The 1995 Moscow Victory Day Parades (Russian: Парад Победы,
romanized: 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 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.[2]
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 ArmyVladimir 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.
In March 1995,
White House Press SecretaryMike 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 56 foreign heads of state and government, along with 6 multilateral leaders.[4][5]
Also present were plenty of Foreign Diplomats and representatives of all Second World War veterans from the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operations.