1979 in the Soviet Union

The following lists events that happened during 1979 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Incumbents

 * General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: Leonid Brezhnev (1964–1982)
 * Premier of the Soviet Union: Alexei Kosygin (1964–1980)

Events

 * 1979 Soviet economic reform
 * SALT II Treaty
 * Soviet–Afghan War

Births

 * 19 January – Svetlana Khorkina, Russian artistic gymnast
 * 22 January – Olga Dolzhykova, Ukrainian-Norwegian chess player and educator.
 * 26 January - Artem Datsyshyn, Ukrainian ballet dancer (d. 2022)
 * 1 February - Mikhail Rudkovskiy, former Russian professional football player
 * 10 April - Yelena Podkaminskaya, Russian actress
 * 30 July - Denis Churkin, former Russian professional football player

Deaths

 * 6 February – Issa Pliyev, military commander (born 1903)
 * 18 March – Iskhak Razzakov, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kirghizia (1950–1961) (born 1910)
 * 7 May – Aleksei Smirnov, actor (born 1920)
 * 25 September – Yury Kovalyov, Soviet footballer (born 1934)