General Kuzma Derevyanko represented the Soviet Union at Japan’s 1945 surrender ceremony.
Derevyanko signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Soviet Union aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. He was one of nine Allied representatives who signed after Douglas MacArthur and Chester Nimitz.
The Soviet Union had entered the war against Japan only weeks earlier. Its declaration of war on August 8 was followed by the Soviet invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria on August 9. Despite the short period of Soviet combat against Japan, the Soviet government received a place among the principal Allied signatories.
Derevyanko’s role is sometimes confused with that of Nimitz, who signed for the United States, or Admiral Bruce Fraser, who signed for the United Kingdom. The Soviet signature reflected the country’s participation in the final Allied campaign against Japan.