Delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to the CSTO PA consists of 7 deputies from the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and 4 deputies from the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.
Plenipotentiary representative of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus: Viktor Kogut
Website of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus: http://house.gov.by/en/
Website of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus: http://www.sovrep.gov.by/ru/
Delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the CSTO PA consists of 8 deputies from the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and 8 members of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan.
Plenipotentiary Representative of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, deputy Executive Secretary of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly: Viktor Rogalev
Delegation of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz Republic to the CSTO PA consists of 7 deputies.
Plenipotentiary Representative of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz Republic: Shabdanbek Alishev
Website of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz Republic: http://www.kenesh.kg/
Delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to the CSTO PA consists of 10 deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and 12 members of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.
Plenipotentiary representative of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - deputy Executive Secretary of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly: Mikhail Krotov
Delegation of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan to the CSTO PA consists of 6 deputies of the National Assembly of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan and 6 deputies of the Assembly of Representatives of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan honour Defenders of the Fatherland on February 23
23 February 2021
Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan honour Defenders of the Fatherland on February 23
On February 23 Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan honour Defenders of the Fatherland.
The holiday originated in the Soviet Union, when February 23 was celebrated annually as a national holiday: the Soviet Army and Navy Day.
There was no document establishing February 23 as an official Soviet holiday.
According to RIA Novosti, the Soviet historiography linked the celebration of the military on this date to the events of 1918: on January 28 (January 15, O.S.), 1918 the Council of People’s Commissars headed by Chairman Vladimir Lenin adopted a decree establishing the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (WPRA), and on February 11 (January 29, O.S.) – the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Navy (WPRN). On February 22, the CPC published a proclamation decree Socialist Fatherland in Danger!, and on February 23, rallies were held in Petrograd, Moscow and other cities, where workers were urged to defend their Fatherland from the advancing German troops. That day was marked by the mass enlistment of volunteers into the Red Army and the beginning of the formation of its detachments and units.
On February 23, 1922, a military parade was held at Red Square in Moscow, organized by Leon Trotsky, chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council.
In 1938, The Short Course on the History of the VKP(b) presented a different interpretation of the origin of the holiday’s date. The book argued that in 1918 near Narva and Pskov “the German occupiers were resolutely pushed back. Their advance towards Petrograd was halted. The day of rebuffing the German imperialist troops – February 23 – became the birthday of the young Red Army.”
Later, the order of the People’s Commissar of Defence of the USSR of February 23, 1942 slightly changed the wording: “The young Red Army units, entering the war for the first time, crushed the German invaders at Pskov and Narva on February 23, 1918. That is why February 23 was declared the birthday of the Red Army.”
In 1951, another version of the origin of the holiday appeared. The History of the Civil War in the USSR stated that in 1919, the first anniversary of the Red Army was celebrated as “a day of commemoration of mobilization of workers for the defence of the socialist Fatherland, the mass enlistment of workers into the Red Army and the widespread formation of the first detachments and units of the new army.”
The name of the holiday also changed. Since 1922, the holiday was traditionally called the Red Army Day, since 1946: the Soviet Army Day, since 1949: the Soviet Army and Navy Day.
On the basis of the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 On Days of Military Glory in Russia, February 23 was officially named the Day of Victory of the Red Army over the German Kaiser Troops (1918) – the Defenders of the Fatherland Day. In 2006, the name of the holiday was corrected, and it became Defender of the Fatherland Day.
In December 2001, the State Duma supported a proposal to make Defender of the Fatherland Day a non-working holiday.
On this day, the CSTO Member States – the Republic of Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan – traditionally hold celebrations, parades and displays of military equipment.
On this day it is customary to honour all those who have defended and are now defending the country from invaders, as well as all men.