Russia marks jubilee Defender of Fatherland Day

Today Russia celebrates February 23rd – Defender of the Fatherland Day. In the USSR it was named Soviet Army and Navy Day.

February 23, due to tradition, became a state national holiday dedicated to all the generations of defenders of the Fatherland. Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving in the Russian Armed Forces. But it has also more recently come to include the celebration of men as a whole. 

The history of the holiday begins in 1918 with the Red Army. On January 28, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), established shortly after the October Revolution in 1917, led by Vladimir Lenin, adopted a decree on the establishment of the Red Army. On February 22, Sovnarkom issued a decree declaring that the country was in danger. On February 23, mass rallies took place in Moscow, St. Petersburg (Petrograd) and other cities across Russia, while volunteers flocked to the Red Army.

On January 24, 1919, the establishment of the Red Army was suggested to be celebrated on the first Sunday before or after January 28, but since the proposal to mark this anniversary was sent in too late, the celebration was postponed until February 23.

In 1922, a military parade was held on the Red Square in Moscow, laying the foundation for future mass celebratory events on this day. In 1923 it was officially named the Day of the Red Army and the Navy.

The decision on the establishment of a holiday with a new name on February 23rd in Russia was taken in 1995. Officially, it looked like this: the Day of the Victory of the Red Army over the Kaiser's troops in 1918 was the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland.

The modern Defender's Day appeared in 2001. This day became a day off, and became not only the professional holiday of those who have a direct connection to the army, but also of all those who defend, defended or only will defend the country. In 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin put the word in the singular, making it Defender of the Fatherland Day.