Monument to Minin and Pozharsky in the context of Polish–Lithuanian occupation of Moscow

Unity Day, also called the National Unity Day (Russian: День народного единства, romanized: Denʹ narodnogo yedinstva) and the Day of People's Unity, is a national holiday in Russia held on 4 November [O.S. 22 October]. It commemorates the popular uprising which ended the Polish-Lithuanian occupation of Moscow in November 1612, and more generally the end of the Time of Troubles and turning point of the Polish intervention in Russia.

The day's name alludes to the idea that all classes of Russian society united to preserve Russian statehood when there was neither a tsar nor a patriarch to guide them. In 1613 tsar Mikhail Romanov instituted a holiday named Day of Moscow’s Liberation from Polish Invaders. It was celebrated in the Russian Empire until 1917, when it was replaced with October Revolution Day, a commemoration of the Russian Revolution. Unity Day was reinstituted by the Russian Federation in 2005, when the events of the year 1612 have been celebrated instead of those of 1917 every 4 November since. The day is also the feast day of the Russian Orthodox icon of Our Lady of Kazan.

The "Russian world" (Russian: русский мир, romanized: rússkiy mir) is a concept and a political doctrine usually defined as the sphere of military, political and cultural influence of Russia. It is a vague term, mostly used to refer to communities with a historical, cultural, or spiritual tie to Russia. This can include all ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in neighboring states, as well as those who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. The concept of the "Russian world" is linked to Russian neo-imperialism. President Vladimir Putin established the government-funded Russkiy Mir Foundation to foster the idea of the "Russian world" abroad. The concept is sometimes also called the Pax Russica, as a counterweight to the Pax Americana after WWII.

Kuzma Minin (Russian: Кузьма́ Ми́нин), full name Kuzma Minich Zakhariev-Sukhoruky (Russian: Кузьма́ Ми́нич Заха́рьев Сухору́кий; c. 1570s – May 21, 1616), was a Russian merchant who, together with Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, formed the popular uprising in Nizhny Novgorod against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's occupation of Russia during the Polish intervention in Russia (1605-1618) coinciding with the Time of Troubles. The popular uprising ultimately led to Russian victory at the Battle of Moscow and the end of Polish occupation in 1612. Minin and Pozharsky become national heroes in Russian culture and were honored in the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Moscow's Red Square.

A native of Balakhna, Minin was a prosperous butcher in Nizhny Novgorod. When the popular patriotic movement to organize volunteer corps in his home city was formed, the merchants chose Minin, a trusted and respected member of the guild, to oversee the handling of the public funds donated by them to raise and equip the Second Volunteer Army (Russian: Второе народное ополчение).

Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky (Russian: Дми́трий Миха́йлович Пожа́рский, IPA: [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ pɐˈʐarskʲɪj]; 17 October 1577 – 30 April 1642) was a Russian prince known for his military leadership during the Polish–Russian War from 1611 to 1612. Pozharsky formed the Second Volunteer Army with Kuzma Minin in Nizhny Novgorod against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's occupation of Russia during the Time of Troubles, resulting in Polish withdrawal after Russian victory at the Battle of Moscow in 1612. Pozharsky received the unprecedented title of Saviour of the Fatherland from Mikhail I of Russia, becoming a folk hero in Russian culture and honored in the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Moscow's Red Square.

Abram or Avraam Melnikov (Авраам Иванович Мельников; 1784—1854) was a Russian Neoclassical architect associated with the late phase of the Empire style. His teachers at the Imperial Academy of Arts included Andreyan Zakharov. He graduated with a gold medal and went to further his studies in Italy. Melnikov became de facto Dean of the Academy in 1831 but was not officially appointed until 1843.

Melnikov collaborated with sculptor Ivan Martos on the pedestals for his statues of Minin and Pozharsky in Red Square and Duc de Richelieu at the top of the Potemkin Stairs in Odessa. Apart from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence and the Old Believer Church of St. Nicholas (later converted into the Arctic and Antarctic Museum), Melnikov's major buildings are in New Russia and the Volga provinces.