Day of Russia, День России!

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

June 12 is one Russia's newer national holidays: День России! (the Day of Russia), just 21 years old as a national holiday.

This year festivities and concerts were held to mark the event. In Moscow, city officials authorized and sponsored festive events to entertain the public which culminated with a concert on Red Square in the evening and a display of fireworks.

Celebrations took place across the expanse of Russia and some cities in Ukraine, such as Odessa, allowed celebrations as well. Below is the celebration in the city of Иркутск (Irkutsk).

It was Irkutsk where the Revolutionary Red Army finally defeated Admiral Alexander Kolchak, the "Supreme Ruler of Russia" in the civil war between the Reds and Whites from 1918-1923 after the fall of the Provisional government in Leningrad following the ouster of the Romanov Tsar by the Bolsheviks.


photo 1: Celebration banner
photo 2: Red Square concert, Christina Potupchik/LiveJournal
photo 3: Red Square concert, Christina Potupchik/LiveJournal
photo 4: Irkutsk celebration, Artem Andronov/LiveJournal

[mendeleyev]

As has become a tradition for the Day of Russia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented state awards for outstanding achievements in science, art and literature at a ceremony in the Saint George Hall of the Kremlin Grand Palace.

The President presented National Awards to physicists Mikhail Itkis and Yury Oganessian for their ground-breaking work in the stability of superheavy elements; to orientalists Artem Kobzev, Anatoly Lukyanov and Mikhail Titarenko for exceptional achievements in the development of Russian and global Sinology; and to physicist Valentin Gapontsev for his innovative designs and high-quality production of fibre lasers and fibre optic backbone and local connection systems.

National Awards in literature and arts were presented to Actor Evgeny Mironov, rector of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography Vladimir Malyshev, and antique watch restoration specialists Mikhail Guryev, Valentin Molotkov and Oleg Zinatullin.

At the conclusion of the awards Mr. Medvedev spoke on the importance of the Day of Russia as a holiday.

[mendeleyev]

12 June also happens to be the День Гнева в День России (Day of Wrath on the Day of Russia), an opportunity for opposition groups to protest the government. Obviously the government didn't invent nor sponsor this idea and of course there were plenty of OMON Ministry of Interior Police out to spoil the opposition's fun.

Watch some of the protests and arrests here: