Today Russia celebrates Tankers’ Day. This year it’s on September 14th.

In Russia, a holiday in honor of tankers was established back in 1946 to emphasize the importance and merits of tank troops and tank builders in the Great Patriotic War. Then the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided to establish an all-Union Tankers’ Day and celebrate it in all the capitals of the Union republics and in the centers of Soviet tank building: from Stalingrad (Volgograd) and Leningrad to Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg).

Since then, Tankers’ Day has been celebrated annually. And in 1980, it was added to the list of official holidays and memorable dates and, instead of September 11, it was decided to be held on the second Sunday of September.

In modern Russia, the holiday in honor of tankers has been preserved. In 2006, by decree of the country’s president Vladimir Putin, “in order to revive and develop domestic military traditions,” Tanker Day was established as one of the professional holidays in the Russian Armed Forces. The date of the celebration remained the same – the second Sunday in September.

On Tanker’s Day, everyone who is related to the armored forces, as well as the tank industry, is congratulated: active professional military personnel, military retirees and veterans, technicians, engineers and designers, as well as those who served in the tank forces.

Tanker’s Day also has its own traditions. For example, for tankers and all fans of tank work, museums organize tank exhibitions with the opportunity to look into the fighting compartments of the vehicles, conduct historical excursions and master classes on military topics.

–This piece is from “East Calling” a telegram channel that you should definitely check out.