Sobriety Day is celebrated throughout Russia on September 11, when the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of Commemoration of the Beheading of John the Baptist. On this day, a prayer service "For getting rid of the passion of drunkenness" was held in the Ilyinsky Temple of Ulan-Ude, located in the village of Vostochny. It was headed by the rector of the church, Priest Georgy Ivanov.
"The diocesan department for the approval and preservation of sobriety has been working at the Ilyinsky parish for a long time. Prayer services with an akathist are regularly held in the Ilyinsky Church in front of the image of the Most Holy Theotokos "The Inexhaustible Chalice," the Ulan-Ude and Buryat diocese noted. 
The first celebration of Sobriety Day took place in 1911 in the city of St. Petersburg. The motto of the holiday was the slogan "Sobriety is the happiness of the people." And in 1914, the Holy Synod decided to celebrate the All-Russian Sobriety Day annually. The date was chosen in honor of the Orthodox holiday - the Beheading of the head of the holy Prophet John the Baptist.
In Russia, all wine shops were closed these days and the sale of alcoholic beverages was stopped. Processions were held in Orthodox churches and proclamations were read about the importance and significance of a sober lifestyle, and then a prayer service to John the Baptist was held. Anyone could take a vow of sobriety, which was blessed by a priest.
After the coup d'etat of 1917 and the establishment of Soviet power, the celebration of Sobriety Day ceased, the activities of thousands of sobriety societies (only the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Sobriety Society numbered more than 140 thousand teetotallers in its ranks by 1917!) It was banned.
In 2014, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church issued a decree on the restoration of the celebration of the church-wide sobriety Day. The meaning of this holiday is to counteract drunkenness and promote a sober lifestyle.
Thanks to the long-term activities of the Orthodox Society named after St. John of Kronstadt "Sobriety", many parishioners and entire families have appeared in the parishes of the Ulan-Ude and Buryat diocese, which are an example of a sober lifestyle. One of these families is the family of Peter and Tatiana Kitaev.  This year they became the winners of the All–Russian competition "It's family here", which took place within the framework of the presidential platform project "Russia is a country of opportunities".