Titushki: civil guards

Origin of the term

Constantly tightening anti-extremist legislation, improving the police technical base, expanding the staff of MVD and FSB operatives dealing with dissidents, falsified criminal cases, illegal methods - despite the ability to suppress protests using all of the above methods, the authorities also require civilian assistants. By analogy with the events in Ukraine, oppositionists in Russia call them “titushki.”

The word “titushka” comes from the surname Titushko. Vadim Titushko is an athlete from the Kyiv region who beat a journalist during a clash at an opposition rally in the Ukrainian capital on May 18, 2013. It is not easy to understand which side Titushko was on during this rally. Apparently, hired fist fighters in Ukraine were used by a variety of political parties. During the events on Maidan, Vadim Titushko was on the side of the revolution, but his surname had already become a household name for often lumpen mercenaries who were ready to work for the authorities and resist the opposition by force.

Lyubera

The phenomenon that today has received such a designation has a long history in Russia, dating back to the time of the collapse of the USSR. In the 80s, the subculture of Lyubers was widespread - young people passionate about bodybuilding from Lyubertsy and other working-class outskirts of the capital. The beginning of the participation of Lubers in the socio-political life of the Soviet Union, which was living out its last years, dates back to April 20, 1982 - teenagers from the Moscow region came to the center of the capital to disrupt a neo-Nazi rally.

This is how one of the participants in the events describes it : “We arrived at Pushkinskaya. Here a man in civilian clothes approached us, as it later turned out, a lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He said: “Now the pacifists will gather, the Nazis will gather. (The fight against Nazism for the Lubers also meant the fight against dissidents - note OVD-Info ). Guys, we need to disperse.” There were about seventy of us, well, about a hundred, no more. We stood around the corner. This is what he said: “The ambulance will pass - you can start.” The fire will pass - wrap it up and run away." Well, when the ambulance passed, it began. But we no longer saw or heard the fire. Someone shouted something : “The car has passed, let’s disperse.” What a “disperse” there! They fought until the whole fight was cordoned off by riot police (well, there weren’t riot police then, just police), until they started throwing everyone onto the bus. And one of our people was told: “So, you stand by the bus and take your people away.”

In addition to the Nazis, the Lubers fought against the youth subcultures of the 80s (punks, hippies, metalheads) under the banner of protecting Soviet values ​​from “pernicious influences.” One of the former Lubers also recalls : “The idea was that there should be no pacifists, no Nazis, or anyone else like that. We perceived everything like this: here we lead a healthy lifestyle, exercise, play sports - and someone is walking around with chains, shouting some slogans - all this seemed to us... well, not natural. And then, both the Komsomol and the Pioneers taught us all this. We followed the idea. We didn’t go for the money, like the youth who later became bandits.”

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The fight against dissidents, covered with anti-fascist rhetoric, is also typical for future “street guards” - “nashi” and “anti-Maidan activists”. What such “anti-fascism” is worth is well shown by the “Hymn of the Lyubers” , popular among the Lyuber community: its heroes simultaneously “fight the Nazis” and “use their genocide” - against those who “scream” and “shave their temples”:

Ironically, young people who were one of the most ardent opponents of the Lubers in street clashes in the 80s , who at the end of this decade founded the Night Wolves motorcycle club, now - when their generation is already over fifty - have become one of the creators of the Anti-Maidan, a movement very similar to the street enemies of their youth. In the 90s , despite many manifestations of violence - from the shooting of the White House and the Chechen wars to rampant banditry - “titushki” were not in widespread demand.

Our

In 2000, the “Young Guard of United Russia” (MGER) and “Walking Together” by Vasily Yakemenko appeared simultaneously. Later, the “going ones” turned into “Ours”, other players appeared on the same field - “Young Russia”, “Locals”, “Steel” , etc. They did not always have friendly relations, but all of them were given the nickname “ Nashists." The events on the Maidan in 2005 seriously frightened the Kremlin, which resulted in generous funding for the Nashists until the end of the decade.

Just like the Lubers, they called themselves anti-fascists, and anti-fascism for them also meant security. They became opponents not of informals, but of oppositionists. Although their main targets were the radical part of the opposition (activists of the now banned NBP, Solidarity, United Civil Front), they also treated the completely loyal Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia with severe hostility.

