Deputies from Russia's nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) have submitted bills that would restore the country's tsarist-era national anthem, God Save The Tsar!, and the calendar the country used before the 1917 communist revolution.
The deputies on June 7 filed a bill to restore the Julian calendar, which lags behind the Gregorian calendar that is commonly used now by some 13 days.
In their justification, the lawmakers noted that the Russian Orthodox Church and some other orthodox churches still use the Julian calendar.
The deputies also proposed replacing the current national anthem, which has the same music as the anthem of the Soviet Union with new lyrics, with God Save The Tsar! -- tsarist Russia's national anthem.
"Although the current hymn is deeply respected by many Russians, the imperial hymn embodies our pride in our glorious victories and symbolized a great country with a great history," the deputies' explanatory note stated.
The LDPR, headed by flamboyant deputy Duma speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, often makes extravagant public-relations gestures that make headlines but are rarely adopted.
