Volodymyr Shcherbytsky

<p>Volodymyr Vasyliovych Shcherbytsky (17 February 1918 – 16 February 1990) was a Ukrainian Soviet politician who served as <a href="/facts/First_Secretary_of_the_Ukrainian_Communist_Party/WeWuwFnr">First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party</a> from 1972 to 1989. A close ally of Soviet leader <a href="/facts/Leonid_Brezhnev/sL5scf4N">Leonid Brezhnev</a>, Shcherbytsky replaced reformist leader <a href="/facts/Petro_Shelest/vGatHXKm">Petro Shelest</a> in 1972 as part of <a href="/facts/1972%E2%80%931973_Ukrainian_purge/sNbFj6cn">a crackdown</a> on the Ukrainian intelligentsia. Shcherbytsky ruled as a <a href="/facts/Neo-Stalinist/wLjMBBYv">neo-Stalinist</a>, overseeing <a href="/facts/Russification/D9yUd7n9">Russification</a> of Ukrainian society as well as a rapid shift to nuclear power, ultimately resulting in the 1986 <a href="/facts/Chernobyl_disaster/mNj9JHyf">Chernobyl disaster</a>. Shcherbytsky was removed in 1989 amidst <a href="/facts/1989%E2%80%931991_Ukrainian_revolution/s3pTQ0mE">widespread protests</a> against his rule, and died months later.
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Volodymyr Shcherbytsky open-in-new

Volodymyr Shcherbytsky