Yuri Andropov

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (/ænˈdroʊpɔːf, -pɒf/; Russian: Ю́рий Влади́мирович Андро́пов, tr. Yuriy Vladimirovich Andropov; IPA: [ˈjʉrʲɪj vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ɐnˈdropəf]; 15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1914 – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and spymaster. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the country's de facto leader, for a period of 15 months, from November 1982 until his death in February 1984. He also served as the de jure head of state beginning in 1983. Earlier in his career, Andropov served as the Soviet ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957, during which time he was involved in the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. He was also the Chairman of the Committee for State Security, that is, head of the KGB, from 1967 until 1982. During his tenure, he actively combated dissent both within the USSR and without, which included the destruction of the so-called Prague Spring of 1968. However, throughout the 1970s, Andropov grew more tolerant of reform, unsuccessfully opposing the invasion of Afghanistan, but successfully convincing Leonid Brezhnev not to invade Poland in 1981. Moreover, as head of the KGB, Andropov promoted other reform-minded politicians, including Mikhail Gorbachev. During his own brief tenure as General Secretary, Andropov ordered the investigation and dismissal of corrupt government officials. Relations with the United States remained cold, and, despite his opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan, Andropov continued the war there. He died of total renal failure.

Yuri Andropov in The Hot War
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was briefly the Soviet ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1952. In August, 1952, he was assassinated by unknown anti-Soviet Czecholoslovaks. The government of Czechoslovakia was quick to publicly affirm their country was in the Soviet camp.