"Ivan’s" Nashi
They have been called “Putin’s Generation” and “neo-Komsomol.” They have served as evidence of a rising Russian fascism. But little reporting about Nashi in English goes beyond what its Commissars give reporters. The following interview gives a different picture. Kommersant Vlast reporter Anna Kachurskaya spoke to “Ivan” (not his real name) a former Nashi member who was expelled from Camp Seliger for what he says was “personal ideological differences” with Nashi leader Vasili Yakemenko. “Ivan” wouldn’t tell anymore because he is afraid of Nashi’s security force, the DMD. Despite his fear and the secrecy surrounding his identity, the circumstances of his expulsion from the camp, and his position in Nashi, “Ivan” met with Kachurskaya and gave her an inside look at the group. Moreover, he provided Kommersant Vlast with documents of Nashi’s local activities, finances and expenditures. The documents themselves have no ..read more
