With the new year, Russians will ring in 20 years of Vladimir Putin
MOSCOW - Twenty years ago on New Year's Eve, Lucia and Alexander Orlov had gathered a dozen or so family and friends around a table full of food, wine and vodka to ring in the year 2000 in their central Moscow apartment.
New Year's Eve is Russia's biggest holiday. It's a family affair, when Russia's version of Santa Claus, Grandfather Frost, puts gifts under a decorated tree and children stay up late as their parents toast the new year with Champagne.
The evening of Dec. 31, 1999, had been full of such traditions, including Lucia Orlov's Olivier salad (a mixture of potatoes, carrots, onions, meat, pickles and mayonnaise - lots of mayonnaise) and the exchange of gifts. At midnight, the state channel aired its annual live shot of the clock on the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin ringing 12 times. As the tradition goes, any
