Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in the context of "Transfer of Crimea in the Soviet Union"

Hero City is a Soviet honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during World War II (the Eastern Front is known in most countries of the former Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War). It was awarded to twelve cities of the Soviet Union, today located in Belarus (1 city), Russia (7 cities), and Ukraine (4 cities). Brest Fortress in Belarus was awarded the equivalent title of Hero Fortress. This symbolic distinction for a city corresponds to the individual distinction "Hero of the Soviet Union".

According to the statute, the hero city was issued the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal, and the certificate of the heroic deed (gramota or hramota) from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Also, the corresponding obelisk was installed in the city.

Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (Russian: Климент Ефремович Ворошилов pronounced; Ukrainian: Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, romanized: Klyment Okhrimovych Voroshylov), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (Russian: Клим Ворошилов; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet military officer and politician during the Stalin era (1924–1953). He was one of the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union, the second highest military rank of the Soviet Union (junior to the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, which was a post only held by Joseph Stalin), and served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal Soviet head of state, from 1953 to 1960.

Born to a Russian worker's family in Ukraine, Voroshilov took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917 as an early member of the Bolsheviks. He served with distinction at the Battle of Tsaritsyn, during which he became a close friend of Stalin. Voroshilov was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1921, and in 1925 Stalin appointed him People's Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs (later People's Commissar for Defence). In 1926, he became a full member of the Politburo. In 1935, Voroshilov was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union.

The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest organ of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the Soviet state, and headed the unified state apparatus.

Prior to 1936, the Congress of Soviets was the highest organ of state authority. During 1989–1991 a similar, but not identical organ acted as the highest organ of state authority. The Supreme Soviet appointed the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court, and the Procurator General of the Soviet Union as well as elected the Presidium which served as the Soviet Union's collective head of state under both the 1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitutions.

Sumy Oblast (Ukrainian: Сумська область, romanized: Sumska oblast), also known as Sumshchyna (Сумщина), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The estimated population is 1,035,772 (2022 estimate).

The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy. Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka. The modern region combines territories of the historical Severia (northern part) and Sloboda Ukraine (southern part). On territory of the Sumy Oblast important centers of Ukrainian culture are located, such as the city of Hlukhiv which served as a hetman residence during the Cossack Hetmanate as well as the cities of Okhtyrka and Sumy which were regional centers of the Sloboda Ukraine.

Brest Fortress (Belarusian: Брэсцкая крэпасць, romanized: Bresckaja krepasć; Russian: Брестская крепость, romanized: Brestskaya krepost; Polish: Twierdza brzeska; Lithuanian: Bresto tvirtovė), formerly known as Brest-Litovsk Fortress, is a 19th-century fortress in Brest, Belarus. In 1965, the title Hero Fortress was given to the fortress to commemorate the defence of the frontier stronghold during the first week of Operation Barbarossa, when Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. The title "Hero Fortress" corresponds to the title "Hero City" that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union awarded to twelve Soviet cities.

The Constitution of the Soviet Union recognised the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (between 1938 and 1989) and the earlier Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Congress of Soviets (between 1922 and 1938) as the highest organs of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) between legislative sessions. Under the 1924, 1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitutions these bodies served as the collective head of state of the Soviet Union. The chairman of these bodies personally performed the largely ceremonial functions assigned to a single head of state but was provided little real power by the constitution.

The Soviet Union was established in 1922. However, the country's first constitution was only adopted in 1924. Before that time, the 1918 Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic functioned as the constitution of the USSR. According to the 1918 Constitution, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (CEC), whose chairman was head of state, had the power to determine what matters of income and taxation would go to the state budget and what would go to the local soviets. The CEC could also limit taxes. In periods between convocations of the Congress of Soviets the CEC held supreme power. In between sessions of the Congress of Soviets the CEC was responsible for all the affairs of the Congress of Soviets. The CEC and the Congress of Soviets was replaced by the Presidium and the Supreme Soviet respectively by several amendments to the 1936 Constitution in 1938.

The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (Russian: Центральный исполнительный комитет СССР, romanized: Tsentralʹnyĭ ispolnitelʹnyĭ komitet SSSR), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (Russian: ЦИК, romanized: TsIK), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elected the Presidium, which, like its parent body, was the delegated governing authority when the other was not in session. The chairman of the Presidium, served as the ceremonial head of state of the USSR. The Central Executive Committee also elected the Council of People's Commissars which was its executive and administrative organ. The Central Executive Committee of the USSR was established in 1922 by the First All-Union Congress of Soviets, and was replaced by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1938.

Initially the committee had four co-chairs, after 1925 there were seven. The Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs were created in 1936 and did not have co-chairs in the committee, as it dissolved just two years later.