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On April 30th, the Russian Ministry of Defense released some more exclusive photos and historical data ahead of the Victory Day parade on May 9th.
Named “Victory’s Commanders: “At the Parade,” it presents 24 distinguished military commanders that contributed to the victory over Fascism.
Here follows the list, with photographs included:
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Chief Marshal Hamazasp Khachaturi Babadzhanian
Chief Marshal of the Armored Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union
The following is from the memoirs of the Field Marshal:
“Midnight on the eve of May 9. I was not able to attend the signing of unconditional surrender, to see with my own eyes how Keitel, Stumpf, Friedeburg signed this act.
But I clearly imagine the whole measure of satisfaction that overwhelmed the winners, in front of whom stood Fascism kneeling down.
We all who took Berlin were at that moment with them, we won.”
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Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
In the memoirs of Marshal Bagramyan’s grandson:
“Grandfather left for the parade in advance, and mother and grandmother came to the guest platform to the top. They said that, despite the bad weather, the mood was festive. And although it was raining heavily, Red Square was crowded with people.” And the main impression of his grandfather, in his stories, was pride in his warriors. When his regiment was walking along Red Square, he felt that he was doing his duty to the Motherland. He remembered everything that was in the parade literally minute by minute.
“It happens year after year, but every time on the Victory Day great joy is combined in our hearts with sadness for those who died in its name. And this sadness gives our joy a special solemnity and greatness. A feeling of great pride and admiration fills the heart at the thought of what great patriots our country gave birth to, our socialist motherland will and will continue to give birth.”
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Andrei Ivanovich Belov
Marshal of the signal corps
In the army on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since 1942. He was chief of communications of the tank brigade on the Crimean front. From the summer of 1942 – head of communications of the 4th Mechanized (from December 1942 – 3rd Guards Mechanized) Corps.
He fought on the Stalingrad, Southern, 1st Ukrainian, 3rd Byelorussian, 2nd Baltic fronts. Participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, the Belarusian operation, the Baltic operation, in the blockade of the Courland boiler.
In 1945 – the head of the communications troops of the mechanized corps of the 1st Far Eastern Front, took part in the Soviet-Japanese war.
The merits of Andrei Ivanovich Belov were highly appreciated by the state – he was awarded the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, awarded the Orders of Lenin, the October Revolution, the Red Banner, Kutuzov II degree, Suvorov III degree, World War I and II degree, three orders of the Red Star, the Order “For service to the motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” III degree, with many medals and foreign recognitions.
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Sergei Semenovich Biryuzov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Semenovich Biryuzov is one of the most prominent Soviet military leaders. His efforts have developed many tactical and strategic innovations.
He also made an invaluable contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany. His military way passed not only through the territory of the Soviet Union, but also in other countries that have undergone Nazi occupation. For this he received many Soviet and foreign awards.
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Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
In the memoirs of his son:
“On the day of the Victory Parade, he walked across Red Square at the head of the column of his front. I came to the parade with my dad, stood on the podium, was very proud of him. But since I was constantly with my father, I saw him both in military uniform and in full dress uniform, I perceived it as something common.
I remember the subsequent parades well. My father was a military minister, then it was decided that he should ride a horse, and riding a horse along a cobbled pavement was not the easiest thing.”
Despite him being a good rider. He was even assigned a horse named Stavrikai, his father was preparing for parades and was very worried.
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Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin
Chief Marshal of the aviation, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
In September 1941, Colonel Vershinin was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front. From then on, he was continuously in the army, commanded major aviation associations on the Southern, Transcaucasian, North Caucasus and 2nd Byelorussian fronts.
His name is associated with victories won by Soviet aircraft in fierce battles and clashes in the North Caucasus and Kuban, the Taman Peninsula, in the Crimea and Belarus, East Prussia and near Berlin.
After the end of World War II, in the fall of 1946, with the active assistance of K.A. Vershinina for the training of fighter pilots on jet flights a special center was created, where test instructors were originally carrying out test-flights. The commanders of units and formations trained by them, in turn, transferred experience and knowledge to their subordinates.
