St. Valentine’s Day Is Being Celebrated By More Russian Women and Men
Ten years ago St. Valentine’s Day was not celebrated or recognized in Russia - now more than half of Russian women and men are partaking in the Western holiday.
The independent Levada Center took a survey which shows that 58 percent of the respondents regard St. Valentine’s Day to be a holiday and up to 40 percent said they plan to celebrate with their sexy Russian women and men partners.
Across Russia today there were observations of the holiday. In the city of Kaliningrad, a 12 meter “kissing” bench was put up by officials. In Barnaul a giant heart was displayed in a park. And in Sochi there was a 4,000 person simultaneous kiss according to Itar-Tass.
In Moscow you could see evidence of the holiday in many places. Red decorations, heart-shaped balloons and ribbons were in place in numerous restaurants and cafes. One cafe featured a waiter in a pair of red angel wings. In the metro, the loudspeakers played romantic music and poetry, a tradition that started last year.
Some Russians weren’t happy about the displays of “affection”. They see the holiday as being from another culture and not “Russian”. That attitude isn’t stopping a large number of Russian women and men from celebrating the traditional day of love.
