"This paper is the first step in an exploration of Soviet cause-of-death statistics which became accessible after 1986.  Its main aim is the reconstruction of consistent annual series for the period 1970-1987 in spite of changes in cause-of-death classification caused by the 1980 revision of the Soviet nosological system.  In a second part, the series thus reconstructed are analysed to describe the main features of the evolution of mortality during these two decades, using first standardized mortality rates for several very important specific causes and, second, using a method of decomposition of life expectancy changes.  For the first time, trends in causes of death are thus shown for the crucial period where life expectancy has grown again after two decades of regression." (SUMMARY IN FRE)