1971 in the Soviet Union

The following lists events that happened during 1971 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Incumbents

 * General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: Leonid Brezhnev
 * Premier of the Soviet Union: Nikolai Bulganin
 * Chairman of the Russian SFSR: Mikhail Yasnov

January

 * January 1 - Veronika Mavrikievna and Avdotya Nikitichna, a comic variety duet of actors, appear in the telecast 'Terem-Teremok'.

April

 * April 19 - The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1.

Births

 * February 27 - Zaal Udumashvili, Georgian politician
 * April 21 - Valentin Morkov, Russian professional football coach and a former player

Deaths

 * January 10 - Nadezhda Peshkova, artist (born 1901)
 * January 31 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, literary historian and linguist (born 1891)
 * April 12 – Igor Tamm, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1895)
 * April 29 – Nikolai Barabashov, Ukrainian astronomer (born 1894)
 * June 18 - Vladimir Biryukov, lexicographer (born 1888)
 * July 22 - Roman Mashkov, military intelligence officer (born 1922)
 * September 11 - Nikita Khrushchev, former First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (born 1894)
 * September 28 - Vasily Butusov, footballer (born 1892)
 * October 17 – Sergey Kavtaradze, Soviet politician and diplomat (born 1885)