Unity (Russian: Единство, tr. Yedinstvo) was a Russian political party that was created in September 1999 and registered on October 15, supported by Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and dozens of Russian governors to counter the threat which the Kremlin perceived from the Fatherland-All Russia alliance. It was also unofficially dubbed "Medved’" (the bear) or "Medvedi" (bears), as "MeDvEd" was an acronym of its full name (Mezhregonalnoye Dvizhenie "Edinstvo"; Interregional movement "Unity"). Later the party adopted a brown bear for its symbol.