Military awards of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev: review, history and interesting facts. How many awards did Brezhnev have? What stars did Brezhnev have?

On November 10, 1982, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, passed away.

Brezhnev became famous for his suppression of dissent, the fight against so-called parasitism, the accumulation of an unprecedented military arsenal of the country (which led to a depressing shortage of consumer goods), a permanent leadership apparatus (which caused large-scale corruption and depressing political stagnation), and also an addiction to awards and passionate kisses with comrades.

Before stagnation and shortages, there was a short period of developed socialism - in the absence of abundance, citizens received goods and affordable entertainment and recreation at low prices, and medical services, education, public housing for use were completely free. How such extravagance was ensured is a separate pressing question, but the mass of ordinary citizens were extremely pleased.

Leonid Ilyich was born on December 19, 1906, graduated from labor school, Kursk Land Management and Reclamation College, and Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. His career progressed stubbornly: from an ordinary land surveyor to election to the central committee of the CPSU (1956), membership in the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, chairmanship of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, active participation in the conspiracy to remove General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev and taking his post in 1964. However, the ongoing farce of planting the cult of the new leader of socialism rather shows the puppet nature of such a ruler; many historians talk about the virtual omnipotence of the party apparatus, the KGB and the army elite.

Under Brezhnev, who served as Secretary General for 18 years, the political life of the country was mothballed, confirmed by the unshakable stability of the unusually conservative composition of the leadership of the USSR. Then they abandoned the rapid construction of communism in favor of the idea of ​​​​developed socialism. The result of some Brezhnev reforms was a temporary increase in the standard of living of the population. Almost 50 percent of the housing stock of the USSR was built, and people received apartments for free, albeit uncomfortable and very cramped ones. The aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and military industries developed well.

By the mid-70s of the 20th century, stagnation became obvious: the party's nomenklatura grew unimaginably due to its permanent composition, few dissidents appeared, and the party members' obsession with complete control over the intelligentsia manifested itself in response. Dissent was suppressed by Brezhnev both in the USSR and in all states of the socialist camp. Was it really for this that Leonid Ilyich received prestigious medals from the governments of all socialist countries?

The dialogue with the West continued to develop, which became tense after the USSR’s participation in African military events and the direct invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. In those years, the defense capability of the Soviet Union reached such a level that the country's armed forces could single-handedly withstand the united armies of the entire NATO bloc. But having gotten involved in the arms race in the 1980s, the USSR began to spend enormous amounts of money on it to the detriment of the civilian sectors of the economy, and a total deficit began.

Leonid Ilyich fell ill long before his death and suffered coma, strokes and heart attacks. Then they started talking openly about the eccentricities of the Secretary General - his love of hotly kissing political figures and “hanging orders on himself.” Rumor exaggerated the facts: Brezhnev was awarded all the orders of the USSR, except for the Order of Mother Heroine; his jacket with awards weighed six kg (I wonder who weighed it). On November 26, 1986, Leonid Ilyich’s awards were transported from his dacha to the order’s storeroom of the Presidium of the Supreme Council.

Having a list of awards deposited, an entry from the Guinness Book of Records (Progress publishing house, 1991) and the results of investigations by amateur historians, Vecherka compiled a list of Leonid Ilyich’s awards.

1. Soviet orders

On September 21, 1989, signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Mikhail Gorbachev, a Decree was issued "On the abolition of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 20, 1978" On awarding the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Chairman of the Defense Council of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union Brezhnev L.I. Order "Victory". After all, they were awarded by status only to commanders for major victories on the scale of the front, to which Brezhnev had nothing to do, although in peacetime he was listed as a marshal. During his lifetime, Leonid Ilyich had 16 Soviet orders:

Eight Orders of Lenin, the Order of Victory (the award was canceled after death), two Orders of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd degree, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star.

It is a mistake to believe the myth that Leonid Brezhnev is the owner of the largest number of Orders of Lenin. In the USSR, several military leaders and political figures also had 8 orders, and some - 9 Orders of Lenin.

