The end of World War II is internationally accepted as September 2, 1945, the day on which Japan formally surrendered.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: IANS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill into law moving the end day of World War II from September 2 to September 3.
The bill was passed by the lower house of the country’s parliament on April 14 and the upper house on April 17, according to the report.
The lower house has said that the transfer was to “strengthen the historical foundations and patriotic traditions, preserve historical justice in relation to the victors in World War II, and perpetuate a worthy memory of those who died in the defense of the Fatherland”.
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The end of World War II is internationally accepted as September 2, 1945, the day on which Japan formally surrendered.
Last week, the Presidential Council for Human Rights (SPCh) issued a statement calling the move “a mistake.”
According to the SPCh, September 3 is already marked in the country as the Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to honor hundreds of victims of the 2004 Beslan school siege.
Some 1.8 million people were awarded the “Victory over Japan” medal with September 3, 1945 inscribed on the back.
On September 1, 2004, some three dozen Chechen militants took more than 1,200 people hostage at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia.
Two days later, Russian forces stormed the school and 334 people, including 186 children, were killed in the violence.
In 2010, Russia’s upper house of parliament approved that September 2 was the end day of World War II.
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