The State Duma made September 3 the “Day of Victory over Militarist Japan”

On Tuesday, the State Duma of Russia adopted amendments to the law “On days of military glory and commemorative dates of Russia” and changed the name of one of these days – September 3. Instead of “Day of the end of the Second World War” it will now be called “Day of Victory over militaristic Japan and the end of the Second World War”.

The explanatory note to the project states that this decision was “one of the countermeasures in response to Japan’s unfriendly policy.” Tokyo, as the Duma claims, is conducting it “in coordination with the collective West” after the start of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The note does not say what relation this policy has to the events of the Second World War.

Japan’s unconditional surrender during World War II was signed on September 2, 1945. Among the victorious states was the Soviet Union, which entered the war with Japan on August 9. In the USSR, Victory over Japan Day was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on September 3. However, the holiday was celebrated only for two years, in 1947 it (like Victory Day on May 9) ceased to be a non-working day. In contrast to May 9, his status as a non-worker was not subsequently restored. In post-Soviet Russia, September 2 was declared a memorial day – the day the Second World War ended.

In 2020, the State Duma, however, postponed its celebration to September 3, justifying it by the fact that in 1945 the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established this date. Also, his status was changed from a memorial day to a day of military glory. At the same time, the name remained the same – the Day of the End of the Second World War, without mentioning “militarist Japan”. In the accompanying documents, it was then indicated that this wording “symbolizes the transition from a state of war to peace, the search for ways of reconciliation and cooperation.” The current wording, apparently, no longer symbolizes this.

On September 3, 2004, more than 300 hostages, most of them children, died as a result of the storming of a school seized by terrorists in the city of Beslan in North Ossetia. September 3 remains an official commemorative date – the “Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism”. Deputies do not say how mourning events will be combined with celebrations in honor of the victory over Japan.