Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 21, 2006

Sheet music for the National Anthem of Russia

The National Anthem of Russia is the "Hymn of the Russian Federation". The music of the anthem, composed by Alexander Alexandrov, was used for the Soviet anthem, but the revised lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov in 2000. It was adopted in late 2000 by President Vladimir Putin and replaced the former anthem, "The Patriotic Song". Before and after the adoption of the anthem, liberal groups raised concerns that the re-adoption of the Soviet anthem was returning Russia to the Soviet era. The revised lyrics removed mention of Lenin's ideas and the "unbreakable union" of the Soviet state, instead speaking of a country that is vast in distance and in resources that will be entrusted to future generations. (More...)

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