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Russia’syoungandrestlessspeakup,AnastasiaSergeeva
Opinion&Analysis
17
fraudulentelectionsduringtheOrangeRevolution,Russiansshruggedońthose
events,focusingontheirjobs.
Sinceoilmoneywascomingintothecountry,youngprofessionalscouldlook
attheirlivesthroughrose-colouredglasses.Teyhadsteadyincomes,ańordable
mortgagesandmoreopportunitiestobuytodayandpaylater.Withsuchbene-
fits,itwaseasytodismisswhatwashappeninginpolitics.Itcouldevenseemthat
nothinghadchanged:thestatetelevisionwasjustasgleamingandbrightasitwas
beforebeingtakenover(anditlongerresembledthe
poorSovietproductions).Nobodyseemedtocount
Itwasclearforthe
thenumberofpoliticalparties,eventhoughtheyalso
Kremlinthatyoung
startedtoshrink.Politicswasthedomainofthesame
Russianscoulddo
oldfacesandralliesattendedbysmallfringegroups
ofhard-coreactivists.
whattheUkrainians
Whileinthe1990stheseyouthfringegroupsin-
haddoneinKyiv.
cludedradicalcommunists,nationalistsandfascists,
the2000swereatimewhenamoreradicalliberalyouthoppositionstartedto
beformed.Atthattimetheymadeasmallminoritythatwasdemandinggreater
freedomofspeech,therighttofairtrialsandtransparentelections.Teywere
inspiredbythecolouredrevolutionsinUkraineandGeorgiaandbelievedthatin
Russiademocracyshouldalsoprevailoverauthoritariantendencies.Ontheback
oftheOrangeRevolution,liberalpartiesinRussiabegantoactivelypromoteyouth
movementsandcreatecoalitions.Althoughthetargetaudiencewasstillverysmall,
youthpoliticsstartedtoturnintoatrend.Tus,eventhoughnomorethanfive
percentofyoungpeoplegotpoliticallyengaged,itwasenoughtostartcreatinga
newgenerationofleaders.
Kremlino-cialsviewedtheOrangeRevolutionasaloomingthreat.Tothem
itwasquiteclearthatinRussia,soonerorlater,youngpeople,frustratedwith
limitedopportunities,wouldtoorealisethattheycoulddowhattheUkrainians
haddoneinKyiv.Terefore,thegovernmentdecidedtosetupanewyouthpolicy
andcreatemechanismsaimedatmobilisingyoungpeople.Asaresult,allyouth
movementsnotcontrolledbythestateweremarginalisedandpushedawayand
thepro-Kremlinwingwasswiftlysetup.ManyprojectswerebasedatMoscow
universitiesandsomewerere-brandedfromtheNGOsthatwerefundedbythe
stateundertheframeworkofyouthpolicyprojects.
Teirmemberswereattractedbypromisesofsocialbenefitsthatwereavailable
onlytorealleadersaswellasvariousbonusesońeredtoordinarymembers.Te
latterincludedapossibilitytosurftheinternetatano-cecomputer,moneyfor
workingonelectionsandcampaigns,andachancetopassanexamiftheteacher
wasalocalyouthleader.Tesituationevolvedoverseveralyearsandculminated
