Russian National Anthem

The national anthem of Russia is officially known as the “State Anthem of the Russian Federation.” The music of the anthem was composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1939 as the State Anthem of the Soviet Union. The lyrics to the original song of the Soviet Union were written by Gabriel El-Registan and Sergey Mikhalkov. However, when this song was adopted by Russia, there were no lyrics used. This is because the former lyrics referenced Joseph Stalin. Mikhalkov wrote new lyrics in 1977 that took the focus off of the war and shed light on communism within the nation.

The music for the Russian national anthem was officially adopted on December 25, 2000. The lyrics were adopted just five days later. There has been some controversy surrounding this national anthem. Only about 56% of Russians say that they feel proud when hearing the song, while just one-quarter actually like the song, according to a poll taken in 2009. Many Russians are not supportive of this anthem because they disagree with a revised version of the Soviet Union’s anthem being used as their national song.