12 June marks one of Russia’s newest holidays, namely Russia Day. On this day in 1990, the Soviet leaders signed a declaration of Russia’s state sovereignty. The document symbolised the introduction of democratic reforms in Russia. It also marked one of the first steps to the official dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In 1994, Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin declared it a national holiday, even though many people either did not understand its meaning or refused to celebrate it. The day was renamed to Day of the adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Russian Federation with the aim of commemorating the renewed independence of the country, the creation of the post of President, the adoption of the historical national flag, and a new national anthem.
To promote 12 June as a patriotic holiday, Yeltsin suggested renaming it to Russia Day in 1997. The renaming took place in 2002 when the Russian Parliament adopted a new version of Russia's Labour Code. What is interesting is that when Russia Day falls on a weekend, an additional holiday on a weekday is usually declared. What is more, if the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, another holiday on the Monday or Friday is often added.
Did you know?
- At 100m deep, the Metro of St. Petersburg is the deepest subway in the world.
- Russia is the world’s largest country by area. It covers 17 million sq. km, accounting for more than one ninth of Earth’s terrestrial area.
- Until 2011, anything with less than 10% alcohol was considered a foodstuff and not alcohol.
- Russia has more time zones than any other country in the world. It used to have 11, but this was culled in 2010 to ‘only’ nine.
Celebrate Russia Day by practising interpretation on the 74 Russian speeches that the Speech Repository offers you. You will find speeches on various topics and levels of difficulty. What are you waiting for?
Happy practice,
Your Speech Repository Team