Overview
- The dossiers outline how leader greetings began in 1936, with Mikhail Kalinin delivering the first all-Union radio address on December 31, 1941.
- Televised speeches started under Leonid Brezhnev on December 31, 1970, were revived by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, and later shaped modern practice under Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.
- Notable exceptions include 1991, when satirist Mikhail Zadornov filled the slot and delayed the chimes, and 1999, when Yeltsin resigned at noon and Putin spoke at midnight.
- Recent variations ranged from Putin’s 2022 message recorded with a military backdrop in Rostov-on-Don to a return to shorter Kremlin-set formats in 2023 and 2024.
- The companion explainer tracks cultural touchstones such as decorated trees and Ded Moroz, recalls Russia’s 19th‑century ornament production in Klin, and cites experts noting globalization’s push toward January 1 alongside regional New Year festivals like Sagaalgan, Navruz, Matariki, and Enkutatash.