On February 3, a stream of young Russians flooded my Instagram inbox and follower list. Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, had just posted my recent story on Instagram: a photo of Navalny in court, raising her hands in the shape of a heart, which had been the cover of Wall Street Newspaper.
My family emigrated from Russia to the United States in the 1990s, when I was 13, but I didn’t remember meeting Russian teenagers and young people like them before: an entire generation that grew up under Putin. On their social media pages on Instagram and TikTok, they seem to be decisive, bold and creative. They made political videos on TikTok and Instagram. Some of them are identified as feminists, vegan activists, dancers, musicians and aspiring lawyers. They seemed to march to the sound of a different drum, sharing a set of universal values that differed from those of their parents and grandparents. It was as if they were visitors from another planet.
When Navalny flew back to Moscow on January 17 and was quickly arrested, his team managed to mobilize thousands of people in cities across Russia’s 11 time zones. After the Russian court sentenced Navalny to two and a half years in prison, his supporters continued to protest in the streets. Videos shared on social media showed teenagers tearing up portraits of Putin in schools and replacing them with photos of Navalny.
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, Navalny’s team ran a campaign called “Love is stronger than fear”, inspired by Navalny’s gesture to his wife in court. “We are calling on all residents of major Russian cities to do something simple on February 14, at 8 pm,” wrote Navalny’s team. “Go outside and turn on the flash on your phone, lift it up and stay still for a few minutes.”
On Sunday, there were several protests, mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where a few hundred women gathered in solidarity with Navalny’s wife, Yulia, according to AFP. Separately, “tens of thousands” of people responded to Navalny’s call for the Valentine’s Day campaign, facing winter temperatures and hanging out with lanterns for symbolic vigils in “hundreds of yards” across the country, according to Navalny’s team estimates.
This time around, attendance was shorter and more peaceful, without the violent clashes with the police and the massive arrests that characterized the pro-Navalny protests last month. Instead, the government’s response has moved behind the scenes, focusing on putting pressure on social media platforms and taking action against those who imply that they are even thinking of taking to the streets. Immediately after the Valentine’s Day events, there were reports of retaliation against those who participated in the campaign, including a COVID-19 nurse, Saidanvar Sulaimonov, who was fired after participating in the “Love is Stronger than Fear” campaign and take a picture of himself inside the house wearing protective equipment, Meduza reported.
Even before Sunday’s events, many young people expressed skepticism about the long-term impact of this new wave of protests. Aram Badalyam, a 25-year-old independent folk musician who lives in Krasnodar, in southern Russia – the region where Putin’s alleged palace is located – calls the protests “toothless”. Navalny’s investigation and the explosion of political activism he saw in the country and in Krasnodar inspired him to write a song about the palace. “Navalny speaks their language,” he says of the new generation of supporters. “He is persistent, courageous and brave. Bravery is a rarity in Russia. “
This is the type of popular mobilization that sets Navalny apart from other opposition leaders and allows him to connect with this new generation through social media, as in this TikTok video, where he shows his research on his own poisoning. From providing copies of pamphlets to put in their neighborhoods on a Google tour to continuing to post investigative videos even while Navalny is in prison, his team is teaching this new generation a new methodology for protest and political activism.
“Navalny is offering instruments, protests by example, where other members of the opposition can come and join for common goals,” said Nikolai, 23, of St. Petersburg, who spoke to the Daily Beast under a pseudonym. “For me, Navalny is also about the people he has gathered around him, people who are fighting against the system and helping others.”
Navalny’s anti-corruption activities not only educated this new generation about the situation in their country, but also taught them how to fight corruption in the existing system. He showed them what works. “I trust Navalny because he provides arguments and facts,” said Catherine Shipilova, 17, an aspiring lawyer, who is counting the months until she officially becomes an “adult” in Russia. “I intend to apply to law school, I would like to help people,” she says. “I love Russia, but I am against our current government.”
In an interview with the Russian radio platform Echo Moskvy, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian oil tycoon who has been in prison for a decade, noted that Putin’s response to Navalny’s latest investigation into the alleged president’s palace showed the disconnect between the dominant regime and this new generation. This nearly two-hour investigation in an imperial-style palace in southern Russia received more than 112 million views in one month. Putin considered the video boring, calling it “montage” and claiming that “nothing that is listed there as my property belongs to me or my close relatives, and never has.” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, continued to deny any ownership.
Khodorkovsky considered Putin’s response to the viral video more shocking than the investigation itself. “It’s a joke,” he said. “It is natural for the young generation to want something different. The government can hear them. But for that you need institutions in which you establish rules, and young people live their lives within that structure. But our government does not want to establish structures. They want to rule everything to stay in power. ”
An opinion poll from the Levada Center showed that a quarter of Russians had seen the video of the palace and that young people, aged 18 to 24, absorbed it more. According to the survey, 37% of the youngest age group had seen it, more than any other group.
Putin’s first public response to Navalny’s viral investigation into Putin’s alleged palace in southern Russia was widely ridiculed on social media. A TikTok video showed Putin talking about a dark purple “hookah” room that showed a metal pole in the middle of the room while he explained that there were no documents linking him to the palace.
The Kremlin’s response included a series of denials of any connection to the palace, mass detention of heavy hands and more technological measures to detain participants before the protests using facial recognition technology. But the main focus of the government’s response has been to crack down on social media sites that allow information sharing, mobilization and political involvement.
After the first wave of protests, the Russian media censorship agency Roskomnadzor focused on the most popular social media agencies, even ordering them to remove protest-related materials. On January 29, Roskomnadzor summoned representatives from TikTok, Facebook, Telegram and VKontakte, arguing that it was his responsibility to remove posts that encourage participation in “unsanctioned events”, according to the agency’s statement. The agency also ordered several media outlets to delete reports about the Valentine’s Day protest.
Certainly, these young people are only a fraction of the Russian opposition and Navalny himself does not share all of his values. Most Russians still get their news from traditional media, which is more loyal to the Kremlin. But right now – after Navalny’s last attempt at poisoning, recovery, return from Germany and a hasty sentence in Moscow – he is the one who is uniting Russia’s opposition, including this younger generation who can only remember a Russia under Putin.
Navalny was able to capture his imagination and the government’s response was swift. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs until opened an official TikTok account in early February, dedicating the first two posts to Navalny. For some of his supporters, what resonates most with Navalny is that he is providing a tent for the opposition, providing them with tools and educating them on how to make their voices heard: through social media activism, video and protests in the streets . And they continue to listen and take notes, even with Navalny behind bars.
Nikolai says he plans to continue to participate in the protests, despite his detention. “I think the protest movement will continue, but it will take different forms, not just going to specific streets at a specific time,” he says. “I see Russia’s future as democratic, free, with respect to the rule of law and with each other. The new generation is less susceptible to state propaganda. “
“If the government order remains the same, we will see nothing better.” Shipilova tells The Daily Beast. She fears that serving a prison sentence will affect Navalny’s chances of running again. “I hope our country improves and we have laws that are important and necessary.”
Even Alexei Navalny’s tone took on a darker and more thoughtful tone after the events of Valentine’s Day. He was sentenced to nearly three years in prison. “The prison is in your head,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post, comparing his prison cell and the conditions for flying in a spaceship. “Right now, I understand that I am on a space trip, flying towards a beautiful new world.”