Putin Youth

At RFE/RL, Victor Yasmann writes about the Kremlin's latest experiment in social engineering - a youth movement which, with its apparent aim the aggravation of social tension in Russia, represents a dangerous phenomenon not dissimilar to the Hitler Jugend of 1930s Germany. The latest expression of this new and sinister movement was seen on August 29, when pro-Putin Nashi supporters beat up members of anti-Kremlin youth organizations after a meeting:

In an interview with apn.ru on 30 August, National Strategy Institute founder Stanislav Belkovskii, who has a reputation for being well-informed about machinations within the Kremlin, charged that the 29 August attackers were led by a man with the nickname Kopilka (Money Box). Belkovskii further alleged that Kopilka is connected with presidential adviser Vladislav Surkov, who is in charge of the Kremlin's relations with society and public organizations. Belkovskii told Ekho Moskvy on 31 August that Kopilka carries an identification card from Surkov's staff

A Dangerous Game

"This is a very dangerous game for the Kremlin," Belkovskii said. "It shows the Kremlin cannot rely on the ordinary law enforcement machinery and there is forced to seek the help of organized-crime groups. This could be fatally dangerous for the reputations of Kremlin officials in the West."

Asked why Surkov needs such people, Belkovskii alleged that he had been ordered to create a kind of "paramilitary guard" without connections to the security agencies to intimidate and assault undesirables. The purpose is to give the Kremlin deniability.

Belkovskii predicted that because the Kremlin will always have to repudiate publicly the activities of these groups, it will eventually have to "betray them," provoking a conflict. As if to confirm Belkovskii's analysis Duma Speaker and Kremlin loyalist Boris Gryzlov on 30 August issued a statement denouncing the attack on the NBP activists and their allies.

He said the incident "was prepared in advance, calculated, and planned," according to ITAR-TASS. "We now need to find out who stands behind these guys and expose the organizers of this outrage."

Belkovskii's speculations were also seemingly supported by incidents at the beginning of August when three Polish citizens -- two diplomats and a journalist -- were assaulted by thugs on Moscow streets. The incidents were widely seen as a response to a mugging incident involving two teenaged children of Russian diplomats in Warsaw, and as a result of general tensions between Poland, on one hand, and Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, on the other.

The wave of assaults against Poles ceased as if by magic the moment that President Vladimir Putin, on 12 August, called Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and the two presidents agreed to improve the atmosphere of bilateral relations.