What are the lyrics to Russia’s national anthem, and what do they mean?

On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation as President of the Soviet Union, marking the end of an era. That night, the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin and replaced by the Russian tricolor, symbolizing the official dissolution of the USSR. During his televised speech, Gorbachev reflected on the collapse of the old system and the challenges of transition. As the Soviet anthem played one last time, it echoed across a nation witnessing its own transformation. The nex