Infantry of the Red Army at a military parade on November 7, 1941 in the city of Kuibyshev on the square named after V. V. Kuibyshev.
On October 15, 1941, the Government of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, diplomatic missions and large cultural institutions were evacuated to the city of Kuibyshev. In the event of the fall of Moscow, in which the General Headquarters of the Supreme Command, the State Defense Committee and the General Staff of the Red Army continued to be, Kuibyshev was to become the new capital of the USSR.
The parade on November 7, 1941 in Kuibyshev demonstrated to the world the availability of fresh reserves, which were well armed and equipped with advanced equipment. The parade was attended by the 65th division of Colonel Peter Koshevoy (a future marshal and twice Hero of the Soviet Union) arrived from Transbaikalian Dauria and the 415th division just formed in Primorye, Major General Peter Alexandrov. Parade commanded by Lieutenant-General MA Purkaev, and took – Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. Members of the government of the USSR attended the stands, the diplomatic corps, military attaches of 27 Western countries and journalists attended the left of the stands. One and a half hours into the twenty-degree frost in front of the stands were a combined regiment of commanding personnel, infantry, cadets of the Military Medical Academy, a combined women’s battalion of air defense troops and cavalry – altogether over 22 thousand people. They were followed by light tanks T-26 and T-38, heavy tanks T-35, tractors T-20 “Komsomolets” with 45-mm anti-tank guns and armored vehicles BA-10. In the sky several Il-2 attack aircraft, as well as fighters and bombers, passed in several waves.
Location: Kuibyshev, USSR
Photo date: February 6, 1945