Posted on 07/17/2005 5:14:29 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
THE sun rises over several hundred tents next to blue lakes. At the stroke of 7am, large speakers blare Soviet-era patriotic songs and bright-eyed youths emerge for another day of physical and ideological instruction. This is the first summer-camp of Nashi (Ours), a youth organisation set up by the Kremlin this year to support President Putin. It has assembled 3,000 teenagers from across Russia for two weeks of fun, training and political indoctrination.
The organisers have spared no expense. They pay for all travel expenses, the rent of the idyllic location 200 miles north of Moscow, the tents, sailing and motor boats, hundreds of bicycles, ping-pong tables, a weights room, an internet café, an art studio, a twice-daily newspaper, a camp radio service, and concerts by some of the most popular Russian pop acts, such as Zemfira and B2.
The head of Nashi, Vasili Yakemenko, a former Kremlin bureaucrat, says the camp cost “far, far more” than $500,000 (£285,000) and was paid for by donations from big business. “We ask them to support the creation of a new political and managerial elite for the country. If they refuse, it’s considered unpatriotic,” he adds.
Between the ping-pong and aerobics, the youngsters receive ideological instruction from Kremlin advisers. Gleb Pavlovsky, the Kremlin spin doctor who advised Viktor Yanukovych on his failed election campaign in Ukraine, tells them that the Orange Revolution there was a foreign plot, and that President Yushchenko was poisoned by his supporters to win sympathy.
He tells them that Russia’s foreign and internal enemies will try to instigate a similar revolution here. “A revolution is a coup. They (the US) have tried it before, and soon they will try it here, perhaps as early as the Moscow Duma elections this autumn. Your job is to defend the constitutional order if and when the coup comes.”
The success of the Orange Revolution last December convinced the Kremlin that it needed a stronger counterweight to groups such as Pora, the US- financed youth movement which played a big role in bringing Mr Yushchenko to power.
According to Mr Yakemenko’s brother, Boris, who at the Kremlin’s request managed an earlier but less politicised youth movement, called Moving Together, young people are becoming more politicised.
Nashi is better financed and more media-savvy than Moving Together and trains the youth in civil obedience — to President Putin. The organisation stands for opposition to foreign interference in Russian affairs. As Vladislav Surkov, deputy head of the presidential administration and the Kremlin’s top “political technologist”, told the youngsters: “Nashi’s task is to defend Russia’s youth from the political manipulations of the West.” The organisation borrows techniques from groups such as Pora in the Ukraine. Tents and mopeds carry Nashi’s red and white logo and the youngsters are trained in team-building and public relations techniques.
The movement also relies heavily on Soviet symbolism. Throughout the day, in pouring rain or temperatures of 30C (86F), two volunteers guard an eternal flame in honour of the Heroes of the Soviet Union. Soviet music plays throughout the day. The political instructors emphasise the Soviet Union’s glorious victory over Nazi Germany, suggesting that Russia now faces similar threats. “Now is a critical moment,” Boris Yakemenko says. “Many enemies are gathering inside and outside Russia. That’s why we should help Putin.”
Some of the teenagers say that they are not interested in anti-Americanism. “I’m too into American films and music,” says Olga, an 18-year-old student from St Petersburg. Ivan, 17, says he joined because his grandmother died in the Second World War and he wants to serve Russia.
But the anti-Western message resonates with some. A drawing on the art studio walls shows fat US diplomats carrying suitcases stuffed with money and books entitled “What to do in Russia”. The caption reads: “Nashi will overcome!”
Some say they would take to the streets to protect the Government if a revolution occurred. “We don’t want a revolution here. We want to make the country stronger,” says Kcenia, a 16-year-old girl from Moscow, before running off to join her friends canoeing.
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