When the number of schools teaching Russian went into sharp decline during the 1970s, the department introduced annual Russian Days for schools in order to support those in the region that remained. The first of these was held on 10 February 1973.
Russian Day programmes have included lectures by staff on a variety of different literary topics, language classes, essay competitions, and performances by students of Russian plays and songs.
As part of the centenary celebrations, the tradition of Russian Day was resurrected in 2015, when the department hosted a full day of activities for pupils of Russian from across England. Over 100 pupils and teachers attended the event which focused on Russia and its successful bid for the FIFA World Cup 2018. The slogan of the event was “Ready to Inspire” which was the aim for the day - to inspire current students and future generations of Russian specialists, as well as to build bridges with schools throughout the country.