2. Gold Soviet Hero medals

Gold medals along with the Order of Lenin supported the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor. Only Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Brezhnev were four times Heroes of the Soviet Union. But only Leonid Ilyich was the owner of five Hero Gold Medals - along with four titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and one - Hero of Socialist Labor.

4 Gold Hero Stars and 1 Gold Hammer and Sickle.

3. Soviet medals

In the inventory before the awards were transferred to the order treasury of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, only 18 medals are listed. However, in the photographs, meticulous researchers discovered several medals that were not taken into account during the act of delivery. If you count them, you get 22 medals in total, and minus the five Gold medals - 17:

Full list of Soviet Brezhnev medals:

“For military merits”, “For the defense of Odessa”, “For the defense of the Caucasus”, “For the liberation of Warsaw”, “For the capture of Vienna”, “For valiant labor in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945”, “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War” Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945", "For the restoration of ferrous metallurgy enterprises of the South", "For the development of virgin lands", "In memory of the 250th anniversary of Leningrad", "In memory of the 1500th anniversary of Kiev", "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", " 50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", "20 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945", "30 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945", "For valiant work in commemoration of 100 years. anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"

4. Foreign awards.

It was not for nothing that Leonid Ilyich did not wear them on his jacket. Not only from convictions or political views - from such a pile of metal awards one would get chain mail, or even more than one. Let's arrange them in alphabetical order of the awarding countries. We publish a list of orders and medals that were awarded to Leonid Ilyich during his lifetime. In 1990, Poland canceled the awarding of Brezhnev with one order and a star; perhaps other similar acts took place without publicity.

From Argentina Order of the May Revolution, 1st class; from the Republic of Afghanistan Order of the Sun of Freedom; from the People's Republic of Bulgaria: three Gold Stars of the Hero of the People's Republic of Belarus, three orders of Georgi Dimitrov, medal "100 years of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke", medal "30 years of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria", medal "90 years since the birth of G. Dimitrov", medal "100 years of birthday of G. Dimitrov"; from the Hungarian People's Republic two Orders of the Banner of Hungary with diamonds; from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Gold Medal of the Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Order of Ho Chi Minh 1st degree, Order of the Golden Star; from the Republic of Guinea Order of Independence; from the German Democratic Republic: three Gold Stars of the Hero of the GDR, three Orders of Karl Marx, the Order of the "Great Star of Friendship of Peoples" with diamonds, the medal "For Merit in Strengthening the GDR", from Indonesia two stars and two badges of the Order "Star of Indonesia" 1st class; from the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen Order of the Revolution on October 14, from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Order of the State Banner, 1st class; from the Republic of Cuba: Gold Star of the Hero of Cuba, Order of Jose Martí, Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Order of Playa Giron, medal "20 years of the storming of the Moncado barracks", medal "20 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces", from the People's Democratic Republic of Laos: Gold Star of the Hero of the PDRL, Gold Medal of the Nation; from the Mongolian People's Republic: Gold Star of the Hero of the MPR, Gold Star of the Hero of Labor of the MPR, four orders of Sukhbaatar, medal "30 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol", medal "40 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol", medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Revolution", medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Army", medal "30 years of Victory over Japan"; from the Republic of Peru: Order of the Sun of Peru, 1st degree; from the Polish People's Republic: star and badge of the Order of Virtuti Militari 1st class (award canceled in 1990), star and badge of the Order of the Renaissance of Poland 1st class, star and badge of the Order of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland 1st class, Grunwald Cross 2nd class, medal " For the Oder, Neisse, Baltic", medal "Victory and Freedom"; from the Socialist Republic of Romania: Order "Star of Romania" 1st class, Order "Victory of Socialism", from Finland: star and badge of the Order of the White Rose 1st class, Order of the White Rose with chain; from the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic: three Gold Stars of the Hero of Czechoslovakia, four Orders of Klement Gottwald, Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st degree, star and badge of the Order of the White Lion with chain, two military crosses of 1939, medal "For bravery before the enemy", military commemorative medal (1946), Dukel commemorative medal (1960), medal "20 years of the Slovak National Uprising", medal "50 years of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia", medal "30 years of the Slovak National Uprising", medal "For strengthening friendship in arms" 1st degree; from the Socialist Republic of Ethiopia: Order "Star of Honor"; from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Order of the Star of Yugoslavia, 1st class, Order of Liberty with diamonds

