Victory Parade in Moscow. June 24, 1945

On June 24, 1945, 79 years ago, Moscow’s Red Square hosted the first Victory Parade to mark the victory over Nazi Germany and the triumph of the entire Soviet nation.

By 9 am, the grandstands near the Kremlin walls were filled with invited guests. They included members of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), people’s commissars, deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, Stakhanovite workers from Moscow’s industrial plants, diplomats and scientists who had arrived in Moscow for celebrations of the 220th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 

The official ceremony involved combined regiments from all fronts, the Navy, military academies and schools, as well as units of the Moscow Garrison.

The parade began at 10 am sharp and lasted for over two hours. Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky commanded the parade, with Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief – Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov taking the parade.   

In all, 12 combined regiments, including 10 regiments from all fronts operating at the end of the war, one Navy regiment and one from the People’s Commissariat of Defence, were deployed ahead of the Parade. Each regiment consisted of over 1,000 most distinguished service personnel, including Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of the Order of Glory.

Parade columns consisted of nearly 40,000 service personnel, including infantry, cavalry, artillery, armour and mechanised units. They were deployed in the same order as Red Army fronts on the map of the Soviet Union.

As the Kremlin Chimes started ringing, Marshal Georgy Zhukov exited the Spasskaya Tower Gate, riding a white horse. Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky sitting on a black horse approached him and reported that everything was ready for the parade. 

At the same time, a brass band comprising 1'400 musicians deployed in the square’s central section and performed the patriotic song Glory to You, My Russia by Mikhail Glinka.

The marshals inspected the troops and greeted the participants. After that, Marshal Zhukov mounted the rostrum of the Lenin Mausoleum and delivered an official speech. Excerpts from the speech by Georgy Zhukov on June 24, 1945:

After Marshal Zhukov finished speaking, 50 artillery salvos were fired from the Kremlin walls. At the same time, troop columns started marching through Red Square. The Parade involved a combined drummers regiment and units of the Moscow Garrison.

On June 24, 1945, about 40,000 service personnel marched through Red Square, and about 1,850 pieces of military equipment rolled past. At the end of the parade, 200 banners of defeated German forces were thrown to the ground in front of the Lenin Mausoleum.

The parade ended at noon to the sounds of a march played by a combined brass band of the Moscow Garrison. In all, the parade involved 24 marshals, 249 generals, 2,536 other officers, as well as 31,116 sergeants and soldiers.

At the end of Victory celebrations, a banner depicting the Order of Victory appeared in the sky.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin speaking on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (May 9, 2024):