First celebrated in 1919, the holiday marks the date in 1918 during the Russian Civil War when the first mass draft into the Red Army occurred in Petrograd and Moscow (on 17 February).

[1] In January 1919, it was decided to combine the celebration of that day with the anniversary of the publication of the decree on the establishment of the Red Army (of 18 February 1918).

[1] In 1949, it was renamed to Soviet Army and Navy Day (Russian: День Советской армии и Военно-морского флота, romanized: Dyen' Sovyetskoy armii i Voyenno-morskogo flota).

[2] Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces or the Soviet Armed Forces (both men and women, both military and civilian personnel), but unofficially, nationally it has also come to include the celebration of men as a whole, and to act as a counterpart of International Women's Day on 8 March.

The holiday is celebrated with parades and processions in honor of veterans, and women also give small gifts to men in their lives, especially husbands (or boyfriends, fiances), fathers, sons and brothers.

Consequently, in colloquial usage, the holiday is often referred to as "Men's Day" (Russian: День мужчин, romanized: Den' muzhchin).

[10] In Ukraine, Defender of the Fatherland Day (Ukrainian: День захисника Вітчизни/ Den' zakhysnyka Vitchyzny) was never celebrated as a state holiday.

[11] In 1999 President Leonid Kuchma recognized 23 February as Defenders of the Fatherland Day without, however, granting it any official status.

[11][12] President Petro Poroshenko made a statement on 24 August 2014, according to which, Ukraine "should not celebrate the holidays of the military-historical calendar of Russia, but will honor the defenders of our homeland, not someone else's".

[16] In the early 21st century, even though it was not a public holiday, many women on this day gave some extra attention to male relatives, friends, husbands and boyfriends, especially to those serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.