4 nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant , near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic .

The accident Catastrophe started Process_start during a safety test Testing on an RBMK-type nuclear reactor , which was commonly used Using throughout the Soviet Union .

Model predictions with the greatest confidence values of the eventual total death Death toll in the decades ahead from Chernobyl releases vary , from 4,000 fatalities when solely assessing the three most contaminated former Soviet states , to about 9,000 to 16,000 fatalities when assessing the total continent of Europe .

The struggle to safeguard Preventing_or_letting against hazards immediately after the accident Catastrophe , together with later decontamination efforts of the surroundings , ultimately involved Cause_to_be_included more than 500,000 liquidators and cost Cost an estimated 18 billion Soviet rubles—roughly US $ 68 billion in 2019 , adjusted for inflation .

Approximately two million people joined Becoming_a_member their hands to form Cause_to_amalgamate a human chain spanning Expansion across the three Baltic states – Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania , which were considered at the time to be constituent republics of the Soviet Union .

It marked Recording the 50th anniversary Social_event of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany .

The event Social_event presented Presence an opportunity for the Baltic activists to publicise Dispersal the Soviet rule and position Placing the question of Baltic independence not only as a political matter , but also as a moral issue .

The Soviet authorities responded Response to the event Social_event with intense rhetoric , but failed Earnings_and_losses to take Giving any constructive actions Response that could bridge Connect the widening Expansion gap between the Baltic republics and the rest of the Soviet Union .

The Soviet authorities responded Response to the event Social_event with intense rhetoric , but failed Earnings_and_losses to take Giving any constructive actions Response that could bridge Connect the widening Expansion gap between the Baltic republics and the rest of the Soviet Union .

Within seven months of the protest , Lithuania became Becoming the first of the Soviet republics to declare Expressing_publicly independence Change_of_leadership .

With support Supporting in logistics and air power from the Western Allies , and Soviet ground troops in the Belgrade Offensive , the Partisans eventually gained Getting control Control of the entire country and of the border regions of Trieste and Carinthia .

It took place Process_start on the Eastern Front of World War II and was part of the wider Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive , a Soviet attack Attack against Army Group South to retake Conquering the rest of Ukraine that fell Motion_directional to Germany in 1941 .

Following the Soviet advance Cause_to_make_progress to the Dnieper in the Battle of the Dnieper during late 1943 , German forces managed Control to hold to the Nikopol bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper , the area of manganese ore mines of crucial importance to German war production that Adolf Hitler insisted on holding Defending .

The Soviet troops broke Bodily_harm through the 6th Army 's lines , capturing Conquering Apostolovo on 5 February , splitting Destroying the army in half .

The IV Army Corps launched Military_operation an unsuccessful counterattack Attack against Apostolovo around this time , resulting in a temporary Soviet pause in order to prepare GetReady for the advance against Krivoi Rog , in the northwest portion of the salient .

Fighting Hostile_encounter in the area died Death down , but the Soviet gains Getting paved the way for subsequent advances during the second phase of the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive .

The German invasion began Process_start on 1 September 1939 , one week after the signing Sign_agreement of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union .

On 17 September , the Soviet Red Army invaded Attack Eastern Poland , the territory beyond the so-called Curzon Line that fell into the Soviet `` sphere of influence '' according to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact ; this rendered Supply the Polish plan of defence Defending obsolete .

On 17 September , the Soviet Red Army invaded Attack Eastern Poland , the territory beyond the so-called Curzon Line that fell into the Soviet `` sphere of influence '' according to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact ; this rendered Supply the Polish plan of defence Defending obsolete .

On 6 October , following the Polish defeat Conquering at the Battle of Kock , German and Soviet forces gained Getting full control Control over Poland .

The Soviet Union incorporated its newly acquired Getting areas into its constituent Belarusian and Ukrainian republics , and immediately started Process_start a campaign of Sovietization .

The rebellious students wanted to seize the city telephone exchange , Peter and Paul Fortress , Smolny and arrest Arrest the Soviet government together with the Bolshevik leaders .

After the fighting Hostile_encounter had started Process_start , political pressure from the United States , the Soviet Union and the United Nations led to Causation a withdrawal Escaping by the three invaders .

The Korean War Hostile_encounter ( in South Korean , `` Korean War Hostile_encounter '' ; in North Korean , `` Fatherland Liberation War Hostile_encounter '' ; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 ) was a war Hostile_encounter between North Korea ( with the support Supporting of China and the Soviet Union ) and South Korea ( with the support Supporting of the United Nations , principally from the United States ) .

As a product Manufacturing of the Cold War Hostile_encounter , the Soviet Union and the United States divided Korea into two sovereign states in 1948 with the border set Placing at the 38th parallel .

