| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Premier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs (1923–1934) | ||||
| Leon Trotsky | 29 August 1919 | 15 January 1925 | Vladimir Lenin | |
| Alexei Rykov | ||||
| Mikhail Frunze | 15 January 1925 | 31 October 1925 | Alexei Rykov | |
| Marshal Kliment Voroshilov | 6 November 1925 | 20 June 1934 | Alexei Rykov | |
| Vyacheslav Molotov | ||||
| People's Commissar for Defence (1934–1946) | ||||
| Marshal Kliment Voroshilov | 20 June 1934 | 7 May 1940 | Vyacheslav Molotov | |
| Marshal Semyon Timoshenko | 7 May 1940 | 19 July 1941 | Vyacheslav Molotov | |
| Joseph Stalin | ||||
| Generalissmimus Joseph Stalin | 19 July 1941 | 25 February 1946 | Vyacheslav Molotov | |
| Joseph Stalin | ||||
| People's Commissar for the Navy (1937–1946) | ||||
| 1st Commissar Pyotr Smirnov | 30 December 1937 | 30 June 1938 | Vyacheslav Molotov | |
| 1st Army Commander Mikhail Frinovsky | 8 September 1938 | 20 March 1939 | Vyacheslav Molotov | |
| Vice-Admiral Nikolay Kuznetsov | 28 April 1939 | 25 February 1946 | Vyacheslav Molotov | |
| Joseph Stalin | ||||
| People's Commissar for the Armed Forces (1946) | ||||
| Generalissmimus Joseph Stalin | 25 February 1946 | 15 March 1946 | Himself | |
| Minister of the Armed Forces (1946–1950) | ||||
| Generalissmimus Joseph Stalin | 15 March 1946 | 3 March 1947 | Himself | |
| Nikolai Bulganin | 3 March 1947 | 24 March 1949 | Joseph Stalin | |
| Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky | 24 March 1949 | 25 February 1950 | Joseph Stalin | |
| Minister of War (1950–1953) | ||||
| Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky | 25 February 1950 | 15 March 1953 | Joseph Stalin | |
| Georgy Malenkov | ||||
| Minister of the Navy (1950–1953) | ||||
| Admiral Ivan Yumashev | 25 February 1950 | 20 July 1951 | Joseph Stalin | |
| Admiral Nikolay Kuznetsov | 20 July 1951 | 15 March 1953 | Joseph Stalin | |
| Georgy Malenkov | ||||
| Minister of Defence (1953–1991) | ||||
| Marshal Nikolai Bulganin | 15 March 1953 | 9 February 1955 | Georgy Malenkov | |
| Marshal Georgy Zhukov | 9 February 1955 | 26 October 1957 | Nikolai Bulganin | |
| Marshal Rodion Malinovsky | 26 October 1957 | 31 March 1967 | Nikolai Bulganin | |
| Nikita Khrushchev | ||||
| Alexei Kosygin | ||||
| Marshal Andrei Grechko | 12 April 1967 | 26 April 1976 | Alexei Kosygin | |
| Marshal Dmitriy Ustinov | 30 July 1976 | 20 December 1984 | Alexei Kosygin | |
| Nikolai Tikhonov | ||||
| Marshal Sergei Sokolev | 22 December 1984 | 30 May 1987 | Nikolai Tikhonov | |
| Nikolai Ryzhkov | ||||
| Marshal Dmitry Yazov | 30 May 1987 | 22 August 1991 | Nikolai Ryzhkov | |
| Valentin Pavlov | ||||
| Marshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov | 23 August 1991 | 21 December 1991 | Ivan Silayev | |