In August 1947, Soviet aces first demonstrated group aerobatics on jet fighters at the Tushino air parade, and by the end of the year many pilots made independent flights on the newest high-speed aircraft.
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Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
In the Great Patriotic War, the artillery general Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov became the commander of the 5th army, which defended the approaches to Moscow from the center. In the spring of 1942 under the instructions of I.V. Stalin, he went to the besieged Leningrad, where he soon led the front. On January 18, 1943, the troops of Generals Govorov and Meretskov broke through the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra), delivering a counter attack near Shlisselburg.
A year later, they struck a new blow, crushing the “Northern Wall” of the Germans, completely lifting the blockade of Leningrad. The German forces of Field Marshal von Kühler suffered huge losses. In June 1944, the troops of the Leningrad Front conducted the Vyborg operation, broke through the “Mannerheim Line” and took the city of Vyborg. Leonid Govorov became Marshal of the Soviet Union on June 18, 1944. In the fall of 1944, Govorov’s troops liberated Estonia by breaking the enemy’s Panther’s defenses.
Being the commander of the Leningrad front, the marshal was at the same time a representative of the Headquarters in the Baltic States. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In May 1945, the German Army Group Kurland surrendered to the front forces.
The Moscow troops saluted commander Govorov 14 times. In the postwar period, the marshal became the first commander of the air defense of the country.
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Joseph Iraklyevich Gusakovsky
Army General, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
In the last battle description on the guards of Colonel Iosif Iraklievich Gusakovsky during the years of the Great Patriotic War it is written:
“During the period of the Patriotic War he showed himself only in a positive light. Sustained, disciplined, morally stable commander, demanding of himself and his subordinates.
He is brave and decisive in battle, has enough commanding skills and experience, understands soberly, skillfully and quickly in an environment and difficult battle conditions … Thanks to the skillful leadership of Comrade Gusakovsky, the team was awarded five orders of the USSR and the Mongolian Order.
Comrade Gusakovsky himself was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union twice, he was presented to the rank of three times Hero of the Soviet Union. A courageous commander, honest in battles, is constantly in the battle formations of tank battalions, wounded several times during World War II and was seriously wounded in the last battles in the city of Berlin. He skillfully organized interaction with the reinforcement units attached, led the brigade skillfully, also skillfully led the brigade’s combat training in the peace period.”
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Andrey Ivanovich Yeryomenko
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko during the Great Patriotic War commanded nine fronts and two armies. A particularly important assignment was Stalingrad (commander of the Stalingrad and Southeastern fronts from August to December 1942, inclusive). He was wounded three times.
From the Marshal’s memoirs:
“Among the parade participants from our front were 77 Heroes of the Soviet Union, and all the others were repeatedly awarded orders and medals. The place of collection of our regiment was Red Presnya. Here the warriors were surrounded by the warmest care of the working people of the region, which has a long revolutionary tradition.“
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Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, four time Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of the daughter of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov Era Zhukova:
“But on the eve of a grand event, the stallion bucked and threw Stalin. According to eyewitnesses, the Secretary General was severely hurt. Afterwards, he summoned Zhukov to himself and said: “I am already old to take parades. Take you. You are younger. ” It was a great honor for him. He was proud and prepared very carefully. I’m not talking about the appearance. He rehearsed his speech many times. Acquired accents, timbre. We were planted and everyone listened.
At first, he read to himself, then louder, louder and asked: “Well, how?” We didn’t have any words.
From overflowing emotions, everyone clapped. The uniform was prepared in the most thorough way. We walked alongside and did not breathe. The Order was wrapped in a cloth. It was a very exciting moment. I will never forget him.”
From the Marshal’s memoirs:
“Here they are, the long-awaited and unforgettable days! The Soviet people have been waiting for this minute for four years. The heroic warriors, inspired by the party of Lenin, under the command of their illustrious commanders, went through a difficult four-year battle journey and ended it with brilliant victories in Berlin.
June 24, 1945, I got up earlier than usual. Immediately I looked out the window to verify the correctness of the message of our weather forecasters, who on the eve of the day predicted cloudy weather and drizzling rain. How I wished that this time they were wrong!”
