Marshal of the Soviet Union in the context of Vasily Petrov (marshal)

Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (Russian: Климент Ефремович Ворошилов pronounced; Ukrainian: Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, romanized: Klyment Okhrimovych Voroshylov), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (Russian: Клим Ворошилов; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet military officer and politician during the Stalin era (1924–1953). He was one of the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union, the second highest military rank of the Soviet Union (junior to the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, which was a post only held by Joseph Stalin), and served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal Soviet head of state, from 1953 to 1960.

Born to a Russian worker's family in Ukraine, Voroshilov took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917 as an early member of the Bolsheviks. He served with distinction at the Battle of Tsaritsyn, during which he became a close friend of Stalin. Voroshilov was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1921, and in 1925 Stalin appointed him People's Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs (later People's Commissar for Defence). In 1926, he became a full member of the Politburo. In 1935, Voroshilov was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union.

General-feldmarshal (Russian: Генерал-фельдмаршал, from German: general-feldmarschall) was, with the exception of Generalissimo, the highest military rank of the Russian Empire. It was a military rank of the 1st class in the Imperial Russian Army and equal to those of Chancellor and Active Privy Councillor, 1st class in civil service, and General Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the rank was abolished, alongside the Table of Ranks. In 1935 however, the Red Army introduced the equivalent rank of "Marshal of the Soviet Union" (Russian: Маршал Советского Союза) as the highest military rank of the Soviet Union, when ranks were restored under Stalin's rule.

Generalissimo of the Soviet Union (Russian: Генералиссимус Советского Союза, romanized: Generalissimus Sovetskogo Soyuza) was the highest military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces. Created on 26 June 1945 following the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, it was awarded to Premier Joseph Stalin the next day. Stalin, the only person to ever hold this rank, soon came to regret accepting the title, viewing it as overly ostentatious. He rejected the proposed opulent uniform and continued to wear the insignia and uniform of his pre-existing rank, Marshal. Though never awarded again, the rank officially remained in Soviet military statutes until 1993.

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky (30 September [O.S. 10 September] 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet general who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, he served as the chief of the General Staff and deputy Minister of Defense, and later served as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953.

Born in central Russia, Vasilevsky began his military career in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and earned the rank of captain by 1917. After the October Revolution of 1917 and the start of the Russian Civil War, he was conscripted into the Red Army and took part in the Polish-Soviet War. Following the war, Vasilevsky quickly rose through the ranks, and in 1931 was appointed to the Directorate of Military Training. In 1939, after Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, he was appointed deputy chief of operations of the Red Army.

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (Russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский; Ukrainian: Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський, romanized: Rodion Yakovych Malynovskyi; 23 November [O.S. 11 November] 1898 – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1967, during which he oversaw the strengthening of the Soviet Army.

Born to an impoverished Ukrainian household in Odessa, Malinovsky volunteered for the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War and served with distinction in both the German Front and the Western Front. He was serving in the Russian Legion in France on the outbreak of the October Revolution, after which he returned to Russia and joined the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, Malinovsky volunteered to fight on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War, where he again served with great distinction and was later awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner in recognition of his service.

Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (Russian: Василий Иванович Чуйков, Russian: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj t͡ɕʉjkof] ; 12 February [O.S. 31 January] 1900 – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw heavy combat during the Battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War and for being the commanding general to receive the surrender of the German troops defending Berlin.

Born to a peasant family near Tula, Chuikov earned his living as a factory worker from the age of 12. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he joined the Red Army and distinguished himself during the Russian Civil War. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, Chuikov worked as a military attaché and intelligence officer in China and the Russian Far East. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Chuikov commanded the 4th Army during the Soviet invasion of Poland, and the 9th Army during the Winter War against Finland. In December 1940, he was again appointed military attaché to China in support of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists in the war against Japan.

Dmitry Fyodorovich Ustinov (Russian: Дмитрий Фёдорович Устинов; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was a Soviet politician and a Marshal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as a Central Committee secretary in charge of the Soviet military–industrial complex from 1965 to 1976 and as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death in 1984.

Ustinov was born in the city of Samara to a Russian working-class family in 1908. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined the Communist Party in 1927 before pursuing a career in engineering. After graduating from the Institute of Military Mechanical Engineering in 1934, he became a construction engineer at the Leningrad Artillery Marine Research Institute. By 1937, he transferred to the "Bolshevik" Arms Factory where he ultimately rose to become the director. While serving as People's Commissar of Armaments during World War II, he achieved distinction within the party's ranks by successfully overseeing the evacuation of Leningrad's industries to the Ural Mountains, a feat for which he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour. At the war's end, he was entrusted with seizing raw materials, scientists and research left over from Germany's missile programme.

The Bagramyan Battalion (Armenian: Բաղրամյանի անվան գումարտակ; Russian: Батальон имени Баграмяна), officially the Marshal Ivan Bagramyan Independent Motorized Rifle Battalion (Russian: отдельный мотострелковый батальон и́мени маршала Ивана Христофоровича Баграмяна), was a military unit during the War in Abkhazia (1992–93). Composed predominantly of ethnic Armenians, it fought on the side of separatist Abkhaz forces against Georgia. The Bagramyan Battalion was disbanded after the war.

A total of 1,500 Armenians participated in the war, a quarter of the Abkhazian army. Twenty Armenians were awarded the highest honor Hero of Abkhazia and 242 were killed in battle. The first President of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba praised the high discipline, organization, and accomplishments of the Bagramyan Battalion.