5. Awards of different classifications.

Leonid Brezhnev was awarded the Lenin Prize for Literature for three brochures: “Malaya Zemlya”, “Renaissance” and “Virgin Land”, published in more than 15 million copies each. They were written by professional authors and journalists. The brochures were recommended for compulsory study in the school curriculum.

BREZHNEV. I thank my comrades from the bottom of my heart for the trust they placed in me by conferring the military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. I will do everything to justify this high title and the trust that the Politburo places in me as General Secretary and as Chairman of the Defense Council. I just want to ask my comrades, how will this be from an international point of view, will it not cause any misunderstandings?
EVERYONE says that this is a completely normal thing, since you are the Chairman of the Defense Council and have the military rank of army general.
BREZHNEV. We will not publish this in the press, just as the decision to award me the rank of army general was not published.
DECISION to confer the military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union T. L.I. Brezhnev was accepted unanimously.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906. In the 70s and 80s, the birthday of the Secretary General of the CPSU was a very significant event, and Brezhnev himself was awarded orders, medals and other awards, the number of which became one of the most vivid stereotypes about Soviet leaders.

Today we would like to take a closer look at what awards Brezhnev was awarded, which items in his “collection” are the most interesting and exotic, and also provide other interesting facts about the awards of the first person of the Soviet Union in 1964-1982.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. Photo: RIA Novosti www.ria.ru

1. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev not only received a significant number of awards, but even managed to get into the Guinness Book of Records with them as “the most awarded person in the world.” In the 1991 edition, his list includes 15 orders and 18 medals of the USSR, as well as 29 medals and 49 orders of foreign countries. The accuracy of these figures is subject to some doubts (in the Soviet years, complete lists were not published, hence the possible inaccuracies), but the very fact of such a record is impressive.

2. It is curious that with all the abundance of awards during his lifetime, Brezhnev was no longer awarded posthumously. Moreover: during “perestroika” he posthumously lost some awards. This is the Order of Victory - the highest military award of the USSR, as well as the Polish Order of Military Valor (Virtuti Militari).

3. There is a popular story that, because of his awards, Brezhnev had to wear a jacket that weighed 6 kilograms. In fact, no one weighed his rewards. But such a jacket itself would really be more than weighty. It was physically impossible to wear it, so Leonid Ilyich did not wear all his medals at the same time. As a rule, it was limited to “Gold Stars”, “Hammer and Sickle”, Lenin Prize badges and sometimes order bars.

Brezhnev's awards presented at his funeral. Photo: Vladimir Akimov / RIA Novosti www.ria.ru

4. Brezhnev also had awards that were established specifically for him. In October 1981, to mark the 50th anniversary of Leonid Ilyich’s stay in the CPSU, a sign was introduced with the name, as you might guess, “50 years of stay in the CPSU.” The Central Committee solemnly presented the sign to the General Secretary, which he himself commented as follows: “As for me, receiving this badge of honor, I experience understandable excitement. And not just excitement, but a feeling of deep gratitude to the great party of Lenin.”

5. Two months later, a kind of record happened. Brezhnev celebrated his 75th birthday, and for this holiday he received thirteen different awards from eight states.

6. In addition to state awards, Brezhnev received many departmental awards. In 1977, he received a membership card of the Union of Journalists of the USSR. Along with it, Brezhnev also received another badge: Leonid Ilyich received the right to wear a badge confirming his membership.

7. Leonid Ilyich received a number of awards more than once, and noticeably more often than others. For example, besides Brezhnev, only Marshal Zhukov became a Hero of the Soviet Union four times. And along with the award of Hero of Socialist Labor, he turned out to be the owner of five “Golden Stars” at once, and no one else received such an honor except him.

