Serfdom in Russia lack of primogeniture, and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate. The Tsar's aunt Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna played a powerful role backstage in the years 1855 to 1861. Using her close relationship with her nephew Alexander II, she supported and guided his desire for emancipation, and helped mobilize the support of key advisors. In 1861 Alexander II freed all serfs in a major agrarian reform, stimulated in part by his view that "it is better to liberate the peasants from above" than to wait until they won their freedom by risings "from below". Serfdom was abolished in
Time in Russia petition in support of Kamchatka returning to UTC+12. The decree No. 725 (31 August 2011) changed UTC offset for Moscow Time and the other time zones. Moscow Time Zone now used all year around. The notions of decree time and daylight saving time were abolished in the law, but in fact, this law mandated permanent daylight saving time (or even double daylight saving time in regions that had not abolished the decree time). Some areas changed offset from Moscow: Some districts of the Sakha Republic switched from Magadan Time (Zone 9) to Vladivostok Time (from Zone 8): Some districts of