The Russian people's militia, formed in September 1611 in Nizhny Novgorod to fight against Polish invaders, was led by citizen Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. It continued to actively form on the way from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, especially in Yaroslavl in April and July 1612. It included detachments of townspeople and peasants from the central and northern regions of the Russian kingdom. In August 1612, uniting with the remaining forces of the First Militia under Moscow, it defeated the Polish army, and in October 1612 completely liberated the capital from the occupiers.

The monument in Moscow was created according to the design of architect Ivan Martos in 1818.

After the revolution, the Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral, which housed Minin's tomb, was closed in 1918 and blown up in 1929, and the grave was desecrated.

Prince Pozharsky was buried in the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery in Suzdal. His burial site was destroyed in 1933, and the marble was used in Moscow for the decoration of the House of Soviets. Later, the monastery housed a concentration camp and a women's colony.