Taking part in the ceremony, traditionally held to mark National Unity Day, were Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and other religious leaders, in particular, Ravil Gainutdin, Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin, Chief Mufti and Chairman of the Central Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Russia, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, Head of the Russian Old Believers Church Metropolitan Cornelius, Catholic Archbishop of Moscow and Head of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia Paolo Pezzi, and Damba Ayusheyev, Head of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia.
Representatives of ethnic communities’ organisations also took part in the ceremony, including Bogdan Bezpalko, head of the Federation of National Cultural Autonomies of Ukrainians of Russia, Eskender Bilyalov, head of public organisation Inkishaf Crimean Tatars’ Society, Nikolai Doluda, Ataman of the Kuban Cossack Troops, representatives of the Russian Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus and other ethnic community organisations in Russia, and activists from Russian youth organisations and movements.
The National Unity Day was established in 2005 to commemorate the events of 1612, when a people’s militia led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky liberated Moscow from foreign occupation.