Club raids, influencers: How Putin’s playbook is pushing young Russians toward ultranationalism
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2024
⏱️ 39 minutes
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Summary
When Francesca Ebel, a Russia correspondent for The Post, returned to one of Moscow’s most popular nightclubs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, she noticed differences. The physical structure was there, but there were fewer young artists. Something had changed.
What Ebel noticed that night was just one example of a bigger shift. Her reporting has since found that young Russians are increasingly embracing a culture of ultranationalist patriotism and Orthodox Christian values. Online influencers and Kremlin-sanctioned artists are changing the narratives on war and identity. An independent poll this year found a majority of Russians ages 18 to 24 support Russia’s war in Ukraine. Conforming can bring rewards and career advancement. Defiance can mean jail – or worse.
Today on “Post Reports,” Ebel speaks with host Elahe Izadi about her reporting inside Russia on how Putin’s propaganda strategies toward Russian youth are working – and creating a new generation to carry forward the Kremlin’s anti-Western ideology.
Read more from The Post’s “Russia, Remastered” series:
- We reported for months on changes sweeping Russia. Here’s what we found.
- A wartime generation of youth molded by Putin’s propaganda
- Artists say Putin’s push for patriotism is killing Russian culture
- To please Putin, universities purge liberals and embrace patriots
- Have babies for Russia: Putin presses women to embrace patriotism over feminism
- Washington and the West struggle for a way forward with Putin’s Russia
Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon, with help from Emma Talkoff. It was mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy, who also helped with translation. It was edited by Monica Campbell, with help from Maggie Penman. Thanks to David Herszenhorn, Paul Schemm and Jenn Amur.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In a lot of big cities, there are those places where young people go to have fun, to dance, to find themselves, to let loose. |
| 0:12.2 | There's a place like this on the outskirts of Moscow. It's called the Moodabor. |
| 0:17.4 | And it was in the space of what was essentially an abandoned factory. |
| 0:22.8 | They had all these different rooms and staircases. |
| 0:25.8 | They had this outside area, this big inside area where they had like different levels. |
| 0:31.7 | Francesca Ebell has been going to this club for a long time. |
| 0:36.1 | She covers Russia for the post. |
| 0:38.5 | Last year, Francesca met a man there named Rodion. |
| 0:41.3 | Are you from Moscow? |
| 0:42.3 | What? |
| 0:43.3 | I was here in two months. |
| 0:47.3 | He was wearing like these big statement sneakers and sunglasses in a hoodie. Rodeon's 205. |
| 0:55.0 | Rodeon's 25 that, yeah, he comes here a lot. |
| 1:11.4 | But as they keep talking, Francesca realizes, Rodion represents a new version of this club. |
| 1:20.0 | For Francesca, Moudabour has always been this hub for experimental music and art. |
| 1:26.1 | It was like a real mix of young sort of of liberal, creative, Muscovites, |
| 1:30.7 | and it was a place where I felt, it felt very free to be, |
| 1:34.6 | even as Russia got more restrictive, even in the sort of 2019, 2020 years. |
| 1:41.3 | And then in 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine Ukraine and so much changed inside of Russia. |
| 1:49.2 | New restrictions on freedom of speech in the press. |
| 1:52.9 | Young people were getting conscripted to fight in the war. |
| 1:56.6 | Hundreds of thousands of people left the country. |
... |
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