Leonid Zhdanov was born in 1912.

He graduated from Orenburg Flight School in 1937.

Leitenant Zhdanov took part in the Finnish-Soviet Winter War where he served in 72 SmAP-SF between January 1940 and March 1940, flying Polikarpov I-15bis.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, starshiy leitenant Zhdanov still served in 72 SmAP-SF. This unit was at the time equipped with Polikarpov I-153s.

In April 1942, he was posted to 78 IAP-SF, which was equipped with Hurricanes.

On 7 September 1942, he was stripped of the rank of kapitan at a military tribunal and sent to active duty with ground forces. At the same time, he was removed from the lists of the Northern Fleet Air Force.

Zhdanov was killed in ground combat on 17 November 1942. At the time, he was a Red Navy soldier of a company of machine gunners in the 1st battalion of the 63rd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Northern Fleet.

At the time of his death, Zhdanove was credited with 2 biplane victories and a total of 3.
These had been claimed during 113 combat missions and 6 air combats (as of 21 January 1942).

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	23/08/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Air Force of the Northern Fleet	72 SmAP-SF
2	23/08/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Air Force of the Northern Fleet	72 SmAP-SF
	1942
3	12/05/42		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Hurricane		Murmansk area	78 IAP-SF

Biplane victories: 2 destroyed.
TOTAL: 3 destroyed.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov