Question: who lead the soviet union at the end of ww2

title: Soviet Union in World War II
text: Fending off the German invasion and pressing to victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War required a tremendous sacrifice by the Soviet Union ( more than any other country in human history ) . Soviet military casualties totaled approximately 35 million ( official figures 28.2 million ) with approximately 14.7 million killed , missing or captured ( official figures 11.285 million ) . Although figures vary , the Soviet civilian death toll probably reached 22 million . Millions of Soviet soldiers and civilians disappeared into German detention camps and slave labour factories , while millions more suffered permanent physical and mental damage . Economic losses , including losses in resources and manufacturing capacity in western Russia and Ukraine , were also catastrophic . The war resulted in the destruction of approximately 70,000 Soviet cities , towns and villages . Destroyed in that process were 6 million houses , 98,000 farms , 32,000 factories , 82,000 schools , 43,000 libraries , 6,000 hospitals and thousands of kilometres of roads and railway track .