1995 Moscow Victory Day Parades

1995 Moscow Victory Day Parades
The 1995 Moscow Victory Day Parades 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. These were the first post-Soviet military parades held in Russia the first one being in held for veterans on Red Square at 8:00 in the morning followed by another parade of infantry and military equipment at Poklonnaya Hill at 3:00 in the afternoon.
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.
Among the new additions that debuted were the BMP-3, BMD-3, S-300 missile system, BM-30 Smerch and the 2S19 Msta SPG.
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
Corps of Drums of the Moscow Military Music College
Victory Banner Color Guard
Front Standards
Colour guard battalion of regimental, brigade and division colors of the Soviet Army
1st Honor Guard Company, Independent Commandant's Regiment
Historical regiment
M. V. Frunze Military Academy
Military University of the Ministry of Defense of Russia
Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces
Military Armored Forces Academy Marshal Rodion Malinovsky
Military Engineering Academy
Military Academy of Chemical Defense and Control
Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy
Prof. Nikolai Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy
St. Petersburg Naval Institute
Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School (first appearance)
98th Guards Airborne Division
Moscow Border Guards Institute of the Federal Border Guard Service "Moscow City Council"
366th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Baltic Fleet
OMSDON Ind. Motorized Division of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia "Felix Dzerzhinsky"
Suvorov Military School
Nakhimov Naval School
Moscow Military High Command Training School "Supreme Soviet of Russia"
Red Square Parade
The Red Square Parade was 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, President Jacques Santer, United States President Bill Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, British Prime Minister John Major, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, 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. Among the notable veteran participants was pilot Stepan Borozenets.
Full order of the parade on Red Square
Marshal Viktor Kulikov (parade reviewing inspector)
General of the Army Vladimir Govorov (parade commander)
Military bands
Massed Military Bands of the Moscow Military District
Ground column
Victory Banner Color Guard
Corps of Drums of the Moscow Military Music College
Colour guard battalion of regimental, brigade and division colors of the Red Army
Historical regiment
Veterans contingents
Karelian Front
Leningrad Front
1st Baltic Front
1st Belorussian Front
2nd Belorussian Front
3rd Belorussian Front
1st Ukrainian Front
2nd Ukrainian Front
3rd Ukrainian Front
4th Ukrainian Front
Suvorov Military School
Nakhimov Naval School
M. V. Frunze Military Academy
Military University of the Ministry of Defense of Russia
Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces
Military Armored Forces Academy Marshal Rodion Malinovsky
336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade
OMSDON Ind. Motorized Division of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia "Felix Dzerzhinsky"
Russian Airborne Forces
Moscow Border Guards Institute of the Federal Border Guard Service "Moscow City Council"
Moscow Military High Command Training School "Supreme Soviet of Russia"
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. One of the largest gathering of world leaders in Russian history, the 1995 parade was attended by a total of 56 foreign heads of state and government, along with 6 multilateral leaders.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary General of the United Nations
Javier Solana, the Secretary General of NATO
Ivan Korotchenya, the Secretary General of CIS
Cornelio Sommaruga, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Federico Mayor Zaragoza, the Director General of UNESCO
Jacques Santer, the President of the European Commission
Tomiichi Murayama, the Prime Minister of Japan
Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel
Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister of Canada
Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt
Bill Clinton, the President of the United States of America and First Lady Hillary Clinton
Jiang Zemin, the President of the People's Republic of China
John Major, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
François Mitterrand, the President of France
Marc Forne Molne, the Prime Minister of Andorra
Helmut Kohl, the Federal Chancellor of Germany
Manfred Gerlach, the former President of East Germany
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the Prime Minister of Denmark
Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Prime Minister of Norway
Jozsef Antall, the Prime Minister of Hungary
Felipe Gonzalez, the Prime Minister of Spain
Mario Soares, the President of Portugal
Ingvar Carlsson, the Prime Minister of Sweden
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the President of Iceland
Mary Robinson, the President of Ireland
Massimo D’Alema, the Prime Minister of Italy
Wim Kok, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Thomas Klestil, the President of Austria
Pascal Couchepin, the Chancellor of Switzerland
Zhelyu Zhelev, the President of Bulgaria
Edward Fenech Adami, the Prime Minister of Malta
Glafcos Klerides, the President of Cyprus
Ion Iliescu, the President of Romania
Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, the President of Mongolia
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, the President of Greece
Martti Ahtisaari, the President of Finland
Jean-Luc Dehaene, the Prime Minister of Belgium
Tansu Çiller, the Prime Minister of Turkey
Rainier III, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco
Michael Ritter, the Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
Zoran Lilic, the President of Yugoslavia
Franjo Tudman, the President of Croatia
Kiro Gligorov, the President of Macedonia
Alija Izetbegovic, the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Radovan Karadzic, the President of Republika Srpska
Milan Kucan, the President of Slovenia
Michal Kovac, the President of Slovakia
Vaclav Havel, the President of the Czech Republic
Alexander Kwasniewski, Leader of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland
Leonid Kuchma, the President of Ukraine
Heydar Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the President of Armenia
Sali Berisha, the President of Albania
Eduard Shevardnadze, the President of Georgia
Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan
Askar Akayev, the President of Kyrgyzstan
Mircea Snegur, the President of Moldova
Saparmurat Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan
Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan
Islam Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan
Rafic Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon
Lee Hong-koo, the Prime Minister of South Korea
Pranab Mukherjee, the Deputy Prime Minister of India
Lê Đức Anh, the President of Vietnam
John Howard, the Leader of the Opposition of Australia
Don McKinnon, the Foreign Minister of New Zealand
Also present were plenty of Foreign Diplomats and representatives of all Second World War veterans from the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operations.
