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Roman Rudenko

Roman Andreyevich Rudenko (Russian: Роман Андреевич Руденко, Ukrainian: Роман Андрійович Руденко, romanized: Roman Andriyovych Rudenko; 7 August [O.S. 25 July] 1907 – 23 January 1981) was a Soviet lawyer and statesman.

Born~Died Jul 30, 1907 ~ Jan 23, 19810 views in 30 daysLast edited Oct 15, 2026, 4:43 PM

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Born ~ Died: Jul 30, 1907 ~ Jan 23, 1981
Premier: Georgy Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin, Nikita Khrushchev, Alexei Kosygin, Nikolai Tikhonov
Preceded by: Grigory Safonov
Succeeded by: Alexander Rekunkov
Born: 7 August [O.S. 25 July] 1907, Nosivka, Nezhinsky Uyezd, Chernihiv Governorate, Russian Empire
Died: 23 January 1981(1981-01-23) (aged 73), Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Party: Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1926–1981)
Profession: Lawyer, civil servant
Location: 50.9300, 31.5800

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Contents

1.Ukrainian SSR to 1953
2.Soviet Union 1953–1981
3.Further reading
4.Notes

Roman Andreyevich Rudenko (Russian: Роман Андреевич Руденко, Ukrainian: Роман Андрійович Руденко, romanized: Roman Andriyovych Rudenko; 7 August [O.S. 25 July] 1907¹² – 23 January 1981) was a Soviet lawyer and statesman.

Procurator-General of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1953, Rudenko became Procurator-General of the entire Soviet Union after 1953. He is well known internationally for acting as chief prosecutor for the USSR at the 1946 trial of the major Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg. He was also chief prosecutor at the "Trial of the Sixteen" (Polish Underground leaders) held in Moscow the year before. At the time he served at Nuremberg, Rudenko held the rank of Lieutenant-General within the USSR Procuracy.

In 1961, Rudenko was elected to the CPSU Central Committee. In 1972, he was awarded the Soviet honorary title of Hero of Socialist Labour.

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Rudenko was one of the chief commandants of NKVD special camp Nr. 7, a former Nazi concentration camp, until its closure in 1950.³ Of the 60,000 prisoners incarcerated there under his supervision, at least 12,000 died due to malnutrition and disease.⁴

In October 1951, as Procurator-General of the Ukrainian SSR, he personally led prosecution in the trial of OUN member Mykhailo Stakhur, who in October 1949 killed the writer Yaroslav Halan.

Soviet Union 1953–1981

After the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria in 1953, Rudenko was a judge at the closed trial at which Stalin's last secret police chief was sentenced to death.

In 1960, he acted as the chief prosecutor in U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers' espionage trial.⁵

As Procurator General of the Soviet Union, Rudenko played a major role in devising measures to deal with the growing dissident movement within the USSR.

In 1967, he and then KGB chairman Vladimir Semichastny submitted proposals as to how to deal with those defending the writers Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky during and after their trial, without provoking a strong reaction abroad or within the country. This included mention of the "mental illness" suffered by several prominent dissidents.⁶ One measure, proposed jointly with Yuri Andropov in late 1972, was to reduce the number of arrests and convictions by reinforcing the issue of "prophylactic" warnings to individuals, cautioning them that their activities could lead to prosecution under Articles 70 and 1901 of the RSFSR Criminal Code.⁷

Notes

Метрическая книга Николаевской церкви м. Носовка. 1907 // Государственный архив Черниговской области. Ф. 679. Оп. 10. Д. 1325. Л. 189об–190. (russian) ↩
A lot of sources give other dates of birth: 30 July [O.S. 17 July] 1907 or July 7, 1907. ↩
Utley, Freda (1949). "6. The Nuremberg Judgments". The High Cost of Vengeance. Henry Regnery Company. ↩
"The Soviet special camp No.7 / No. 1 1945 – 1950". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2009. ↩
Powers, Francis (2004). Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 120. ISBN 9781574884227. ↩
Joint KGB-Procurator-General's Memorandum to Central Committee, 27 January 1967 (Pb 32/5), Bukovsky Archive online. ↩
Joint KGB-Procurator-General's Memorandum to Central Committee, 16 November 1972 (Pb 67/XVI), Bukovsky Archive online. ↩

In 1961, Rudenko was elected to the CPSU Central Committee. In 1972, he was awarded the Soviet honorary title of Hero of Socialist Labour.

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

In October 1951, as Procurator-General of the Ukrainian SSR, he personally led prosecution in the trial of member Mykhailo Stakhur, who in October 1949 killed the writer .

This page is based on “Roman Rudenko” from English Wikipedia, (r1375165732) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.

Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 4:43 PM · r128019 · Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Метрическая книга Николаевской церкви м. Носовка. 1907 // Государственный архив Черниговской области. Ф. 679. Оп. 10. Д. 1325. Л. 189об–190. (russian) ↩
A lot of sources give other dates of birth: 30 July [O.S. 17 July] 1907 or July 7, 1907. ↩
Utley, Freda (1949). "6. The Nuremberg Judgments". The High Cost of Vengeance. Henry Regnery Company. ↩
"The Soviet special camp No.7 / No. 1 1945 – 1950". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2009. ↩
Powers, Francis (2004). Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 120. ISBN 9781574884227. ↩
Joint KGB-Procurator-General's Memorandum to Central Committee, 27 January 1967 (Pb 32/5), Bukovsky Archive online. ↩
Joint KGB-Procurator-General's Memorandum to Central Committee, 16 November 1972 (Pb 67/XVI), Bukovsky Archive online. ↩

Метрическая книга Николаевской церкви м. Носовка. 1907 // Государственный архив Черниговской области. Ф. 679. Оп. 10. Д. 1325. Л. 189об–190. (russian) ↩
A lot of sources give other dates of birth: 30 July [O.S. 17 July] 1907 or July 7, 1907. ↩
Utley, Freda (1949). "6. The Nuremberg Judgments". The High Cost of Vengeance. Henry Regnery Company. ↩
"The Soviet special camp No.7 / No. 1 1945 – 1950". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2009. ↩
Powers, Francis (2004). Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 120. ISBN 9781574884227. ↩
Joint KGB-Procurator-General's Memorandum to Central Committee, 27 January 1967 (Pb 32/5), Bukovsky Archive online. ↩
Joint KGB-Procurator-General's Memorandum to Central Committee, 16 November 1972 (Pb 67/XVI), Bukovsky Archive online. ↩

Roman Rudenko

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Soviet Union 1953–1981

Further reading

Notes

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Opinions 0

Soviet Union 1953–1981

Further reading

Notes

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Soviet Union 1953–1981

Further reading

Notes

Nearby events

Sub-pages

Other languages

Opinions 0

Roman Rudenko

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Soviet Union 1953–1981

Further reading

Notes

Footnotes

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Opinions 0

Soviet Union 1953–1981

Further reading

Notes

Footnotes

Ukrainian SSR to 1953

Soviet Union 1953–1981

Further reading

Notes

Footnotes

Nearby events

Sub-pages

Other languages

Opinions 0