The conflict Hostile_encounter escalated into warfare Hostile_encounter when North Korean military ( KPA ) forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—crossed the border and advanced Cause_to_make_progress into South Korea on 25 June 1950 .

Jet fighters confronted Confronting_problem each other in air-to-air combat Hostile_encounter for the first time in history , and Soviet pilots covertly flew Self_motion in defense Defending of their communist allies .

Attempting to justify Justifying the coup , the CIA launched Motion Operation Military_operation PBHISTORY , which sought Motion evidence of Soviet influence in Guatemala among documents from the Árbenz era : the effort was a failure .

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict Hostile_encounter between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union ( USSR ) , Poland and other Allies , which encompassed Surrounding Central Europe , Eastern Europe , Northeast Europe ( Baltics ) , and Southeast Europe ( Balkans ) from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945 .

It has been known as the Great Patriotic War ( , '' Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voyna '' ) in the former Soviet Union and modern Russia , while in Germany it was called Name_conferral the Eastern Front ( ) , or the German-Soviet War by outside parties .

The two principal belligerent powers were Germany and the Soviet Union , along with their respective allies .

In 2000 , by an act of the Polish Parliament , dissemination of knowledge on World War II Nazi German and Stalinist Soviet crimes Committing_crime in Poland was entrusted to the Institute of National Remembrance , which had been established Building in Warsaw in 1998 .

Insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen , as well as smaller Maoist groups , fought Hostile_encounter a guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government , mostly in the rural countryside .

The repressive nature of Soviet Afghanistan , which vigorously suppressed Preventing_or_letting opposition including the execution of thousands of political prisoners , led to Causation the rise of anti-government armed groups and by April 1979 large parts of the country were in open rebellion .

The ruling party itself experienced deep rivalries , and in September 1979 the President , Nur Mohammad Taraki , was murdered Committing_crime under orders Request of the second-in-command , Hafizullah Amin , which soured Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale relations with the Soviet Union .

Eventually the Soviet government , under leader Leonid Brezhnev , decided Deciding to the 40th Army on December 24 , 1979 .

Arriving Arriving in the capital Kabul , they staged a coup , killing Killing president Amin and installing Change_of_leadership Soviet loyalist Babrak Karmal from a rival faction .

The deployment Arranging had been variously called Name_conferral an `` invasion '' ( by Western media and the rebels ) or a legitimate supporting intervention ( by the Soviet Union and the Afghan government ) on the basis of the Brezhnev Doctrine .

In January 1980 , foreign ministers from 34 nations of the Islamic Conference adopted Choosing a resolution demanding `` the immediate , urgent and unconditional withdrawal Escaping of Soviet troops '' from Afghanistan .

As documented Recording by the National Security Archive , `` the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) played Self_motion a significant role in asserting Statement U.S. influence in Afghanistan by funding military operations designed Create_artwork to frustrate Hindering the Soviet invasion Attack of that country .

Soviet troops occupied Control the cities and main arteries of communication , while the mujahideen waged guerrilla war in small groups operating Being_in_operation in the almost 80 percent of the country that was outside government and Soviet control , almost exclusively being the rural countryside .

Soviet troops occupied Control the cities and main arteries of communication , while the mujahideen waged guerrilla war in small groups operating Being_in_operation in the almost 80 percent of the country that was outside government and Soviet control , almost exclusively being the rural countryside .

The international community imposed Action numerous sanctions and embargoes against the Soviet Union , and the U.S. led a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow .

The boycott and sanctions exacerbated Cold War tensions and enraged the Soviet government , which later led Causation a revenge boycott of the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles .

By the mid-1980s , the Soviet contingent was increased Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale to 108,800 and fighting increased Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale , but the military and diplomatic cost Cost of the war to the USSR was high .

By mid-1987 the Soviet Union , now under reformist leader Mikhail Gorbachev , announced Expressing_publicly it would start Process_start withdrawing Escaping its forces after meetings Social_event with the Afghan government .

Due to its length , it has sometimes been referred Adducing to as the `` Soviet Union 's Vietnam War '' or the `` Bear Trap '' by the Western media .

The Soviets ' failure in the war is thought Coming_to_believe to be a contributing factor to the fall of the Soviet Union .

Operation Barbarossa ( ) was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union , which started Process_start on Sunday , 22 June 1941 , during World War II .

The operation stemmed Creating from Nazi Germany 's ideological aim of conquering Conquering the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans ( ) , and to also use Using some Slavs as a slave labour force for the Axis war effort and to annihilate Killing the rest according to Generalplan Ost , and to acquire Getting the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories .