As Kommersant learned, a cell of the youth public organization “Nashi” began its activities in Kursk, which is considered the new “Putin youth group”, designed, according to the plan of the presidential administration, to replace the “Walking Together”, which has largely discredited the president. Kursk “Nashi” has already held a rally in support of the monetization of benefits, and about 50 activists of the organization have begun studying at evening courses at the local Institute of Management, Economics and Business, where they are taking a course in “Manipulation of Public Consciousness.” In a number of regions of Russia there already exist branches of the Nashi youth movement. The organization is being created under the patronage of the administration of the President of the Russian Federation. It is expected that “Nashi” will replace the “Walking Together” who have compromised themselves. At the end of last week, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov met with the St. Petersburg activists of Nashi, who promised to create a new political force on the basis of the movement, which by 2008 may become a new “party of power.” The leader of “Walking Together” Vasily Yakemenko took part in the meeting. Branches of the movement should be created in all major cities of Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don and others. The organizers plan to increase the total number of the movement to 200-250 thousand people.

In Kursk, a branch of “Nashi” appeared in early January on the basis of the “Walking Together” cell, which had been inactive for more than a year and a half. According to a member of the organization, who wished to remain anonymous, the initiator of the creation of the branch was 32-year-old deputy of the Kursk Regional Duma, deputy chairman of the commission on youth policy, Alexander Sysoev, who was elected with the support of the Communist Party.

Mr. Sysoev is known in Kursk for both large-scale youth actions and participation in a number of scandals. On his initiative, a youth parliament operates under the Kursk Regional Duma. And in the summer of 2003, Alexander Sysoev organized a summer camp for activists of youth organizations “State of the Young”. Currently, the summer camp has grown into a public organization focused on developing leadership skills. One of the main conditions for participation in the promotions is a ban on smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages.

Deputy Sysoev gained scandalous fame after he was detained by police several times in Kursk entertainment venues. For example, in 2002, Mr. Sysoev himself called the police at the Colosseum casino and demanded that the security guards who tried to expose him for allegedly spilling tomato juice on the gambling table be held accountable. Deputy Sysoev explained his frequent visits to nightclubs and casinos by saying that in this way he “works with voters locally.”

In the formation of “Ours”, deputy Sysoev is actively assisted by the rector of the Kursk State Classical University (KGKU, until 2002 - the Kursk Pedagogical Institute) Vyacheslav Gvozdev, the rector of the Kursk Institute of Management, Economics and Business (MEBIK), opened in 1994 by the decision of its founder - the regional organization society "Knowledge of Russia", and chairman of the board of the Kursk organization of the Union of Women of Russia Galina Okorokova. One of the university students, who wished to remain anonymous, told Kommersant that the university teachers gave Mr. Sysoev time during lectures to communicate with students and even recommended accepting his offer to join the Nashi public movement.

Officially, the heads of local universities deny their involvement in the creation of the Kursk cell of “Nashi”. “I am a person of a different generation, and it’s strange for me to hear my name in connection with a youth organization,” Ms. Okorokova told a Kommersant correspondent. “I think young people can handle everything themselves.” According to her, “Nashi” rents MEBIK auditoriums to conduct evening courses for activists of the organization, and a number of MEBIK and KSKU teachers give lectures to them. Classes began last week, there are about 50 students in the course, some of them are MEBIK students. Natalya Sazonova, head of the department of public relations at MEBIK, confirmed that she is teaching “Nashi” the course “Manipulation of Consciousness” under an agreement with the Moscow Institute of Management. Ms. Sazonova found it difficult to explain the reasons for the choice of subjects.

Alexander Sysoev denied his involvement in the creation of the Kursk cell of “Nashi”, saying that, however, he had heard about the Kremlin’s new youth project. “I was told that such an organization was being created and that 600 thousand rubles a month would be allocated to support it,” said Mr. Sysoev, “but I believe that all such organizations are created for destruction and cease their activities after the financial flows dry up " According to the deputy, “there are now many quite powerful organizations in which enterprising youth can realize themselves, surround themselves with interesting people, help others and the state,” so in his opinion, there is no particular need for the centralized creation of new ones.

To date, Kursk “Nashi” has held only one public action. On February 12, they took part in a “counter-rally” in support of the president and the monetization of benefits. Several hundred students from local universities, including Kursk State University and MEBIK, gathered on Red Square with posters: “Yes to Putin!” and “Let's support reforms.” The official organizers of the action were local branches of the Women's Union and United Russia parties, but party leaders were not present at the rally, and the bulk of the students who came were “Nashi”.

MAXIM AREPYEV, Kursk; LEONID DIDENKO

Kommersant (Voronezh) No. 32 from 02.24.2005

Kursk “Ours” will be taught manipulations