Walking Together is a youth movement that was created by Vasily Yakimenko in May of 2000. The group, which had over 50 thousand members as of January, 2002, is vehemently pro-Putin and is openly endorsed by President Vladimir Putin's administration. It has strict rules and indocrination methods, and is openly criticized for its similarity to the Hitler Youth established by the Nazi Party in 1926. The senior patron of the movement is Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the presidential administration.
Before creating Walking Together, or Idushchiye Vmeste in Russian, Mr Yakimenko was the overseer of state-run charities. The group's first action in November 2000 was to celebrate Putin's administration with a rally in front of the Kremlin. Group organizers cite a long history of such groups in Russia, notably the Komsomol or Soviet Youth League. Although initially founded to introduce young people to communist principals, in the waning days of its history this group provided an opportunity for networking to future oligarchs such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Many liberals in Russia fear that the organization is designed to set up a cult of personality around President Putin. Some of the groups requirements include commands to read six Russian classics a year and to visit the site of a battle where Russia was victorious. The reading of modern "liberal" works is discouraged by Walking Together. At one rally, members were encouraged to tear apart copies of Vladimir Sorokin's Blue Lard , which was deemed pornographic for a passage depicting gay sex between Josef Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev. The group brought formal charges against the author for writing pornographic literature.
Walking Together is sponsored by two companies with ties to the Kremlin and the Moscow city council. Members of the group are divided into groups of five called "red stars", each led by a "foreman" who receives a free pager and 1500 rubles for his services. Each of his five "soldiers" receives 50 rubles as well as free T-Shirts. Groups have criticized the organization, claiming that its rallies are only popular with young people because of the free handouts. Members are encouraged to get others to join in a way that mirrors Komsomol indoctrination methods. Once a member has a red star, he must persuade another 50 members to join.
