Airborne Forces Day, which is a professional holiday for active and reserve airborne troops, is traditionally celebrated throughout Russia, Belarus and other countries. During the holiday, many cities traditionally held demonstrations of paratroopers, concerts, charity events, festivals, crafts fairs and souvenirs exhibition and sale. In some Russian cities, it is customary to turn off the fountains on the day of the Airborne Forces and to release all employees responsible for their work on a day off. This is done in order to reduce the damage from the celebration.
Common meeting places • In
Almaty, veterans are found in the Central Park of Culture and Rest named after Gorky. • In
Donetsk, veterans are found in the Shcherbakov Park and near the monument to the fallen Afghan warriors. • In
Kyiv, the meeting places of veterans included the
National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, a monument to soldiers-internationalists, and less often,
Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The
Ukrainian Air Assault Forces now celebrates its own holiday on 21 November. • In
Moscow, the traditional places for annual meetings of the Blue Berets are Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure and
Poklonnaya Gora. The capital's first ever Paratroopers Day parade was held in 2018 on the southern part of
Red Square near
Saint Basil's Cathedral and the
Monument to Minin and Pozharsky marking 88 years of the Airborne Forces. • In
St. Petersburg, traditional meeting places include Krestovsky Island and
Palace Square. • In
Vitebsk, paratroopers meet on Victory Square. == Controversies ==