Volodymyr Scherbytsky

Volodymyr Vasyliovych Shcherbytsky was a Ukrainian politician in the Soviet Union who served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine from 1972 to 1989. A close ally of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, Shcherbytsky replaced the reformist leader, Petro Shelest, in 1972 as part of a crackdown on the Ukrainian intelligentsia. Under Shcherbytsky's rule, Ukraine was subjected to an intensive Russification campaign as well as a rapid shift to nuclear power, which ultimately resulted in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. In 1989, Shcherbytsky was removed amidst widespread protests against his rule, and died months later.