Parking will be free in Moscow Feb. 23-26, during the Defender of the Fatherland Day holidays.
Moscow’s Administrator for City Parking Spaces has announced a “parking holiday” on its website.
Drivers will be able to park without paying across the city during the upcoming celebrations. The administrator's announcement notes that the regulation does not apply to any private or fenced-off parking areas.
Paid parking was introduced in Moscow's city center in 2012. The paid parking zone has since expanded beyond the Third Transport Ring. In 2015, angry Muscovite drivers took to the streets to protest new paid parking areas in residential neighborhoods. Free parking on Sundays and federal holidays was introduced in January, 2016.
Defender of the Fatherland Day, formerly known as Red Army Day, pays homage to veterans and servicemen of the Russian army. The federal holiday is informally known as “Army Day” or simply as “Men’s Day” and is often referred to as male equivalent of International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8.
Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated in several other former Soviet republics, including Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The holiday was observed in Ukraine until 2014, when it was replaced by the “Day of Defenders of Ukraine.”
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