June 12 in Russia: The Story Behind Russia Day and Its National Significance

Russia Day is one of the most important state holidays in the Russian Federation and is celebrated annually on June 12. Until 2002, the holiday officially bore the name Day of the Adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Russia. It remains one of the country's youngest national holidays and an official day off. The origins of the celebration date back to June 12, 1990, when the First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Russia. The document established the supremacy of the Russian Constitution and Russian laws within the republic. At the time, many Soviet republics had already begun asserting their sovereignty, and the declaration emerged during a period when republics across the Soviet Union were moving toward independence. Another important milestone in Russian statehood followed in 1991, when the country officially adopted the name Russian Federation (Russia).