Music
Music for Red Square parade
Review and Address
Jubilee Slow March "25 Years of the Red Army" (Юбилейный встречный марш "25 лет РККА) by Semeon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Officers Schools (Встречный Марш офицерских училищ) by Semyon Tchernetsky)
March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment (Марш Преображенского Полка)
Slow March of the Guards of the Navy (Гвардейский Встречный Марш Военно-Морского Флота) by Nikolai Pavlocich Ivanov-Radkevich
Glory (Славься) by Mikhail Glinka
Parade Fanfare May 9 (Парадная Фанфара “9 Мая”) by Nikolai Camokhvalov
State Anthem of the Russian Federation (Patriotic Song) – Государственный Гимн Российской Федерации (Патриотическая Песня) by Mikhail Glinka
Fanfare
Veteran and Infantry Column
We are the Army of the People (Мы Армия Народа) by Georgy Viktorovich Mavsesyan
Sacred War (Священная война) by Alexander Alexanderov
Farewell of Slavianka (Прощание Славянки) by Vasiliy Agapkin
March Victory (Марш “Победа”) by Albert Mikhailovich Arutyunov
March from the theme of the song On an Unknown Hill (Марш на темы песни “На безымянной высоте”)
In the Dugout (В землянке) by Alexei Surkov
We Need One Victory (Нам Нужна Одна Победа) by Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava
In Defense of the Homeland (В защиту Родины) by Viktor Sergeyevich Runov
On Guard for the Peace (На страже Мира) by Boris Alexanderovich Diev
Combat March (Строевой Марш) by Dmitry Illarionovich Pertsev
On the Road (В Путь) by Vasily Pavlovich Solovyov-Sedoy
Conclusion
Bow to those Great Years (Поклонимся Великим Тем Годам) by Iosif Kobzon
1812 Overture Finale (Soviet version) by Tchaikovsky
Victory Day (День Победы) by David Fyodorovich Tukhmanov
Music for Poklonnaya Hill parade
Review and Address
Jubilee Slow March "25 Years of the Red Army" (Юбилейный встречный марш "25 лет РККА) by Semeon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Officers Schools (Встречный Марш офицерских училищ) by Semyon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Tankmen (Встречный Марш Танкистов) by Semyon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Guards of the Navy (Гвардейский Встречный Марш Военно-Морского Флота) by Nikolai Pavlocich Ivanov-Radkevich
March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment (Марш Преображенского Полка) by Unknown
Slow March of the Officers Schools (Встречный Марш офицерских училищ) by Semyon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Guards of the Navy (Гвардейский Встречный Марш Военно-Морского Флота) by Nikolai Pavlocich Ivanov-Radkevich
Slow March (Встречный Марш) by Dmitry Pertsev
Slow March of the Red Army (Встречный Марш Красной Армии) by Semyon Tchernetsky
Glory (Славься) by Mikhail Glinka
Parade Fanfare May 9 (Парадная Фанфара “9 Мая”) by Nikolai Camokhvalov
State Anthem of the Russian Federation (Patriotic Song) – Государственный Гимн Российской Федерации (Патриотическая Песня) by Mikhail Glinka
Fanfare
Infantry Column
Victory Day (День Победы) by David Fyodorovich Tukhmanov
Farewell of Slavianka (Прощание Славянки) by Vasiliy Agapkin
In Defense of the Homeland (В защиту Родины) by Viktor Sergeyevich Runov
On Guard for the Peace (На страже Мира) by Boris Alexanderovich Diev
Combat March (Строевой Марш) by Dmitry Illarionovich Pertsev
Air March (Авиамарш) by Yuliy Abramovich Khait
Leningrad (Ленинград) by Viktor Sergeyeich Runov
We are the Army of the People (Мы Армия Народа) by Georgy Viktorovich Mavsesyan
Sports March (Спортивный Марш) by Valentin Volkov
On the Road (В Путь) by Vasily Pavlovich Solovyov-Sedoy
Air Column
Air March (Авиамарш) by Yuliy Abramovich Khait
Legendary Sevastopol (Легендарный Севастополь) by Bano Muradeli
Vehicle Column
Victorious March (Победный Марш) by Nikolai Pavlocich Ivanov-Radkevich
Salute to Moscow (Салют Москвы) by Semyon Tchernetsky
My Dear Capital/My Moscow (Дорогая Моя Столица/Моя Москва) by Isaac Dunayevsky
References
External links
Watch parade scenes here:
The Russian evening newscast featuring the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of V-E Day in Russia on C-SPAN
Moscow Victory Day Parades
1995 in Russia
1995 in military history
May 1995 events in Russia