The Motherland Defender’s Day is a holiday observed in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and several other former republics of the Soviet Union. It is celebrated on February 23.
History
First celebrated in 1919 the holiday marks the date in 1918 during the Russian Civil War when the first mass draft into the Red Army occurred in Petrograd and Moscow (on 17 February). In January 1919 it was decided to combine the celebration that day with the anniversary of the publication of the decree on the establishment of the Red Army (of 18 February 1918). In 1919 February 17 fell on Monday; so it was decided to move the holiday to the nearest Sunday – 23 February. Since then it stayed that day. It was originally known as Red Army Day. In 1923 it was officially named the Day of the Red Army and the Navy.
In 1949, it was renamed Soviet Army and Navy Day. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the holiday was given its current name in 2002 by Russian President Vladimir Putin who decreed it a state holiday (in Russia).