The New Year Address by the President of Russia () is a traditional speech given in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

to the citizens, and generally broadcast on Russian television.

History

In Russia, tuning in before midnight to watch the President's speech () has become traditional. The president gives the New Year speech from the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

, a few minutes before the

Kremlin Clock The Kremlin Clock () or Kremlin Chimes (), also known colloquially in the West as Moscow Clock Tower, is a historic clock on the Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin. The clock dial is above the main gates to Red Square. For decades, the chimes hav ...

chimes at midnight followed by the performance of the

national anthem of Russia The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the " State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", composed by Alexander Alexandrov, and new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov, ...

. The speech sums up the main events of the year and discusses prospects for the coming one. The tradition is observed by most Russians, regardless of political views. The speech is broadcast in each of the 11

time zones Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compa ...

in the country. Because of that, the video of the speech is already available on the internet to audiences in western Russia during the afternoon of 31 December. The tradition dates back to 1941, when the Soviet government broadcast a speech about the state of the country during World War II.

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Commu ...

gave a speech in 1990 saying the 1990s would be "a decade of the drawing of the United States and the Soviet Union closer together".

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

generally avoided talk of politics during his new year speeches, preferring to talk about family values and the holiday spirit, though he did use his 1996 speech to promote economic reforms. Yeltsin famously resigned during his New Year speech on 31 December 1999. In 2013 two different speeches were broadcast: the first one was only broadcast in the Far East, while a new broadcast for the rest of the country mentioned the

December 2013 Volgograd bombings In December 2013, two separate suicide bombings a day apart targeted mass transportation in the city of Volgograd, in the Volgograd Oblast of Southern Russia, killing 34 people overall, including both perpetrators. The attacks followed a bus bom ...

. Vladimir Putin's address on December 31, 2020 was the longest of all time - it lasted 6 minutes (not including the chimes and the anthem). On December 31, 2021, this record was broken again - the circulation lasted 6 minutes and 22 seconds. On December 31, 2022, Putin read out his New Year’s address against a backdrop of members of the

Russian military The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Forces—two independent comba ...

; he mentioned the “protection of our people in the new regions of the Russian Federation” and the address lasted 9 minutes. One of the servicemen who was standing behind Putin during the address was later

killed Killing, Killings, or The Killing may refer to: Types of killing *-cide, a suffix that refers to types of killing (see List of types of killing), such as: ** Homicide, one human killing another *** Murder, unlawful killing of another human without ...

while in fighting in Ukraine in February 2023.

References

External links

* {{New Year Speeches by heads of state Annual events in Russia Articles containing video clips