Russian Duma Agrees on News Words for National AnthemThe Russian State Duma, the lower house of the parliament, Wednesday passed a bill submitted by President Vladimir Putin, adopting the words penned by famous poet Sergei Mikhalkov as the lyric of the national anthem.The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority with 345 votes "for", 19 "against" and one abstention, while other three bills submitted by some deputies on the anthem text were rejected. On December 8 last year, the Duma approved the bills on the national flag, emblem, anthem and Russian army flag, taking the music of the former Soviet Union's anthem as the national song, but left the anthem's lyric undecided. |
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