Today, on February 23rd, The Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated in Russia.
February 23rd was annually celebrated in the Soviet Union as a national holiday – the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy.
After the collapse of the USSR, the holiday continues to be celebrated in a number of the CIS countries. However, there was no official document establishing the feast on February 23rd.
The Soviet historiography linked the commemoration of the military to this date with the events of 1918, when, on January 28th, the Council of People’s Commissars adopted the Decree on the organization of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and on February 11th – the Workers ‘and Peasants’ Red Fleet (RKKF).
Throughout the USSR, the official characteristics of the holiday changed several times. After the collapse of the Union, according to the law of 1995, it became known as the Day of Victory of the Red Army over the Kaiser troops of Germany (1918) – the Day of the Fatherland Defenders. Since 2006, February 23rd is officially Defender of the Fatherland Day.
Source: Vestnik Kavkaza
