The ceremony was attended by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, leader of the traditional Buddhist Sangkha of Russia Damba Ayusheyev, Chairman of the North Caucasus Muslim Coordinating Centre Ismail Berdiev, Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia Dietrich Brauer, Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia Ravil Gainutdin, Metropolitan Korniliy of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church, Secretary-General of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia Igor Kovalevsky, members of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, students and representatives of youth organisations.
National Unity Day was established in 2005 to commemorate the events of 1612, when Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky led the people’s volunteer army to liberate Moscow from foreign occupation.