Senators then stood as the anthem was broadcast in the chamber, though it will not become the country's official anthem until President Vladimir Putin signs a decree.
Putin had originally backed the bill to drop the current anthem, composed by 19th century composer Mikhail Glinka, in favor of the Soviet tune. The bill was approved by the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, two weeks ago.
Putin is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days, in time for the new anthem to be used for the traditional New Year address to the nation.
The old-new anthem, composed by Alexander Alexandrov during World War II, originally had lyrics praising Soviet dictator and mass murderer Joseph Stalin, but the words were changed after his death, praising the Communist Party as the leader of the "unbreakable union."
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, scrapped the state symbols associated with the old regime, replacing the flag, state crest and anthem with pre-revolutionary symbols.
Putin's move to resurrect the Soviet anthem – without the words – has caused an outcry among liberal politicians, intellectuals and businessmen. Opinion polls suggest that the nation is divided, with just 51 percent supporting a return of the Soviet tune.
In a defiant move, the reformist Union of Rightist Forces party has decided to adopt the discarded Glinka tune as the party's anthem.
Noting that the Soviet anthem was used by the Communist Party as its anthem, the rightist party's leader, Irina Khakamada, said the Glinka anthem would forever be a symbol of a "free, democratic Russia."
The lone senator voting against the anthem change, Nikolai Fyodorov of the Chuvashia region, said the Soviet anthem represented Stalinist repressions and the totalitarian past.
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