Pro-Government Militias
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
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.