National Anthem of Russia - Public Perception

Public Perception

The Russian national anthem is set to the melody of the Soviet anthem (used since 1944). As a result, there have been several controversies related to its use. For instance, some—including cellist Mstislav Rostropovich—have vowed not to stand during the anthem. Russian cultural figures and government officials were also troubled by Putin's restoration of the Soviet anthem. A former adviser to both Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the Soviet Union, stated that, when "Stalin's hymn" was used as the national anthem of the Soviet Union, millions were executed and other horrific crimes took place.

At the 2007 funeral of Yeltsin, the Russian anthem was played as his coffin was laid to rest at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. While it was common to hear the anthem during state funerals for Soviet civil and military officials, honored citizens of the nation, and Soviet leaders, as was the case for Alexei Kosygin, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, writing in the Daily Telegraph Boris Berezovsky felt that playing the anthem at Yeltsin's funeral "abused the man who brought freedom" to the Russian people. The Russian government states that the "solemn music and poetic work" of the anthem, despite its history, is a symbol of unity for the Russian people. Mikhalkov's words evoke "feelings of patriotism, respect for the history of the country and its system of government."

In a 2009 poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center and publicized just two days before Russia's flag day (22 August), 56% of respondents stated that they felt proud when hearing the national anthem. However, only 39% could recall the words of the first line of the anthem. This was an increase from 33% in 2007. According to the survey, between 34 and 36% could not identify the anthem's first line. Overall, only 25% of respondents said they liked the anthem. In the previous year, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center found out that 56% of Russians felt pride and admiration at the anthem, even though only 40% (up from 19% in 2004) knew the first words of the anthem. It was also noted in the survey that the younger generation was the most familiar with the words.

In September 2009, a line from the lyrics used during Stalin's rule reappeared at the Moscow Metro station Kurskaya-Koltsevaya: "We were raised by Stalin to be true to the people, inspiring us to feats of labour and heroism." While groups have threatened legal action to reverse the re-addition of this phrase on a stone banner at the vestibule's rotunda, it was part of the original design of Kurskaya station and had been removed during de-Stalinization. Most of the commentary surrounding this event focused on the Kremlin's attempt to "rehabilitate the image" of Stalin by using symbolism sympathetic to or created by him.

The Communist Party strongly supported the restoration of Alexandrov's melody, but some members proposed other changes to the anthem. In March 2010, Boris Kashin, a CPRF member of the Duma, advocated for the removal of any reference to God in the anthem. Kashin's suggestion was also supported by Alexander Nikonov, a journalist with SPID-INFO and an avowed atheist. Nikonov argued that religion should be a private matter and should not be used by the state. Kashin found that the cost for making a new anthem recording will be about 120,000 rubles. The Russian Government quickly rejected the request because it lacked statistical data and other findings. Nikonov asked the Constitutional Court of Russia in 2005 if the lyrics were compatible with Russian law.