Pro-Government Militias

Pro-Government Militia Website

Young Russia (Russia)

Basic Group Information

Name assigned by coder: no
PGM ID Number: 459
Country: Russia
Date formed: April 1, 2005
    Accuracy of date formed: month
Details of Formation: Young Russia was founded by a group of students and postgraduate students from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Wikipedia Young Russia). The formation has also been called a Kremlin response to the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
Date dissolved: Unknown
    Accuracy of date dissolved: day
Details of Termination:
Termination Type(s): none

Former and Successor Group Information

Predecessor group(s): none
Successor group(s): none
Private Military Company? no
Former Group? no
    Former Armed Group? no
Former Rebel Group? no
    Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: none
PGM Becomes Rebel Group? no
    Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: none

Government Relation, Support, and Training

Government Relation: informal (type 1)
Created by the Government?: yes
    Main Creating Government Institution: state (institution)
Government Link(s): state (institution)
    If link to party, name of party:
Training and Equipment: yes
Shared Information and Joint Operations: no information
Shared Personnel: no information
Type(s) of Material Support: no information
State Sponsor(s): none
Other Connection(s):

Group Characteristics

Membership: adolescents
Primary Membership: political
Alternative Primary Membership: no information
Location: Moscow
Force Strength: [unknown, unknown]
Target(s): unarmed political opposition, government critics
Purpose(s): protect state, national or religious institutions; protect state, national or religious leader(s); anti crime; intimidate political opposition

Ethnic Characteristics

Ethnic Target(s): none
    Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: not applicable
Ethnic Membership: none
    Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: not applicable
Ethnic Purpose: none
    Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: not applicable

Other Information

Other Information: The group is sometimes also referred to as Rossiya Molodaya or Ru-Mol.

New Variables from Meta-Analysis

Purpose

Purpose: In their founding manifesto, Young Russia defines its purpose as acting against “Western expansionism, terrorism and corruption”. In 2009, its leader declared its new purpose as fighting religious sects and preventing the illegal sales of alcohol to minors (Wikipedia Young Russia). Their de-facto purpose for the Kremlin seems to be to intimidate political opposition through actions or demonstrations in order to prevent an Orange Revolution as in Ukraine, where youth groups had been a main driving force.
Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use unknown

Treatment of Civilians

Treatment of Civilians: Young Russia is active against political opposition and involved in beating them.
Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: beating

Reasons for Membership

PGM Members Coerced? no
PGM Members Paid? unclear
Reasons for Membership: Most members seem to join for their political commitment.
PGM Members Killed? never

PGM Size

Size:

Weapons and Training

Weapons and Training: The group is armed with metal rods. The deputy head of the presidential administration supported Young Russia’s project to recruit soccer fans that would train their activists in martial arts and crowd dispersal techniques.

Organisation

Organisation: Young Russia’s leader is Maksim Mishchenko, who was involved in the founding of the group. Since 2007, he is MP of the State Duma for the ruling party United Russia and is member of the State Duma’s committee of youth affairs (Wikipedia Maksim Mishchenko). In 2007, Young Russia is reported to have links to the then deputy head of the presidential administration, Vladislav Surkov.

Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis

Wikipedia. “Maksim Mishchenko”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksim_Mishchenko
Wikipedia. “Young Russia (youth movement)”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Russia_(youth_movement)

Evidence