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  The Nashi Movement: Russian Youth and the Putin Cult

The Nashi Movement Russian Youth and the Putin Cult

By Anselm Waldermann in Moscow

Part 2: Russian Expansionism with Nashi

The organization has an enormous following. According to its own calculations, it has at least 100 members -- generally between 18 and 22 -- in every mid-size city. This year's summer camp, held at Lake Seliger around 350 kilometers northwest of Moscow, was flooded by some 10,000 of the Putin enthusiasts.

There, women dressed in red and white sweat suits performed gymnastics to the sound of techno music. The men engaged in military exercises to prepare themselves for the supposedly imminent invasion of Western sympathizers. In the sky above, the Russian air force gave a spectacular performance. Even Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov dropped by, calling for the group to have more babies to help solve Russia's demographic problems.

The camp also hosted a mass-wedding for 30 couples, with red tents prepared for the couples celebrating their wedding night. "Who out there is pregnant?" went the call from the megaphone. "I'm pregnant!" the crowd shouted back. The lodgings for those attending the camp were not separated by gender.

Targeting the British Ambassador

Not all Nashi activities are that silly, though. In spring, Nashi activists headed for Estonia and became involved in violent confrontations with the police after authorities in the capital of Tallinn decided to move a monument dedicated to Soviet soldiers. In Moscow, Nashi members followed the Estonian ambassador at every turn and stormed a press conference. Even the British ambassador was targeted. While he was attending a conference organized by the Russian opposition, activists besieged his office and private residence.

Still, the group is assured of the government's goodwill almost irrespective of the capers they pull. "I personally don't like it when Nashi pushes the boundaries of the law," says Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, "On the other hand, they're just a bunch of kids. Nashi has managed to wake up the youth."

Nashi is a very hierarchical organization. Those who want to advance have to go to at least two training camps. After that, new members attend an initiation ceremony before being introduced to their new positions.

Typically, those who get involved in Nashi are full of ambition, and membership in the group often leads to rapid career advancement. Borovikov's predecessor at the head of Nashi, 36-year-old Vasily Yakemenko, is now working for the government, having been handed leadership of the State Committee for Youth Affairs just a few weeks ago. Even the group's foot soldiers profit from their affiliation with Nashi. At this year's summer camp, there was a Gazprom tent where members could apply directly for an internship with the state-controlled energy giant.

Bristling with Self Confidence

The Kremlin, Gazprom and Nashi: In the eyes of many a liberal critic, this is the triumvirate that rules Russia. Billions of dollars from oil and gas sales have helped the country gain the kind of influence it hasn't had since the collapse of the Soviet Union. And Nashi makes sure this new importance is visible from the outside. "The new Russia bristles with self confidence," says Reinhard Krumm, head of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Moscow.

Smaller countries neighboring Russia are the ones who suffer most directly from this recent development. Former Soviet countries like Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania still belong to Moscow's empire in the eyes of nationalist Russians. These countries' desire to follow their own democratic path is of no consequence. "From a geographic and ethnic perspective, Ukraine and Russia belong much more closely together than Ukraine and the US," says Nashi leader Borovikov.

Is he interested in fiddling with the region's nation-state borders? Borovikov smiles and thinks about it for a bit. Then he says with a clear voice: "We are not interested in revisiting the borders drawn after World War II." In other words, Russia should once again be as large as it was during Soviet times.

He goes on saying that many Russians and Ukrainians would be happy were the border between the two countries abolished. "But we have to see what the future brings," he says. "Maybe one day we'll live in a single nation once again."

'Still Much too Young'

Disturbingly, Borovikov's position on the issue isn't just some extremist take from a right-leaning youth group. His viewpoint happens to be the official policy of the government. Indeed, Kremlin speaker Peskov is in no mood to criticize the young politician's territorial ambitions. "In the entire region of the former Soviet Union," he says, "there are still millions of mixed marriages. The woman, for example, has Russian citizenship and her husband has a passport from Turkmenistan." A solution has to be found for such people, he says.

The same argument holds true for the economy, he says. "For years, many farmers were able to sell their milk in the neighboring village," he complains. "And suddenly, that village is in a different country." Partially for this reason, the Kremlin wants to rejuvenate the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) -- the alliance of former Soviet republics. Under Russian leadership of course. "We need a process of integration in the CIS as happened in the European Union," Peskov demands. "Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan are going to form a customs union in the not-too-distant future."

Prior to that, however, another goal must first be met: Putin's victory in December's parliamentary elections. His party United Russia is aiming for 70 percent of the vote -- a not unrealistic target.

For Nashi, there is much at stake. Without Putin, the movement is nothing, but with him, the future is wide open. "We hope that Putin remains an influential figure on the political stage. But it is not up to us," Borovikov says with false modesty. "We are still much too young."