The Nashists did not strive for any constructive discussion or political struggle with the opposition. Their actions ranged from posters with insults against oppositionists and paper heads of famous liberals and human rights activists impaled on sticks during one of the Seliger camp shifts, to smearing the personal cars of their opponents with feces or bringing a bus full of wounded by dying sheep. From monthly counter-actions preventing the implementation of “Strategy 31” on Triumphal Square, to disruptions of concerts and acts of violence.

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Football hooligans recruited by the Nashi carried out violent attacks on oppositionists. The hooligans were paid for these attacks, but, according to OVD-Info sources among football fans in the mid-2000s, fans did not participate in the actions of the Nazis entirely voluntarily. The fan subculture of the mid-2000s in Moscow was a highly disciplined group of athletic young people with serious experience of street riots. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB were concerned about this form of youth leisure. The submission of hooligans to the Nashi was seen as a way to control them. The leaders of fan groups were persistently recommended to cooperate with the Nashists - otherwise they were promised criminal cases for fan clashes.

Unlike the Lubers, the Nashists were not a folk subculture, but young careerists who existed on Kremlin funding. The protests of 2011–2012 showed that they were not able to do anything serious at a difficult moment for the authorities. Since the third term of Vladimir Putin, their funding has been practically reduced to nothing. Some Nashists were able to make a career (not the most successful) in the vertical of power, but only a few of the figures of the 2000s remained in street and youth politics.

Several veterans of the Nashi movement were able to obtain much more modest funding than before for the new youth movement Network . Anton Demidov , one of the leaders of Rossiya Molodoy, became one of the coordinators of the Anti-Maidan street actions.

Nazi

Contrary to popular belief, Nazis were not often used as titushkas. There is no evidence that neo-Nazis received orders from the authorities to eliminate oppositionists.

As documented in the criminal case against the founder of the Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists, Ilya Goryachev, in the 2000s, the presidential administration’s cooperation with the Nazis went “along the football line.” The curator of “Russian Image” was Alexey Mitryushin, one of the leaders of CSKA fans, who had built his career in government since the days of “Walking Together.”

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The presidential administration tried to ensure that Ilya Goryachev, loyal to it, gained control over the most massive nationalist event - the “Russian March”. The authorities organized round tables with the participation of the far right and representatives of the diaspora, hoping to thereby reduce the degree of tension between them. These round tables were attended by famous Nazi figures from Goryachev’s “Russian Image” and others (Dmitry Demushkin, Alexander Bosykh). The presidential administration ordered Ilya Goryachev to monitor the activities of the left and collect their personal data. It should be noted that similar proposals were received from the presidential administration by figures from the massive antifa movement at the end of the 2000s.

The Nazis participated in Nashi violence because many of them belonged to the subculture of football fans. Football hooligans (and Nazis) also became part of the security services of the Nashi movements.

Even in the materials of the case of the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, a dialogue was recorded about the preparation of the Kolovrat concert on November 4, 2009 on Bolotnaya Square. During a discussion on how to prevent openly Nazi antics, it turned out that the most famous “those who like to get drunk and throw a zig” would be involved in protecting the action of the “Nashi” movement that day. According to OVD-Info , even in 2013, the guards at the summer camp of the Young Guard of United Russia consisted of far-right members.

"Anti-Maidan"

New structures of titushki began to form during the protests in the winter of 2011–2012. Groups of fans, Cossacks, Nashi and just young people in civilian clothes tried to resist opposition actions with varying degrees of success. They are already well prepared for the presidential elections in March 2012. On the evening of voting day, all the streets adjacent to the Kremlin were filled not only with security forces, but also with groups of athletic young people, whose distinctive sign was St. George’s ribbons.

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Then the “titushka” projects were frozen for a couple of years. According to two sources connected with Kremlin youth policy, the youth structures of Dmitry Rogozin’s “Motherland” tried to take the place of the Nashists. But, for reasons unknown to OVD-Info , this scenario was not implemented. “Fighters against pedophiles” under the leadership of the Nazi Maxim Martsinkevich claimed the same role, but their services were used only a few times (minor provocations at white-ribbon marches, an attempt to discredit elections to the Opposition Coordination Council), and Martsinkevich was once again sent to jail.

New “titushka” structures were formed by 2014 and received warm support from the authorities amid fears of a new Ukrainian revolution. They also have a certain amount of popular support - they are not just careerists or scumbags driven for money, but people who sincerely want to “protect Russia from Obama.”

