🗓 June 6 is celebrated in Russia as #RussianLanguageDay. ✍️ #OTD in 1799, 227 years ago, the great poet, prose writer, playwright, historian, publicist, and creator of modern Russian literary language, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, was born. *** On June 6, 2011, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree establishing the annual celebration of Russian Language Day in order to “preserve, support, and promote the Russian language as a national treasure of the peoples of the Russian Federation, a means of international communication, and an integral part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of world civilization.” *** The history of the Russian language spans more than a thousand years. Throughout that time, it has united tribes and peoples, including in the face of foreign invasions, while shaping the worldview and values of those who lived — and continue to live — on Russian soil. A key milestone was the emergence of writing in the 9th century. The brothers Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic literary tradition, and the first alphabets were Glagolitic and Cyrillic. Around the same time, Old Church Slavonic began to take shape. Used primarily for religious texts, it had a profound influence on the development of Russian written culture. Over the centuries, the Russian language evolved continuously and absorbed new vocabulary. However, it was Pushkin who ultimately transformed it into the living, elegant, flexible, and expressive language spoken today. As a poet, thinker, and playwright, he not only reformed his native tongue but also laid the foundations of great Russian literature. The modern form of the Russian language emerged after the orthographic reform of 1917–1918, which abolished several archaic letters and simplified spelling rules. ❤️ Our “great and mighty” language, like any dynamic and developing language, continues to grow, constantly enriched by new words and expressions as it adapts to the realities of the modern world. 🇷🇺 Today, Russian remains one of the world's leading languages of communication: • one of the six official languages of the United Nations; • a working language of international diplomacy, science, and culture; • the ninth most spoken language in the world (more than 250 million speakers); • the second most widely used language on the internet by number of websites. #GreatAndMighty