1995 Moscow Victory Day Parades

The Moscow Victory Day Parades of 1995 (Russian: Парад Победы, tr. Parad Pobedy) were two military parades held on 9 May 1995 to commemorate the historic 50th anniversary golden jubilee of the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in 1945. The parades marked the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War.[1] These were the first post-Soviet military parades held in Russia the first one being in Poklonnaya Hill and the second one being held for veterans in Red Square.

General of the Army Vladimir Govorov, and Marshal Victor Kulikov inspecting the parade.

Poklonnaya Hill Parade

The Poklonnaya Parade was the first parade in the post-Soviet era and the only one in the Yeltsin era to feature military hardware, which would not be displayed again until 2008.

The parade was observed by Russian leaders and foreign dignitaries from a provisional facade. Major political figures attending were President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, First Lady Naina Yeltsina, and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The parade was inspected by Minister of Defence General of the Army Pavel Grachev, who later made the keynote address (the last time that the Minister of Defense made such an address on a national parade) and commanded by Moscow Military District Commander Colonel General Leonid Kuznetsov. It was on that very parade where Russian soldiers paraded with new post-Soviet military uniforms. It was the first time since 1957 that aviation took part in the parade.[2]

Among the new additions that debuted were the BMP-3, BMD-3, S-300 missile system, BM-30 Smerch and the 2S19 Msta SPG.

Red Square Parade

The Red Square Parade was the another parade held in post-Soviet and in the Yeltsin era but did not feature military hardware, which would not be displayed again until 2008. This parade would feature all surviving veterans from all fronts marching past Red Square. The parade was observed by Russian leaders from Lenin´s Mausoleum and more than 50 world leaders, most notably United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, European Union President Jacques Santer, United States President Bill Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, British Prime Minister John Major, French President Francois Mitterrand, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Major political figures attending were President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The parade was inspected by retired Marshal of the Soviet Union Viktor Kulikov and commanded by retired General of the Army Vladimir Govorov. In this parade, Russian President Boris Yeltsin delivered his first Victory Day address. This parade was also the only to feature and show the Iberian Gate and Chapel under construction on Red Square, which was later finished the following year.

Dignitaries in Attendance

In March 1995, White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry announced a state visit by President Bill Clinton to Russia on 9 and 10 May to attend the celebrations as well as another visit to Ukraine on 11 May.[3]

One of the largest gathering of world leaders in Russian history, the 1995 parade was attended by a total of 57 foreign heads of state and government, along with 6 multilateral leaders.

Also present were plenty of Foreign Diplomats and representatives of all Second World War veterans from the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operations.

Full order of the parade in the Poklonnaya Hill complex
  • General of the Army Pavel Grachev (parade reviewing inspector)
  • Colonel General Leonid Kuznetsov (parade commander)

Military bands
  • Massed Military Bands of the Moscow Military District

Ground column

References
  1. "On May 9, 1995, the historic Victory Parade in 1945 was reproduced on Red Square".
  2. "For the first time since 1957, aviation was participating in the parade, including the strategic bombers Tu-95 and Tu-160 (in 1958-1994 air parades were not conducted on any of the state holidays of the USSR and the Russian Federation over Red Square)".
  3. https://www.c-span.org/video/?64075-1/white-house-daily-briefing
  4. https://wap.business-standard.com/article-amp/government-press-release/written-interview-of-the-president-of-india-shri-pranab-mukherjee-by-115050700521_1.html

Watch parade scenes here:

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