russia Celebrated “Unity Day”: Crowds Jostling for Porridge, Flags Flying Upside Down, and Mannequins – Amputees

On November 4, russia celebrated “National Unity Day” – a holiday introduced in 2004 to replace the soviet anniversary of the october revolution. Formally, it is a day of historical remembrance. Informally, it is another day off, the meaning of which most citizens cannot explain.

The most revealing celebrations took place in Volgograd. Participants prayed “for putin’s health and wisdom”, after which they made a crush in line for free pumpkin porridge and fish soup. Some came with large containers, hoping to take a festive portion home. The day ended with a symbolic mistake: at the local museum “russia – my history”, the national flag was hung upside down.

The celebrations took different forms in different regions. In Omsk, visitors were offered the chance to try archery and take part in a “symbolic execution”. In Tambov, children stood for hours with photographs of fallen soldiers. In Yakutia, schoolchildren were taken to the river to harvest ice for the families of participants in the “special military operation”, as there is no water supply there.

In Novorossiysk, the main location was the “Kind Novorossiysk” festival. Its participants, including children, were taught to provide first aid to a model of a wounded soldier with simulated wounds and an amputated leg. Most of the children were frightened to tears by that demonstration.

Monuments were also involved. In Irkutsk, a monument entitled “Grandfather, Father, and Son” was unveiled on Decembrists Square. It consists of three figures in military uniform, with no connection to the historical events that gave the square its name. A similar composition, “Heroes of the Balakhna Land”, was installed in Nizhny Novgorod region. In Severomorsk, Murmansk region, a five-figure monument to participants in the “special military operation” was unveiled, with a red army soldier with a flag and a revolver in the centre.

Against the background of such initiatives, official speeches were entirely expected. The governor of Vologda region, filimonov, publicly shouted “Glory to the “special military operation” soldiers!”, while his counterpart from Kirov, sokolov, led dances with young people under the national flag.

The holiday, intended to unite the country, increasingly resembles a kaleidoscope of local rituals, from military memorials to field kitchens. Its meaning, as before, remains open to interpretation.