OVD-Info constantly encounters evidence of extrajudicial pressure on dissidents: from open attacks and provocations at pickets to breaking glass in apartments and damaging oppositionists’ cars at night.

Most of the aggressive actions against pro-Ukrainian pickets in Moscow are carried out by the small movement SERB , which appeared last year - probably the core of which consists of pro-Russian activists who fled from the south-east of Ukraine.

The National Liberation Movement (NLM), led by State Duma deputy from United Russia and conspiracy theorist Evgeny Fedorov, has become more widespread and widespread throughout the country. It has existed for several years, but found itself in demand during the hysteria in Russia due to the events on the Maidan. From the point of view of the NOD, Russia is under the yoke of the United States, and Putin is the “leader-liberator.”

NOD members attend hand-to-hand combat sections and shooting ranges. There are regular reports from different cities about NOD members pouring green paint on their opponents, starting fights, and trying to disrupt events. The Samara branch of the NOD distinguished itself by issuing instructions for its comrades-in-arms with similar passages: “Groups of 4 fighters are tracked and escorted to the entrances of the residence of the “maydowns” (to teach what to do in the entrances or gateways, I hope no one needs to?)” . In Moscow, NOD also regularly holds pickets in front of media editorial offices demanding adjustments to their editorial policies, dismissal of opposition journalists, and slogans like “A liberal journalist is worse than a worm in the stomach.”

At the moment, law enforcement officials have not received a clear legal assessment of the actions of SERB and NOD.

Representatives of Cossack associations often appear in the role of titushki. The most egregious example is the activities of the Foundation for Development and Improvement , created by the Cossacks of the south-eastern regions of the capital. The foundation’s youths have been involved in a wide range of violent actions: from attacks on opposition agitators during the Moscow City Duma elections in 2014 to the repeated forceful suppression of actions of capital residents against compaction development.

“Orthodox titushki” – “People’s Council” and “Sorok Sorokov” – also regularly participate in anti-Maidan actions. The “People's Council” became famous in the last decade as an organization that disrupted “blasphemous” exhibitions. “Forty Forties” is an association that emerged several years ago. Ultra-religious athletes (including those on the far right ), impressed by the Pussy Riot action, decided to fight for their beliefs. Their main activity is to confront residents fighting against construction as part of the Moscow City Hall’s “200 churches” program. In addition, “Forty Forty” collaborated with former DPR Defense Minister Igor Girkin, participated in counter-actions against LGBT people, in Anti-Maidan events, and enjoyed the favor of Patriarch Kirill.

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The most aggressive action of the anti-Maidan activists was the entry to Manezhnaya Square on January 15, 2015, simultaneously with an uncoordinated action of the opposition: 450 anti-Maidan activists came to a counter-action against the oppositionists who were protesting against the verdict on the Navalny brothers. Since the main protest took place on December 30, only 50 people came out on January 15. But the police detained only 3 anti-Maidan activists (they were released from the paddy wagon) and 13 oppositionists (they were taken to the police station).

At the subsequent presentation of Anti-Maidan, its leaders made radical statements about a possible forceful confrontation with the opposition. The ardor of Anti-Maidan cooled after the murder of Boris Nemtsov, when the movement began to be suspected of involvement in the murder.

Starikov denied the involvement of Anti-Maidan in the forceful actions of the NOD and SERB, and also emphasized that the Anti-Maidan members intend to disrupt only “unauthorized” opposition rallies.

The comment from a Znak.com portal source in the presidential administration is noteworthy: “The story of the Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists (people who were in contact with the presidential administration were connected with the Nazi murders - note OVD-Info ) is remembered in the administration. She taught us that civilians should not work with nationalists, a position that continues to this day. As for Anti-Maidan, this is not a project of the administration. Law enforcement agencies are trying to monitor extremist sentiments and see that many militia members coming home from Novorossiya can start doing anything if they see even a hint of “Maidan” in the actions of the opposition. “I think the security forces came up with this project to channel dangerous energy into a relatively peaceful and loyal direction.”

It is often unknown who specifically organized this or that action of the titushki. It is difficult to imagine how much anti-Maidan activists will be in demand by the authorities in the near future. One way or another, aggressive structures of many thousands have formed in Russia, enjoying the favor of the authorities, but to varying degrees under their control, ready for tough confrontation with anyone they suspect of “working for the State Department.”