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Vasily Ivanovich Kazakov
Masrhal of the Artillery, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of the wife of Marshal of Artillery Vasily Kazakov Svetlana:
“When it became known about the Victory Parade, and that there would be passing through the fronts, everyone, naturally, began to prepare for this huge event. Indeed, it can be said without exaggeration of the “epochal” event. All participants of the parade had to get dress uniforms.
Obviously, this was the first dress uniform in every victor’s life, so everyone, without exception, was especially attentive to it. All the fitting and everything. What a pleasant excitement it was after several years of extreme physical and intellectual stress!
Vasily Ivanovich gave me a camera and an accordion (of course, German, trophy) and I began to take pictures. I took a great interest in photography then all my life, but also my first experiments turned out to be surprisingly successful: I photographed it in a new parade uniform with a saber. The photo “grabbed” and his smile and mood: so, we were in those June days – the happiest!”
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Ivan Stepanovich Konev
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of Konev’s daughter, Ivana Koneva:
“The father really felt the joy of victory only at the parade on June 24, 1945. When they were preparing this parade, he had the opportunity to select those banners of the defeated German units and formations near Dresden, where they were concentrated.
These were famous banners with names that were known in the war and looked very representative, they were then thrown to the foot of the Mausoleum during the famous event.”
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Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
In 1995, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Viktor Kulikov was assigned to take the historical part of the military parade on Red Square in the year of the 50th anniversary of Victory. It was a very difficult year for the country, the army, veterans.
He spoke firmly, clearly, logically and constructively about the need to radically change the attitude towards the Armed Forces and veterans:
“A country cannot have a future if a military man will be ashamed to wear a military uniform,” the commander said.
No, it was not for nothing that Marshal of the Victory Georgy Zhukov said at the first meeting with Kulikov in 1946: “To such youth as you, I must give way”.
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Oleg Aleksandrovich Losik
Marshal of Armored Forces, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
Marshal of Armored Forces Oleg Losik – participant in the Great Patriotic War from the first day of it to the victorious end. He fought as part of the units operating in the South-Western, Stalingrad, Don, Western and 3rd Byelorussian fronts. In 1943, he commanded the 119th separate tank regiment, which liberated the city of Yelnya and burst into it and received the honorary title “Yelninsky”, and the commander was awarded the Order of Suvorov, III degree.
Marshal Losik was last walking along the main square of the country, leading the parade structure of the BTV Academy at 71 years of age. He, along with young officers, took part in all trainings. As an honored guest, he attended all the parades until 2010, until he turned 95 years old.
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Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of his daughter, Natalya:
“Mom told me about the Victory Parade. Echelons were unloaded, the Front Military Council and the staff of the secretariat were accommodated in the hotel “Moscow”. Preparations for the parade were underway, but there wasn’t a feeling it was all over – and for good reason.
Dad was too concerned, he returned too late and not from the parade rehearsals, but from the General Staff, he was too silent and immersed in something of his own. Then there was a parade, where everyone was soaked to the skin in the pouring rain. After the parade – a reception in the Kremlin, in the evening – a salute.
After that, already in the hotel room, everyone sat together for a long time – father, his officers for special assignments, mother – they remembered, joked, were silent. But the main thing that my mother learned that evening was that the war had not ended for them. They again had to go to the front – Zabaykalsky.”
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Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the book “Meretskov” by the historian Nikolay Velikanov:
“The General Staff summoned Meretskov to Moscow. On June 11, he flew in from Voroshilov-Ussuriysk and for ten days participated in the development of upcoming operations in the Far East. In parallel, as a deputy, he attended meetings of the 12th session of the USSR Supreme Soviet of the 1st convocation. He was invited to the Supreme several times.”
“Once Stalin asked Meretskov:
– Preparing for the parade?
– Getting ready. Exercise every day.
– Do not disappoint, – he shook his finger in warning. “You are opening a solemn procession of parade columns with your combined regiment of the Karelian Front.”
The short anecdote relates to the Victory Parade, which was scheduled for June 24, 1945. Although Meretskov was in the Far East, he was ordered to be at the parade, and not as an honorary observer, but an active participant himself.
