In Krasnodar “conscious” retired, defeated the headquarters of the supporters of Alexei Navalny. This started the new Pro-Kremlin organization “Putin’s Troops”, which includes mainly people of retirement age. Activists — and there were more than a hundred, mostly old women, many of whom were wearing t-shirts with the image of Putin, broke into the headquarters, tore posters, broke the frame, turned over chairs and tables.
As noted by Navalny, “the responsibility for what happened lies entirely on the police and their inaction in respect of this breakaway sect”. It is clear that the police only guarded the attackers so that no one prevented them to do good, from the point of view of the Russian authorities: pogrom “troublemakers.” Moreover, as is proved by the same Fund of struggle against corruption, “Putin’s Troops” are closely connected with the Foundation of “Social justice”, the headquarters of which is located at the building which belongs to Department of municipal property and urban land of Krasnodar. It is clear, whence feet grow.
Earlier the Kremlin worked mainly with youth organizations, from “Our” to “Young guard”, but now, apparently, decided to switch to other age groups. Until that “Putin’s Troops” exist only in the Krasnodar region. But, obviously, if Krasnodar accord recognize successful, then it will spread throughout Russia. In some respects, the seniors are a more beneficial material than young people. They still have a strong nostalgia for the Soviet past. Requirements, compared to today’s young people, pensioners is much more modest. Therefore, for the same amount of performers from among pensioners, you can hire a lot more than the number of boys and girls, especially in the regions.
Most importantly, if supporters of Navalny, defensively, will come hand to hand with “our” or “young”, it will be quite familiar to the picture: young people of different political beliefs to sort things out, though not quite civilized methods. About the way this story treats and a Western viewer. But if the young oppositionists will start a fight with older people, the TV image will be very different: young burly men beat defenseless and helpless pensioners, old men and women. Actually, this “Putin’s Troops” need.
One of the Pro-Kremlin sites in the South of Russia has published provocative appeals, announced in the social networks of the Kremlin bots on behalf of Navalny supporters, such as: “A current of cannot be beat? The stress that it was very unpleasant. Maybe a grid of steel sliding to put neatly and connected to a small current”; “I would stick these attendants were beaten, seriously. As you can already endure. Though he ed and Karauli staff from these crazy”; “You look like the roosters of old raged. The headquarters of the Bulk, it is high time to get a pepper balloons or better still in trauma, so you can shoot the GAME directly on the approach to the headquarters.”
Again, if the experience of the Krasnodar recognize in the Kremlin successful in the near future, “Putin’s Troops” or “Social justice” (or invent some other name, not so odious abbreviation in the latter case “SS”) is a nationwide organization of “concerned seniors”, which is to have the whole thing, and mainly to those who oppose Putin. And the task she will set very important: to paralyze the Bulk of staff in the regions and to provoke supporters of the main Russian non-systemic opposition to counter-violence. Then the police will get a “legitimate” reason to arrest the functionaries of the Fund of struggle against corruption and the defeat of all the staffs, supporters of Navalny. This is to ensure that the presidential election campaign of Vladimir Putin would have gone smoothly and without any significant criticism from the non-systemic opposition.
The task Alexey Navalny and those who support it, to be ready to provocations of this kind, and in any case not to succumb. Not to beat old ladies with sticks, shoot them from trauma, not to dissociate itself from the barbed wire under electric current of small voltage, and patiently to explain to the deceived pensioners, which the government uses as its blind instrument, the true state of things. You have to convince the pensioners that the Fund of struggle against corruption and fighting for their interests, not only for the interests of the “angry young men”. It is precisely because of corruption and because the actual war against Ukraine, Pension Fund of Russia is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy, the pension increases do not keep pace with inflation, and the government is forced to think seriously about raising the retirement age.
That is pensioners, the authorities are considering as their main electoral support and opposed to the movement of the Bulk. Making sure that a significant portion of young people support the leader of the opposition, the Kremlin relies on the generation of their grandfathers, whose share in the population is growing because of the process of aging. Here and in Moscow, officials in the upcoming 10 September municipal elections shall be held in private meeting with the chairmen of precinct electoral commissions, which require that “the elections were held without any “left-right””. But at the same time warn that Navalny supporters can arrange provocations in the election day.
And this suggests that, on the contrary, the opposition can become the object of provocation. And seniors in the upcoming election plays a significant role. It is no coincidence that the Moscow territorial social service centres for pensioners argue that social centres are working only because of the party “United Russia”, and that the party helps to create a nursing service. Pensioners today are the last reserve of the Putin government. And if the non-systemic opposition will be able to attract a considerable part of them to his side, the smooth election campaign for the current President will be gone.
