Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions
May 31, Friday
The Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression is an annual day when victims of political repression in the Soviet Union are remembered and mourned across the Russian Federation.
The day has been observed since 30 October 1991. It was established by the Supreme Soviet of Russia on 18 October 1991, the same day as that body passed the "Law on the Rehabilitation of the Victims of Political Repression", a key piece of legislation still in force. (The Memorial (society) has estimated that 12 million people qualified for rehabilitation under the terms of that act.)
30 October is an official date in the calendar of the Russian Federation. In 2007 President Putin visited the Butovo firing range on 30 October. Ten years later it was the day on which President Putin and Patriarch Kirill inaugurated the new Wall of Sorrow.