8. The number of Brezhnev's foreign awards, according to various estimates, ranges from five to seven dozen. Among them are orders and medals of Argentina, Afghanistan, Guinea, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, East Germany, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Yemen, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Romania. Some of them were established several centuries ago, many are still awarded today.

Many different independent sources write about the awards of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. And, oddly enough, each source names a different number of orders and medals. It just seems that periodicals set themselves the goal of denigrating and trampling this medal lover into the dirt, but do not set themselves the goal of counting how many awards there really were.
In some articles there were mentions of more than 200 awards of the Secretary General, someone wrote that he was awarded all the USSR awards, except for a set of Mother Heroine awards.

Conventionally, Leonid Ilyich’s awards would be better divided into 3 categories: received during the war, received in the period between the end of the war and his ascension to the post of General Secretary, and received while serving as General Secretary. So let's start counting.

Military awards of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev:

1. Order of the Red Star

From the above list it is clear that the number of awards Leonid Brezhnev has is more than modest. Only 5 orders (of which 2 are Orders of the Red Banner) and 2 medals.
After L.I. Brezhnev took the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964, the flow of awards to him increased significantly. From the end of the war until he took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Leonid Brezhnev earned the following awards:

So, it is clear that from the end of the war until the beginning of 1964, when L.I. Brezhnev took the highest post in the country and his awards increased significantly. The result is this:
Orders – 4 pcs. (4 Orders of Lenin)
Medals – 10 pcs. (including the medal of the Hero of Social Labor)

In 1964 L.I. Brezhnev takes an active part in the removal of N.S. Khrushchev, the then leader of the country and heads the secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee. During this period, and until his death in 1982, he received a real stream of awards.

1. medal “Twenty years of victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (1965)
2. medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 11230 with the award of the Order of Lenin No. 382246 (Decree of the PVS of the USSR dated December 18, 1966)
3. Order of the October Revolution – 2 pcs. (1967)
4. medal “50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR” (1967)
5. medal “For valiant work. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
6. medal “30 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (1975)
7. medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 97 with the presentation of the Order of Lenin No. 425869 (Decree of the USSR PVS dated 12/18/1976)
8. honorary weapon - a personalized saber with a gold image of the State Emblem of the USSR (12/18/1976)
9. medal “60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR” (1977)
10. Medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 5 with the presentation of the Order of Lenin No. 432408 (Decree of the USSR PVS dated 12/19/1978)
11. Order of “Victory” (Decree of the PVS of the USSR 02/20/1978).
12. Medal of the laureate of the All-Union Lenin Prize (04/20/1979)
13. medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 2 with the presentation of the Order of Lenin No. 458500 (Decree of the USSR PVS dated 12/18/1981)
14. medal “In memory of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv” (1982)

Argentina:
Order of the May Revolution, 1st class (1974)

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA):
Order of the Sun of Freedom (1981)

People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB):
Gold Star of the Hero of the People's Republic of Belarus - 3 awards (1973, 1976, 1981)
Order of Georgiy Dimitrov - 3 awards (1973, 1976, 1981)
medal "100 years of liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke" (1978)
medal "30 years of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria" (1974)
medal “90 years since the birth of G. Dimitrov” (1974)
medal "100 years since the birth of G. Dimitrov" (1982)

Hungarian People's Republic (HPR):
Order of the Banner of the Hungarian People's Republic with diamonds – 2 awards (1976, 1981)
honorary veteran of the Krasny Chepel plant

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV):
Gold Medal of the Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1982)
Order of Ho Chi Minh, 1st class (1982)
Order of the Golden Star (1980)

Republic of Guinea:
Order of Independence (1961)

German Democratic Republic (GDR):
Gold Star of the Hero of the GDR - 3 awards (1976, 1979, 1981)
Order of Karl Marx – 3 awards (1974, 1979, 1981)
Order of the Great Star of Friendship of Peoples with diamonds (1976)
Medal "For Merit in Strengthening the GDR" (1979)

