Russia
"Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii" (Hymn of the Russian Federation)

Words by: Sergei Vladimirovich Mikhalkov
Music by: Alexandr Vasilievich Alexandrov
Adopted: 2000

In the last few days of 2000, Russia's new president Vladimir Putin, decided to give the Russian people a new anthem, since a common complaint was not having words to their current anthem. So Putin, upon the advice of the Communists in the parliament who could vote down the bill, adopted the old anthem from the Soviet Union, identifying with the country's past. However, only the music passed the legislative process in early to mid December, 1999. The new words that were written by Sergei Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (the same person who wrote the lyrics to the old Soviet anthem!) to replace the Communist-style words were passed by Presidential order on December 30 of that year (many deputies objected to the mention of God in the anthem text.)

Special thanks to: Pavel Zinovatny for some of this information, the English translation of the lyrics, and the MIDI file.

See also: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1944-1991), Russia (1815-1933), Russia (1833-1917), Russia (1917-1922), Russia (1990-2000), Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922-1944), Chechnya (2000-), Karelia, Tatarstan.