The President will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall on February 23. Also taking part in the ceremony will be 1941–1945 Great Patriotic War veterans, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, and other state and political figures.
The same day, Mr Putin will meet with Northern Fleet officers who distinguished themselves during combat and service missions in the Mediterranean and off the Syrian coast.
The President will meet with the heads of the 3rd CISM World Military Winter Games, which will take place in Sochi on February 24–28. The games are organised by the International Military Sports Council, the biggest sports organisation after the International Olympic Committee and the International University Sports Federation. More than 400 military service personnel from 26 countries will take part in the competition.
Later in the day, Vladimir Putin will take part in a gala evening marking the Defenders of the Fatherland holiday and will congratulate military service personnel and armed forces veterans on the occasion.