Russian Language Day — 6 June

UN Russian Language Day coincides with the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin on June 6, a Russian poet considered the father of modern Russian literature.

Russian is a Slavic language, whose closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn (Ukraine and Slovenia). In the 19th century, what we now classify as modern Russian was known as “Great Russian.” Belarusian was called “White Russian,” and Ukrainian was “Little Russian.” Today over 170 million people speak Russian.

UNESCO established this day in 2010.