All news

Victory Day remains most revered holiday for Russians, poll reveals

According to the survey results, Victory Day is associated with the St. George ribbon among 55% of the Russians polled

MOSCOW, May 5./TASS/. Victory Day, New Year’s Day and Easter are the most important holidays among Russians, a survey carried out by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center revealed.

"For the past five years, Victory Day has remained the most important holiday for the Russian people in a chain of annual celebrations and events," the pollster said. In reply to the question "What are the main holidays for you?" the polled Russians had to name up to three of them. Victory Day scored 67%, followed by the New Year’s Day (63%) and Easter (31%). The respondents also mentioned International Women’s Day (25%), Christmas (17%) and Defender of the Fatherland Day (15%) among the holidays they deem important.

The pollster noted that Victory Day provides a special tone and atmosphere allowing people to feel emotionally connected with the events of May 1945, when the Banner of Victory was raised atop the Reichstag building. "Today, this symbol [the Victory Banner] is not the most frequently mentioned one in the answers of our fellow countrymen - with only 37% of the respondents associating this holiday with it. The traditional large-scale mass events, like the military parade (63%) and the Immortal Regiment (60%), were named more often," the pollster specified.

According to the survey, Victory Day is associated with the St. George ribbon among 55% of the Russians polled, another 48% mentioned the Eternal Flame, war-time music and songs, while about 40% named the fireworks. Thirty percent of the Russians associate Victory Day with orders and medals, while 29% named red carnations as their association.

The pollster also noted that after the coronavirus pandemic restrictions, Russians are regaining interest in the in-person festivities of Victory Day, with 40% of them planning to participate this year, an increase of eight percentage points. As many as 28% of the polled Russians plan to watch the fireworks, which is almost twice as many as last year (16%).

"Russians plan to spend the holiday outdoors in the fresh air: 23% of them will go for a walk or go to the countryside (+7 percentage points year-on-year). Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed will watch TV, while one in five will engage in work at their dacha or household activities (19% and 20% correspondingly). Twenty percent plan to host guests or will go on a visit (+11 percentage points from 2020)," the polling agency specified.

This nationwide poll was conducted on April 23, 2022, among 1,600 Russian citizens aged over 18. The margin of error with a 95% probability does not exceed 2.5%.