Indonesia:
star and badge of the Order "Star of Indonesia" 1st class - 2 awards (1961, 1976)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (PRC):
Order of the State Banner, 1st class (1976)

Republic of Cuba:
Gold Star of the Hero of Cuba (1981)
Order of José Martí (1974)
Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (1981)
Order of Playa Giron (1976)
medal "20 years of the assault on the Moncada barracks" (1973)
medal "20 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces" (1976)

Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR):
Golden Star of the Hero of the Lao PDR (1981)
Gold Medal of the Nation (1982)

Mongolian People's Republic (MPR):
Golden Star of the Hero of the MPR (1976)
Golden Star of the Hero of Labor of the MPR (1981)
Order of Sukhbaatar – 4 awards (1966, 1971, 1976, 1981)
medal "30 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol" (1969)
medal "40 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol" (1979)
medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (1971)
medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Army" (1971)
medal "30 years of Victory over Japan" (1975)

Republic of Peru:
Order of the Sun of Peru, 1st class (1978)

Polish People's Republic:
Grand Cross of the Order "Virtuti Militari" (21 July 1974)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Renaissance of Poland, 1st class (1976)
star and badge of the Order of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland, 1st class (1981)
Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class (1946)
medal "For the Oder, Neisse, Baltic" (1946)
medal "Victory and Freedom" (1946)
Honorary metallurgist of the Guta-Warsaw plant
Honorary builder of the Katowice Iron and Steel Works (1976)

Socialist Republic of Romania:
Order of the Star of Romania, 1st class (1976)
Order "Victory of Socialism" (1981)

Finland:
star and badge of the Order of the White Rose, 1st class (1976)
Order of the White Rose with chain (1976)

Czechoslovak People's Republic:
Golden Star of the Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic - 3 awards (05/5/1970, 10/26/1976, 12/16/1981)
Order of Klement Gottwald - 4 awards (1970, 1976, 1978, 1981)
Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st class (1946)
star and badge of the Order of the White Lion with chain (1973)
Military Cross 1939 – 2 awards (1945, 1947)
medal "For bravery in front of the enemy" (1945)
War Commemorative Medal (1946)
Dukela Commemorative Medal (1960)
medal "20 years of the Slovak National Uprising" (1964)
medal "50 years of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia" (1971)
medal "30 years of the Slovak National Uprising" (1975)
Medal "For Strengthening Friendship in Arms" 1st class (1980)

Socialist Ethiopia:
Order of the Star of Honor (1980)

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:
Order of the Star of Yugoslavia, 1st class (1962)
Order of Liberty (1976)

The result is a picture like this. L.I. Brezhnev had 44 orders, 22 medals and 14 Gold Stars of foreign countries. The total amount is exactly 80 awards.
The following must be added to this list:
Marshal's star with the rank of Army General
Marshal's star with the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union (05/07/1976)

Prizes and other awards L.I. Brezhnev:
medal of the laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For strengthening peace between nations” (06/12/1973)
Gold Peace Medal named after F. Joliot-Curie (11/14/1975, from the World Peace Council)
UN Gold Peace Medal named after O. Gan (1977)
medal of the laureate of the G. Dimitrov Prize (11/23/1978)
Medal of the All-Union Lenin Prize Laureate (04/20/1979)
Gold medal of the International Peace Prize "Golden Mercury"
Gold medal named after Karl Marx (1977, from the USSR Academy of Sciences)
badge “50 years in the CPSU” (from the CPSU Central Committee)
Gold medal of the World Federation of Trade Unions (02/15/1982)

Honorary titles:
Honorary citizen of Dnepropetrovsk (08/21/1979);
Honorary citizen of Tbilisi (05/21/1981);
Honorary cadet of the 1st tank company of the armored school of the Trans-Baikal Military District (12/17/1981);
Honorary citizen of Kyiv (04/26/1982);
Honorary citizen of Baku (09/24/1982);

After the death of the Secretary General, his awards were handed over to the order storehouse of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. According to the inventory, the following number of awards were handed over:
five Gold Hero Stars,
16 orders of the USSR
18 USSR medals,
two marshal stars with diamonds - an army general and a marshal of the Soviet Union, an honorary weapon with a gold image of the State Emblem of the USSR,
42 orders and 29 medals of foreign countries.

