MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president addressed a Kremlin reception Saturday to mark the country's new national holiday.
National Unity Day was introduced by the Kremlin last year to replace the communist holiday of November 7 celebrating the Bolshevik Revolution.
"For modern Russia, National Unity Day is a holiday of entire civil society, a day when we pay tribute to centuries' old traditions of patriotism, accord and unity of the nation," Vladimir Putin told his guests, including teachers of the Russian language and literature and members of the Russian diaspora abroad.
November 4 now marks liberation of Russia from Polish invaders in 1612.
