MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — Russia is able to defend its national interests and Russians will not respond to threats to abandon their values and ideals, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.
"This year we have had to face difficult challenges and Russia proved that it is able to defend its national interests and, as is frequently the case, our people responded to the difficulties with togetherness and moral, spiritual righteousness," Putin said in a speech on National Unity Day.
Unity Day "marks the dedication of our people to their country, their native land", the president stated, noting that the responsibility Russians feel for their country has always been "the basis of independence and sovereignty for Russia, while patriotism and love for the motherland have for centuries united our multinational country".
"It is no coincidence that this holiday is linked to key events in our history, when people put an end to the Time of Troubles," Putin said.
These historical events serve as "an example to every generation of Russians that we must sacredly guard and protect our national interests and that neglecting those interests can lead to a chasm of disintegration and destruction, that our sovereignty has the same fundamental value as freedom and democracy," the Russian leader concluded.
The Day of National Unity holiday marks the Russia's liberation from Polish-Lithuanian invaders. In early November 1612, a militia of about 8,000 led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky liberated Moscow from combined forces of Poles and Lithuanians. Historically, the holiday is associated with the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia, a period of profound political, social and economic strife.
The events resulted in the creation of a holiday by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, which was celebrated from 1649 to 1917, before being halted by the Bolsheviks in 1918, and restored by President Putin in 2005.
