Leonid Brezhnev, in full Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, (born December 19, 1906, Kamenskoye, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukraine]—died November 10, 1982, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.), Soviet statesman and Communist Party official who was, in effect, the leader of the Soviet Union for 18 years.