The Electoral Muscle
The pawns are moving into place. Kommersant reports that Nashi’s “muscle”, the Voluntary Youth Militia (Dobrovol’naia molodezhnaia druzhina, DMD) has offered its “help” to the Moscow police in maintaining order during the parliamentary elections in December. According to DMD’s leader Oleg Lobkov, Nashi “is worried that extremist organizations such as Red Youth Vanguard, the National Bolsheviks, and their pro-fascist allies will mobilize on the eve of the elections.” “It is our civic duty to resist these organizations and help the police,” adding, “We will work with the police and district militia officers. It is now a difficult time and it will become more difficult, and they have few people.”
With that purpose in mind, Kommersant says, Lobkov met with Viacheslav Kozlov, the deputy head of the Moscow Main Department of Internal Affairs (GUVD) to offer DMD’s support. Kozlov is famous for leading detachments of OMONtsy against ..read more
