Now, Putin's Nashists Go After the Babies
Filed under: Russia
We've reported a number of times on the malignant activities of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's Hitler-youth cult known as "Nashi" ("us Slavic Russians"). Most recently, this included brazen efforts to assist in controlling the outcome of legislative elections. Nashi is closely analagous to the old "Komsomol" youth cult from Soviet days, and now the Moscow Times reports that it is developing an offshoot group to go after the babies. In Soviet times the Komsomol had the Pioneers, and today Nashi announces "Mishki" or "Bear Cubs." The MT reports:
Yulia Zimova, the head of Mishki, said the organization was created to encourage children aged 8 to 15 to be more active in society. Only two months old, Mishki is just the latest in a broad array of pro-Kremlin youth groups. It joined 30,000 youngsters at a Nashi rally on Vasilyevsky Spusk, near the Kremlin, in the morning to celebrate the victory of President Vladimir Putin and United Russia, whose candidate list he led in Sunday's State Duma elections, before holding its own rally later in the day. The rally was Nashi's third since Sunday. Their essential purpose, just like Nashi, is to support Putin. "I love the Mishki! I love Russia! I love Putin! Together, we will win!" children's voices boomed from speakers set up on Vasilyevsky Spusk, near Red Square, during the morning Nashi rally.During the Mishki portion of the rally, the new group's members spelled out a giant letter to Putin on the ground, asking him to head the organization, Zimova said, adding that the president would be given a tape showing the letter. In a surreal twist, besides childish flags suited for a kindergarten, many of the Mishki teenaged girls held teddy bears, which they said were their own. Mishka is also the Russian word for teddy bear. Holding up a clean, pink stuffed bear, one of the 18-year-old girls said, "I've had Lavrik for a year."
Who now can argue that Russia is the neo-Soviet Union (or perhaps, as some have suggested, paleo-Soviet would be a more apt term)? The world cannot say it was not warned long ago.
Putin has not been hesitant in using Nashi as agents of Kremlin policy. So, for example, we see above a photograph of the British ambassador to Russia, Sir Anthony Brenton, with the word "LOSER!" scrawled across his face as hoards of Nashi cult members demonstrate against the British embassy, accusing Britain of daring to support the forces of democracy in Russia in the wake of Russia's assassination of dissident Alexander Litvinenko on British soil and buzzing Britain with nuclear bombers. The BBC's journalists in Russia have also come under violent attack. Nashi is even in the process of filing lawsuits on the Kremlin's behalf for political purposes.
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