Now let's do the math.
5 Gold Stars of Hero were handed over (4 Stars of Hero of the USSR and 1 Hero of Social Labor). The quantity is the same.
16 orders of the USSR - coincides with the number of awards presented
18 USSR medals - Brezhnev had 22 medals in total. What 4 medals were not returned by relatives?
Two marshal stars - coincides (stars of an army general and a Marshal of the Soviet Union)
There is an honorary weapon - a personalized saber, but the award Mauser, which Leonid Ilyich received in 1943, is missing. Maybe he handed it over immediately after the war, or maybe his relatives left it as a souvenir. It's not clear yet.
42 orders and 29 medals of foreign countries. This results in a total of 71 awards handed in. I counted 80. Some things were taken away from Brezhnev after his death. Order of Victory 21.09.1989 and Grand Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari 10 July 1990

If we count all the awards that Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, had, we will get the following figure. USSR awards - 38 awards; awards of foreign countries – 80 awards; awards – 8 awards; badge “50 years in the CPSU” - 1 award; Marshall Stars – 2 awards; honorary weapon - 2 awards. The total number of awards is 131 units.
True, after his death, 2 awards were canceled, so at the moment the number of awards will be 129 units.
So the rumors about the supposedly 200 orders and medals have no basis in reality, although the true number of awards is very close to the indicated number.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev- Soviet statesman, political, military and party leader who held senior leadership positions in the Soviet state hierarchy for 18 years: from 1964 until his death in 1982.

Brezhnev L.I. - the only person in the entire history of the USSR who possessed five gold Hero stars: one star of the Hero of Socialist Labor and four stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Marshal Zhukov had only four stars of Hero of the Soviet Union, while Brezhnev's predecessor N.S. Khrushchev had three stars of Hero of Socialist Labor and one star of Hero of the Soviet Union. The rest of the Heroes in the USSR were not awarded this title and the Gold Star more than three times.

No one had as many orders as Leonid Brezhnev; he was awarded all the orders of the USSR, except for the Order of the Mother Heroine.

In terms of the number of Golden Stars, Brezhnev had no equal.

On every birthday he was awarded an order.
On the 50th anniversary he was awarded the Order of Lenin, on the 60th anniversary the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal, on the 70th anniversary the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Georgiy Dimitrov and the Gold Star medal. Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.

Brezhnev's jacket with awards weighed 6 kg.

The moon is Brezhnev's melted down medals, which he was tired of.

All the medals in the world belong to Brezhnev, he just rents out some.

List of awards of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev:

ORDERS OF THE USSR:

8 Orders of Lenin,
1 Order of Victory,
2 Orders of the October Revolution,
2 Orders of the Red Banner,
1 Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree,
1 Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, II degree,
1 Order of the Red Star.
Total: 16 orders.

USSR MEDALS:

4 Gold Star medals of the Hero of the Soviet Union,
1 medal “Hammer and Sickle” of the Hero of Socialist Labor,
1 medal “For Military Merit”,
1 medal “For the Defense of Odessa”,
1 medal “For the Defense of the Caucasus”,
1 medal “For the liberation of Warsaw”,
1 medal “For the capture of Vienna”,
1 medal “For valiant labor in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945”,
1 medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945”,
1 medal “For the restoration of ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the South”,
1 medal “For the development of virgin lands”,
1 medal “In memory of the 250th anniversary of Leningrad”,
1 medal “In memory of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv”,
1 medal “40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR”,
1 medal “50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR”,
1 medal “60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR”,
1 medal “20 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945”,
1 medal “30 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945”,
1 medal “For valiant work. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Total: 22 medals.