REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MOSCOW -- Several landmarks in the Russian capital city of Moscow plunged into darkness Saturday night in commemoration of the Earth Hour 2015 celebration.

At the iconic Red Square, the outside lighting on the Moscow Kremlin (the Presidential residence), the National History Museum nearby, GUM Department Store and Saint Basil's Cathedral was switched off at 8:30 p.m., local time, as part of the global event designed to improve awareness of climate change and environmental protection.

Lights also went out with more than 300 other buildings in the city.

Earth Hour, a symbolic global initiative organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), encourages people all over the world to turn off nonessential lights for one hour on the last Saturday in March. It started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.

Russia has observed the event annually since 2008. In 2013, following President Vladimir Putin's decision, the Moscow Kremlin took part in the event for the first time.

More than 2 billion people from 162 countries participated in the initiative last year, believed to be the biggest ever in human history.

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