Yesterday Russia

Moscow, 2015

People go to a concert in honor of Independence Day, Moscow, 1996

The procession in honor of Independence Day, Moscow, 1996

Vladimir Zhirinovsky demonstrates independence from decency, Moscow, 1999

On June 12, 1990, at the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR, the “Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR” was adopted. In 1992, this day became a public holiday with a long official name - the day of the adoption of a declaration of state sovereignty of the Russian Federation. Unofficially christened in short - Russia's Independence Day. Then the State Prize of Russia was established. Presenting in the Kremlin the President of State Prizes on June 12 since then is an obligatory component of the holiday.

Until 1995, the holiday was not officially celebrated at all.
Since 1995, he began to grow with traditions-processions in cities, concerts in squares, sports competitions ... and eternal disputes about what Russia has become independent. So hot that in 1998, Boris Yeltsin, in order to stop these disputes, proposed to rename Independence Day on Russia Day. Officially, however, this name was accepted only in 2002, already under Vladimir Putin.

Symbols of regions on the streets of the capital, Moscow, 2002

Then he began - slowly - the nature of the celebration changes. This holiday for the regime is the farther, the more inconvenient: it is strange to celebrate the day of the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe." And the day of the crash of prison, alas, is too many, and not only in the leadership of the country, consider a disaster.

Gradually, the holiday was built into the general propaganda scheme: on the streets of the capital - a procession of regions shining with happiness with fake ships and aircraft. In the sky - real combat aircraft from pilot groups. On Red Square - ceremonial calculations. The failed Day of Freedom began to recall another reason about the power of our weapons and the unity of the nation under the leadership of the Wise Leader. With the activists of the “Young Guard of United Russia”, distributing three -color ribbons, and an obligatory salute in the final.

Gymnasts like management, Moscow, 2004

The opposition tried to make its holiday, to recall that the tricolor is a symbol of liberation and hopes, but in recent years, we began to talk about liberation and hopes in recent years. After all, the holiday is state, and the state today has other priorities.

On the crooked -out -of -the -way “official portal of the Day of Russia” (there is one) - three news: a competition of young performers “Five Stars” will be held in the Crimea. Vladimir Medinsky believes that this is symbolic. And the prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya will follow the work of the jury. And what is indicative - they are all in 2014.

Happy holiday!

“Million march” - Boris Nemtsov talks about freedom, Moscow, 2012

In Grozny, Russia Day is celebrated, 2014

Waiting for salute, Moscow, 2013

Photo: Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant, Buldakov/TASS, Lyudmila Pakhomova/ITAR-TASS, Valery Sharifulin/TASS, Vitaly Belousov/ITAR-TASS, Valentin Kuzmin/ITAR-TASS, Fedor Savintsev/ITAR-TASS, Alexander Yuriev/ITAR-TASS, Sergey Karpov/ITARPOV/TASS, Pavel, Pavel Golovkin/ITAR-TASS, Ruslan Kasumov/ITAR-TASS