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Vladimir Mikhailovich Mikhalkin
Marshel of the Artillery
From the memoirs of Marshal of Artillery Vladimir Mikhalkin:
“Our people won and want to live no worse than the vanquished, they deserved it and rightly demand it. Personally, I remain a patriot and an officer, loyal to the oath, which I took in 1941, I am proud of it and happy. I believe that Russia, its Armed Forces have a future. And for this it is worth living and working while the heart beats!”
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Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of the Marshal’s great-granddaughter:
“On the day of the parade it was raining, but Rokossovsky, who was to command this historical parade, could not hide under the shed – he was with the troops. When he arrived home, it was impossible to take off his soaked full parade uniform. Daughters had to take scissors and cut the uniform around the seams … At the Victory Parade of 1945, both Zhukov and Rokossovsky were on horseback in the direct and figurative sense.”
From the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky:
“I took the command of the Victory Parade as the highest award for all my many years of service in the Armed Forces.”
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Sergei Ignatievich Rudenko
Marshal of the Aviation, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of Air Marshal Sergei Rudenko:
“So, the war is over. The best fighters and front commanders went to Moscow to participate in the unforgettable Victory Parade. This honor fell to me. From our air army in the ranks of honor walked I.N. Kozhedub, A.E. Borovykh and other famous aces.
We returned from the capital, overflowed with the most vivid impressions. We especially remember the speech of I.V. Stalin at the reception of the parade, in which he raised a toast to the health of the Soviet people and especially the Russian people. “I am raising a toast,” said the Supreme Commander, “for the health of the Russian people because they deserved great recognition in this war as the leading force of the Soviet Union among all the peoples of our country.”
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Nikolai Mikhailovich Skomorokhov
Marshal of the Aviation, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
For the first time, Nikolay Skomorokhov had a chance to walk across Red Square among other Heroes of the Soviet Union on June 24, 1945 in the most important parade in the history of our Motherland – the Victory Parade. Then, clearly chasing the step and keeping the alignment to the right, he could not imagine that this would not be the last parade in which he would have to take part.
More than 20 times, marching along the Red Square in front of the military unit he led, General Skomorokhov probably had one and the same picture before his eyes: the Mausoleum, on top of which the country’s leadership stands, and among them a man with whose name millions of Soviet soldiers went into battle.
But there was another Parade, which took place in May 1985. It was then, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the victory over fascism, the Marshal of the Aviation Nikolai Skomorokhov, was entrusted with the honorable right to carry the historical Victory Banner on Red Square.
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Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
On May 29, 1945, Army General Vasily Sokolovsky, whose troops Moscow saluted 27 times during the war, was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. On the famous Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, he led a convoy of the 1st Byelorussian Front across Red Square. A year later he received a marshal’s title.
His granddaughter remembered the Marshal taking her to many Victory Parades.
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Fedor Ivanovich Tolbukhin
Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin at the end of the Great Patriotic War, due to the enormous responsibility he carried, when the General Staff reported the situation on the fronts and reached the 3rd Ukrainian, Stalin almost always asked about the commander’s state of health. And there were a lot of operations. Of the latter – in Belgrade and Vienna. Marshal of the Soviet Union S.S. Biryuzov recalled that Tolbukhin “ignited with internal fire in especially tense and responsible moments of the combat situation. As if he looked younger, his eyes glowed with enthusiasm, and his large figure immediately became somehow unusually vigorous and mobile.”
The army under the command of Tolbukhina took part in the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria. Moscow saluted his troops 36 times.
After the Victory Fyodor Ivanovich lived only four years. He left early, but became a member of a grand event – he participated in the legendary parade on Red Square on June 24, 1945, leading the convoy of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
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Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of Socialist Labor, awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Ustinov:
“On April 16, 1945, a grandiose Berlin operation began. After two weeks of persistent, fierce fighting over the Reichstag, the Red Banner of Victory shot up.
A big, bright, joyful holiday came to our Soviet street. We fought for it for almost one and a half thousand days and nights, fought at the front and in the rear, fought the whole country – from young to old, without sparing ourselves.
And we won.
It was a logical final of a decisive and uncompromising struggle of the forces of progress, freedom and justice with the forces of reaction, slavery and obscurantism, the struggle for the triumph of life on Earth.”
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Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov
Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Chuikov:
“No, I, apparently, have never seen such a system. Step into step, foot to foot, shoulder to shoulder. The heroes of the Russian land are in Berlin! And suddenly the song is a wide, melodious song, our Russian song. It floats along the still smoking streets of the city, where the plans of the leaders of the Third Reich about world domination once matured.
I look at the faces of the fighters, tired and joyful. Here it is, the real happiness of a soldier!
The war ended. There is a long and difficult journey.”
The Russians appear to be preparing their people for war. Lots of articles focusing on the church, Russian nationalism and glorious past victories. Maybe it’s time for the USA to take a step back and really think about what they do next or they just might get that war they are begging for.
The Russians worship that war, just like the Americans do. And I think its not providing them with the right lessons, just like it is with the Americans. When you worship the past, you worship something that is idolized, an ideal, the truth however is usually less ideal, more dirty, more grey. Its never good to put anything on a pedestal. The Soviet people bled immensely to win WW2, and they won it, no doubt whatsoever about that. But they haven’t really dealt with some of the stuff that happened during the war, the mistakes that were made by their own leaders, nor the way they imposed communism on Eastern Europe. If they wonder why countries like Poland or the Baltics couldn’t wait to join NATO at the first chance they did they only have to look at what happened during that war.
IMO the story of the Soviet victory over the Germans in WW2 was the Soviets ability to mobilize the entire Soviet population. From the movement of factories East to the Urals while under fire to the deportation of the Volga Germans and other unreliable ethnic groups also while under fire was an incredible feat of organization and logistics.
Another aspect of this was the rehabilitation of the church and nationalism and the demotion of the commissar’s influence in military matters in fighting units. They could have stuck to communist ideology of one world government and church as an oppressors instrument but they knew that the people needed something more than Stalin to rally around so the rehabilitated the church and mother Russia to rally the people.
The Russians have been masters of influence for centuries. IMO we are seeing a lot more articles coming out of Russia about the church and motherland recently as well as lots of news articles that could described as maskirovka … of course the point of maskirovka is not knowing the truth from fantasy.
A whale found wearing a Gopro harnesses with made in Russia printed in English seems to me like a something ready made for the media and not a particularly savvy media seeing as how they made sure the writing was in English. If that isn’t a setup to keep people guessing about what Russia is really up to I don’t know what is.
The argument is that this is a pretty lame ruse if indeed it is a ruse however it’s out there and the only real beneficiary of planting a story like this would be the Russians.
I know the story of the Soviet victory, I try to read something new about it at every opportunity as its the most interesting and compelling story of that war. The point remains however that modern day Russia is either by accident or intentionally blind to the dark sides of that victory. They still see themselves as liberators, whereas to many they just exchanged one brutal master for another. The myth of the Great Patriotic War is as dangerous for Russia as the myth of the Greatest Generation has been to the US. Seeing every tiny insignificant threat as ‘The Next Hitler That Has To Be Stopped Cause Appeasement Bad!’ The US myth has only served to embroil the US in a shitload of pointless, destructive and unsuccessful wars, the Russian myth has only served to basically make all of Eastern Europe and a lot of former Soviet republics unnecessarily distrust Russia.
So, how many survived Stalin?
“The army under the command of Tolbukhina took part in the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria.” “In the fall of 1944, Govorov’s troops liberated Estonia by breaking the enemy’s Panther’s defenses” I feel the author should be more cautious, in using the term “liberate”. From the reading I have done in the past, i didn’t get the feeling the people of the mentioned countries felt “liberated” by communism… Otherwise, a very good article!
Liberated from Nazis.Are they not? I am from former Yugoslavia. Certainly we are liberated.
The documentary of the 2019 fall of Russia has now been in full swing for a month and expected to wrap up late November or earlier LOL , there is a lot of disturbing video that may have to be edited . I will keep you posted .