Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union ( ) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union , awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society . Overview . The award was established on May 5 , 1934 , by the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union . The first recipients of the title originally received only the Order of Lenin , the highest Soviet award , along with certificate ( грамота , " gramota " ) describing the heroic deed from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR . Because the Order of Lenin could be awarded for deeds not qualifying for the title of hero , and to distinguish heroes from other Order of Lenin holders , the Gold Star medal was introduced on August 1 , 1939 . Earlier heroes were retroactively eligible for these items . A hero could be awarded the title again for a subsequent heroic feat with an additional Gold Star medal and certificate . An additional Order of Lenin was not given until 1973 . The practice of awarding the title multiple times was abolished by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1988 during perestroika . Many foreign citizens were awarded the title . The title was also given posthumously , though often without the actual Gold Star medal given . The title could be revoked only by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . History . The total number of persons who were awarded this title is 12 , 755 ( twenty people have been stripped of this title due to various circumstances ) . The great majority of them received it during World War II ( 11 , 635 Heroes of the Soviet Union , 101 twice Heroes , 3 three - time Heroes , and 2 four - time Heroes ) . Sixty - five people were awarded the title for actions related to the First Afghan War , which lasted from 1979 until 1989 . The first recipients of the award were the pilots Anatoly Liapidevsky ( certificate number one ) , Sigizmund Levanevsky , Vasily Molokov , Mavriky Slepnyov , Nikolai Kamanin , Ivan Doronin and Mikhail Vodopianov , who participated in the successful aerial search and rescue of the crew of the steamship " Cheliuskin " , which sank in Arctic waters , crushed by ice fields , on February 13 , 1934 . Valentina Grizodubova , a female pilot , was the first woman to become a Hero of the Soviet Union ( November 2 , 1938 ) for her international women ' s record for a straight - line distance flight . Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya , a Soviet partisan , was the first woman to become a Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II ( February 16 , 1942 ) , posthumously . In addition , 101 people received the award twice . A second award entitled the recipient to have a bronze bust of his or her likeness with a commemorative inscription erected in his or her hometown . Two famous Soviet fighter pilots , Aleksandr Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub were three times Heroes of the Soviet Union . A third award entitled the recipient to have his / her bronze bust erected on a columnar pedestal in Moscow , near the Palace of the Soviets , but the Palace was never built . After his release from serving a 20 - year sentence in a Mexican prison for the assassination of Leon Trotsky , Ramon Mercader moved to the Soviet Union in 1961 and was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal from the then head of the KGB Alexander Shelepin . The only individuals to receive the title four times were Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Leonid Brezhnev . The original statute of the Hero of the Soviet Union , however , did not provide for a fourth title ; its provisions allowed for a maximum of three awards regardless of later deeds . Both Zhukov and Brezhnev received their fourth titles under controversial circumstances contrary to the statute , which remained largely unchanged until the award was abolished in 1991 . Zhukov was awarded a fourth time " for his large accomplishments " on the occasion of his 60th birthday on December 1 , 1956 . There is some speculation that Zhukov ' s fourth Hero medal was for his participation in the arrest of Beria in 1953 , but this was not entered in the records . Brezhnev ' s four awards further eroded the prestige of the award because they were birthday gifts , on the occasions of his 60th , 70th , 72nd and 75th birthdays . Such practices halted in 1988 due to a decision of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , which formally ended it . By the 1970s , the award had been somewhat devalued . Important political and military persons had been awarded on the occasions of their anniversaries rather than for any immediate heroic activity . All Soviet cosmonauts , starting from Yuri Gagarin , as well as foreign citizens who participated in Soviet cosmic program as cosmonauts , received Hero award for each flight ( but no more than twice ) . Apart from individuals , the title was also awarded to twelve cities ( Hero City ) as well as the fortress of Brest ( Hero - Fortress ) for collective heroism during the War . The last recipient of the title " Hero of the Soviet Union " was a Soviet diver , Captain of the 3rd rank Leonid Mikhailovich Solodkov on December 24 , 1991 for fulfillment of a special diving task . Following the collapse of the Soviet Union , this title was succeeded in Russia by the title " Hero of the Russian Federation " , in Ukraine by " Hero of Ukraine " and in Belarus by " Hero of Belarus " . Azerbaijan ' s successor order is that of National Hero of Azerbaijan and Armenia ' s own hero medal is that of National Hero of Armenia , both modeled on the Soviet one .