1990 October Revolution Parade

The 1990 October Revolution Parade was the last parade commemorating the 1917 October Revolution during the Soviet Union's existence. It celebrated the 73rd anniversary of the revolution. It was the first and last parade attended by Mikhail Gorbachev in his position as President of the Soviet Union. At the chimes of the Kremlin Clock, Gorbachev gave an address to the nation. It would be the first and last time a Soviet leader made an address on Lenin's Mausoleum during an October Revolution parade. After the anthem was played, the commander of the parade Colonel General Nikolai Kalinin reported to the parade inspector Marshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Yazov. Providing the music for the parade was the head of the central orchestra of the Moscow Military District, Major General Nikolai Mikhailov.

Full order of the marchpast
At the front of the parade was the limousine carrying the commander of the parade Colonel General Nikolai Kalinin.

Massed Bands
 * Corps of Drums of the Moscow Military College
 * Massed Military Bands of the Moscow Military District

Ground Column
 * M. V. Frunze Military Academy
 * V. I. Lenin Political Academy
 * Feliz Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy
 * Military Engineering Academy
 * Military Armored Forces Academy Marshal Rodion Malinovskovy
 * Military Academy of Chemical Defense and Control
 * Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy
 * Prof. Nikolai Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy
 * Naval Engineering School
 * 98th Guards Airborne Division
 * Moscow Border Guards Institute of the Border Defence Forces of the KGB "Moscow City Council"
 * 336th Marine Brigade
 * OMSDON regiment
 * Suvorov Military Academy
 * Nakhimov Naval School
 * Moscow Military High Command Training School "Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR"

Mobile Column
 * 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motorized Rifle Division
 * BTR-80
 * BMP-2
 * 98th Guards Airborne Division
 * BMD-2
 * 4th Guards Kantermirovsky Tank Division
 * T-80
 * Rocket Forces and Artillery
 * 2S3 Akatsiya
 * 2S19 Msta
 * BM-21 Grad

Parades in cities in the USSR
Revolution Day parades and celebrations were also held in the following USSR republics and cities: The parade location in Kiev was changed from Khreshchatyk Street to Victory Square by order of the Kiev City Council.
 * Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Victory Square
 * Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Gediminas Avenue

Attempted assassination of Gorbachev
At 11:00 AM, an hour after the parade began, an attempt to kill President Gorbachev was made by Alexander Shmonov. The two bullets he fired missed and he was tackled to the ground by crowds of demonstrators. Shmonov was the last would-be-assassin of the Soviet period before the USSR's dissolution in 1991. He was sent to forced treatment which took a heavy toll on his mental state. Three weeks prior to the parade, Shmonov bought a double-barreled hunting rifle. He took out his rifle and was spotted immediately by the police, and as he was taking aim, an officer ran over and jerked the rifle by the barrel as the crowd jumped on him. Soviet Central television did not broadcast the assassination attempt and resumed its regular broadcasting at 11:25 AM.