June 22 is the Foundation Day of the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize Foundation

June 22 is the Foundation Day of the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize Foundation

Today, the Foundation is celebrating its anniversary. It is symbolic that this date coincides with the Day of Remembrance and Grief, reminding us of the fragility of peace and the immense importance of working together to protect it.

In 2022, the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Peace Foundation, and the Russian Military History Society became the founders of the Foundation. Created as a Russian public initiative, the Prize is now steadily strengthening its authority and influence, convincingly demonstrating the relevance of the ideas underlying it and our country's leading role in promoting peace on Earth. Its presence in the media landscape is making it increasingly recognizable. Last year, almost a billion people worldwide followed the award ceremony.
The decision to award the Prize is made by an authoritative international jury, which includes well-known public figures from eight countries on different continents, who are members of organizations such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the G-20. The jury is headed by the General Director of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters, the renowned Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.

The President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin gave a high assessment of the Prize.:

«The recently implemented initiative to establish the Peace Prize named after Leo Tolstoy has proven to be highly relevant and has received significant public and international attention. The purpose of this initiative is to promote unity around the noble ideals of peacekeeping, strengthen friendship between nations, protect human rights and freedoms, and foster a just and multipolar world order based on principles of sovereign equality and respect for each other's legitimate interests and the supremacy of international law».

Last year, the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, S.N. Japarov, E.Sh. Rahmon, and Sh.M. Mirziyoyev, were awarded the Prize for strengthening security in the Central Asian region. Prior to this, in 2023, the African Union was awarded the Prize for its significant contribution to peacebuilding.