Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov was born in the village of Verkhnyaya Lyubovsha, Oryol Governorate, in 1921. Due to the Povolzhye famine, his family had to move from Oryol to the Stavropol region. There they settled in the town of Nevinnomyssk. In 1938, Viktor Kulikov graduated from Secondary Railway School No. 5, and a year later joined the ranks of the Red Army.

Just before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, in June 1941, Viktor Kulikov graduated from the Grozny Military Infantry School with the rank of lieutenant. The officer was sent to the Kyiv Special Military District, the town of Vladimir-Volynsky. There, he received the position of deputy commander of the reconnaissance company of the 41st Reconnaissance Battalion.

Viktor Kulikov participated in battles with the advancing forces of Nazi Germany from the very first day of the war. From June to October 1941, he commanded a motorcycle company as part of the 41st Tank Division on the Southwestern Front, after which he took the position of commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 143rd Separate Tank Brigade of the Directorate of Automobiles and Tanks of Moscow.

In February 1942, Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov was appointed chief of staff of a tank battalion and chief of staff of a tank brigade on the Kalinin Front. At that time, the Red Army troops were fighting in the area of the Rzhev-Vyazma salient. The officer held these positions until February 1943, that is, almost until the very end of the Battle of Rzhev, after which he was appointed deputy chief of staff of an operational brigade.

During the Great Patriotic War, Kulikov also took part in the defense of Western Ukraine and Moscow, as well as in the Smolensk, Belorussian, Baltic, East Prussian, East Pomeranian and Berlin offensive operations. In 1947, he graduated from the Leningrad Officer School of Tank Troops and Mechanized Infantry.

In 1958, Viktor Kulikov received the rank of Major General, in 1965 — Lieutenant General, and in 1967 — Colonel General. Two years later, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Troops in Germany. In 1977, Kulikov was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

The Oryol Military History Museum presents a copy of the photograph of Viktor Kulikov.