To Serve Russia

"To Serve Russia" () is a Russian patriotic song written in the early 2000s.

Creation "To Serve Russia" was written by composer Eduard Khanok () and lyricist Ilya Reznik () in the early 2000s.

The first public appearance of "To Serve Russia" occurred on 10 November 2000 for Police and Internal Affairs Servicemen's Day, sung by Nikolay Baskov () at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

Usage

Russian Federation

An instrumental variant of the song, adjusted for marching cadence was featured in the 2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade (), celebrating the triumph of Russia over Nazi Germany. In each subsequent Victory Day parade, the song has been played during the infantry column precession. In recent years, "To Serve Russia" has also been included in performances of the Alexandrov Ensemble.

"To Serve Russia" was adopted as the official anthem of the Young Army Cadets National Movement following its establishment in 2016.

North Korea In North Korea, both the original song, as well as a derivative with Korean lyrics are increasingly popular. In 2009, a recording with the original Russian lyrics was performed by the State Merited Chorus and Symphony Orchestra of the Korean People's Army, alongside other patriotic songs from Russia and China. In July 2023, during the visit of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to North Korea for the 70th Day of Victory, the song was performed in a concert, alongside other contemporary Russian songs.

For the 2024 visit by Vladimir Putin to North Korea, an instrumental fife and drum variant was played by the band of the State Affairs Commission during a concert in the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.

In October 2025, during a parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea, a contingent of Korean People's Army soldiers of the Overseas Operation Battalion who took part in the Kursk offensive marched to "To Serve Russia" with joint Russian and North Korean colours, returned from Kursk Oblast. Dmitry Medvedev was present at the parade.

In November 2024, a derivative of "To Serve Russia", with Korean lyrics was performed by the State Merited Chorus during the National Defence Development; 2024 exhibition in Pyongyang. While the song maintains the march composed by Eduard Khanok, the lyrics are changed to match North Korean military ideology (Juche), named "To Serve the Motherland and the People" (). On 25 April 2025, the song was used as a centrepiece composition for the launch of the North Korean destroyer Choe Hyon.

Transnistria A variant of the song with minor changes has been adopted by the Armed Forces of Moldova's unrecognized breakaway region of Transnistria (officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) as "To Serve the Fatherland" ().

Lyrics Russian original Cyrillic scriptRomanization of RussianIPA transcription

English translation

See also

Ilya Reznik Eduard Khanok

Notes

References

External links