Unity () was a Russian political party that was created on 3 October 1999, supported by Russia’s President

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 ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and dozens of Russian governors to counter the threat which 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 ...

perceived from the Fatherland-All Russia alliance. It was also unofficially dubbed "Medved’" (the bear) or "Medvedi" (bears), as "MeDvEd" was an acronym of its full name (Mezhregionalnoye Dvizheniye "Edinstvo"; Interregional movement "Unity"). Later the party adopted a brown bear for its symbol.

History

The rise of Unity was meteoric given the short time period it had to create an identity, plan its campaign strategy and carry out its ambitious objectives. The establishment of the movement followed a declaration signed by 39 governors expressing their dissatisfaction with the political battles being fought in Russia. The initial meeting of these governors to form a new electoral movement was held on 24 September 1999. It was at this meeting that Minister of Emergency Situations

Sergey Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served ...

was selected as Unity’s leader. Prime Minister Putin immediately pledged support for the new bloc, saying it could help stabilize the political situation in Russia. On 24 November 1999 he told reporters that in his capacity as premier, he "should not define his political preferences" with respect to election blocs but "as an ordinary citizen" he would vote for Unity. The party’s leading candidates in 1999 State Duma elections were Sergey Shoigu, nine-times world wrestling champion Alexander Karelin and former senior police official Alexander Gurov. Unity, backed up by popular support for the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

, relied on a campaign of verbal attacks to discredit the Fatherland-All Russia alliance. It was also heavily promoted by the ORT TV channel and especially " Sergey Dorenko's Program". In the 19 December 1999 State Duma election, Unity received 23.32 percent of the vote and won 72 of 441 seats, just behind the

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...

. Later ten more seats joined the faction. Shoigu remained Emergencies Minister and did not go into the new

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

. On January 12, 2000 the party elected Boris Gryzlov leader of its faction. The party supported

in the 2000 presidential election. In 2001 the same party has created a formal alliance with three other factions represented in the State Duma: Fatherland-All Russia and People's Deputy and Russia's Regions groups, themselves an alliance composed of single-member district deputies who avoided joining one of the party-based factions in that State Duma Convocation. In April of that year the Unity party and the Fatherland - All Russia movement decided to unite into a single political party,

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

Electoral results

Presidential

State Duma

References

External links