Putin hinted at a possible return to winter time

Correction, 26 October 2026: The headline and the last paragraph first spoke of a return of "daylight saving time" and "summer time". Russia had kept summer time all year since March 2011; what was discussed was a return to winter time, and the LDPR bill asked for the clocks to be turned back one hour.^[1]

Almost a year has passed since President Dmitry Medvedev decided that Russia would stay on summer time all year.^[2] It was meant to be a good decision, but less than one winter later, opinions on its benefits are divided. The problem is the very late sunrise in the winter months.

Prime Minister Putin said that he and President Medvedev had discussed the issue, and that Medvedev "will not hold on" to his earlier decision. Putin added that Medvedev did not mean to harm anyone but wanted to protect people's health: he had listened to those who said the change was needed so as not to disturb the body's natural clock.

According to Putin, the issue will be studied again, taking into account the views of specialists and experts as well as public opinion.

The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) has also taken a step towards a return to winter time: yesterday it introduced a bill in the State Duma calling for the clocks to be turned back one hour.

Update, 26 October 2026: The LDPR bill was withdrawn in 2012,^[1] and Russia stayed on summer time until 26 October 2014, when it went back to winter time for good. Since then Moscow has kept UTC+3 all year, with no clock changes.^[2] See also: Russia stays on summer time all year from 2011 and Russia switches to permanent winter time (2014).