Unfortunately, sooner than expected, Shevtsova’s predictions seemed to come true.
In an alarming article about the growth of racist neo-Nazi organizations in Russia,
Newsweek wrote that “the growth of violent racism in Russia has been encouraged by the Kremlin’s
dabbling with nationalist ideology and politicized youth groups. . . . The Kremlin’s
‘political technologists’ unwittingly trained a generation of cadres to be conversant
in the dark art of rousing masses of young people, organizing demonstrations, manipulating
the press, and cutting deals with the authorities.”[59] The magazine added that “[a] Newsweek investigation has revealed that many of the organizers of today’s extreme nationalist
groups learned their tradecraft as ‘commissars’ of the Kremlin-sponsored youth groups
Nashi, Walking Together, and the Young Guard.”[60] This might have raised some doubts in the Nashi leadership as concerns the desirability
of the planned Nashi militias. In the spring of 2013 on the website of Rosmolodezh,
the official youth agency, an article was published, announcing that at the end of
2013 the Nashi would be transformed into a new youth organization with a new name.
The title commissar would disappear. The former commissars would get a new task: “they
become managers, coordinating the movement’s projects.”[61] The objective of these projects would be “the social adaptation of youth.”[62] Aleksey Makarkin, a political scientist, commented that “after December 2011 it
became clear that the Nashi were not effective in the struggle against the regime’s
opponents. Therefore the emphasis is [now] on less ambitious local projects, that
are, maybe, more effective projects.”[63] Does this mean the end of Putin’s druzhiny project? Not quite. Because in the meantime Putin had discovered another group of
devoted supporters whom he considered more capable of this task: the Cossacks.
Notes
1.
Cf. “Istoriya voprosa: Saga o ‘Putinjugende,’” NEWSru.com (January 14, 2005).
2.
Novaya Gazeta of September 23, 2002. Quoted in “Istoriya voprosa: Saga o ‘Putinjugende.’”
3.
Politkovskaya, Putin’s Russia (London: The Harvill Press, 2004), 282–283.
4.
Fedor Yermolov, “Free Speech and the Attack on Vladimir Sorokin” (August 13, 2002).
Published on Sorokin’s website. http://www.srkn.ru/criticism/yermolov.shtml.
5.
Yermolov, “Free Speech and the Attack on Vladimir Sorokin.”
6.
However, it would not take long before the movement itself would be implicated in
a—this time real—mini pornographic scandal, when it came out that a leading figure of the Saint Petersburg
branch produced pornographic cassettes, which he sold on the market. This scandal
further tarnished the already tainted reputation of the movement. (Cf. “Lider ‘Idushchikh
Vmeste’ poiman na rasprostranenii pornografii,” NEWSru.com (November 4, 2004).)
7.
“Kreml gotovit novyy molodezhnyy proekt na zamenu ‘Idushchim Vmeste.’” NEWSru.com (February 21, 2005).
8.
Some texts by Gene Sharp, such as “The Politics of Nonviolent Action,” can be freely
downloaded from the website of the Albert Einstein Institution. http://www.aeinstein.org.
9.
According to Marie Jégo, Moscow correspondent for Le Monde, from 2008 to late 2010 the Nashi received—in addition to other gifts—11.5 million
euros directly from the Kremlin. (Marie Jégo, “Fascistes ou fans de foot?” Le Monde (December 24, 2010).) The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Western NGOs and governments
of having organized and financed the opposition groups that were active in the color
revolutions. However, according to Parol Demes and Joerg Forbrig this support was
rather restricted. In Ukraine “the Pora campaign was only sparsely supported by international
donors. A mere $130,000 was distributed in foreign funding: by the Canadian International
Development Agency, Freedom House, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
By comparison, Pora’s total financing was $1.56 million. In-kind contributions in
the form of free publications, communications, and transportation exceeded an estimated
$6.5 million.” (Parol Demes and Joerg Forbrig, “Pora: ‘It’s Time’ for Democracy in
Ukraine,” in Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine’s Democratic Breakthrough, eds. Anders Åslund and Michael McFaul (Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, 2006), 97–98.)
10.
Politkovskaya, A Russian Diary, 270–271.
11.
