Meet the Youth Army, Russia’s frightening paramilitary youth group and the defenders of Russian civilization in a grand existential war that is just beginning in Ukraine.
In recent years, Russian audiences have grown used to the sight of children as young as six dressed in immaculate khaki pants, red branded T-shirts, and red berets marching across their TV screens, into their school classrooms, and through city squares on holidays. Barely a day goes by without a uniformed child popping up next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former president, Dmitry Medvedev, or Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at some function or other. These children are part of the Youth Army, Russia’s frightening paramilitary youth group, and they are to be—or so the state claims—the defenders of Russian civilization in a grand existential war that is just beginning in Ukraine.
Founded by the country’s Defense Ministry in 2016, the Youth Army is fast expanding. It already counts 1.3 million members—all of whom are learning that their country is surrounded by mortal enemies, that only war can bring peace, and that there is no greater feat than to die for the Motherland. At first glance, the Youth Army’s uniformed children, constant military training, and active preparation for careers in the nation’s army appear to imitate the Hitler Youth or the Soviet Pioneers. But Putin’s Youth Army comes with a twist: a surprisingly sophisticated digital presence that draws unwary kids into the twisted world of Russia’s militarism.
In a barrage of fun memes, online games, and TikTok-style videos, the Youth Army turns the grim reality of deaths on the battlefield into something aspirational. For example, in a recent video that celebrated the annual May 9 holiday—the date when Russia remembers victory over Hitler’s Germany—the group’s official TikTok account released a video shot in the city of Tver’. In the clip, a young man in uniform, apparently returning from the front, appears at a military parade. A teenaged Youth Army girl, impeccably turned out in uniform, is embarrassed and elated as her beau gets down on one knee to propose.
