening of peace and cooperation between nations."
Order of Freedom 1976 Belgrade "skillful leadership and outstanding courage."

This page was last updated at 2024-03-27 16:06 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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