Defender of the Fatherland Day is a holiday observed in Russia and many former Soviet republics. It is celebrated on February 23.

The holiday marks the date in 1918 during the Russian Civil War when the first mass draft into the Red Army occured in Petrograd and Moscow. It was originally known as Red Army Day. In 1949, it was renamed Soviet Army and Navy Day. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the holiday was given its current name.

As the name suggests, the holiday celebrates the soldiers of the Russian military, but it has also more recently come to include the celebration of men as a whole, and to act as a counterpart of International Women’s Day on March 8. The holiday is celebrated with parades and processions in honor of veterans, and women also give small gifts to the men in their lives, especially a boyfriend or husband.

This text of this post is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Defender of the Fatherland Day“.

This week is Maslenitsa or “Pancake week” in Russia. Maslenitsa is one of the oldest holidays in Russia, dating back to pagan times. It was originally a sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of winter. The holiday survived both the Christianization of Russia as well as the atheist Soviet rule. Maslenitsa is marked with celebrations and lots of Russian bliny (a type of pancake or crepe).

Link: Wikipedia article on Maslenitsa

Here’s some footage from the New Year holidays on Red Square. Downtown Moscow was full of Russian tourists over the holidays. You can see the temporary ice skating rink that was built on Red Square (with the orange roof), the Kremlin and other famous sites.

This video thanks to Moskau Blog (German language blog about Moscow)

It’s Christmas in Russia today. While most countries celebrate Christmas on December 25th, Russia celebrates on January 7th. Why?

“Well, the reason is that the Russian Orthodox Church still lives according to the old Julian Calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar, which is adopted by most countries in the world (and by the Russian government). ”

Link: Russian Christmas: Why do Russians Celebrate Christmas on January 7th?