| Meet the new Red Guard, soon to be just like the old Red Guard. |
In the middle of the camp stand large portraits of Other Russia's leaders under the banner: "The Red Light Street". Vocal opponents of Mr Putin's rule, Other Russia's three male leaders, including the world chess champion Garry Kasparov, are portrayed as prostitutes. In lurid colours they pout and pose in stockings, their faces frozen in feline grins. "I didn't know who those people were until I came here," 20-year-old Lena from St Petersburg said."Now I know they are fascists."
Nearby, there was a poster depicting an intercontinental ballistic missile with the slogan: "Let there be sovereign democracy," a reference to the Kremlin's definition of democracy stripped of western influence.
The two-week summer camp is run by Nashi, the biggest of several pro-Kremlin youth groups, and in Nashi's vocabulary Mr Putin's enemies are fascists. Nashi, which means "ours", is funded by the Kremlin and was founded in the wake of popular demonstrations that toppled pro-Moscow leaders in Georgia and Ukraine. Its stated goal is to promote nationalist values for a greater Russia.
Western diplomats and critics say it appears aimed at giving the Kremlin a ready-made mass movement to call on in times of trouble. The group came to prominence last year when it hounded the British ambassador to Russia for months after he attended an anti-Kremlin conference. A spokeswoman said it had 100,000 members across Russia.
At Nashi's third annual summer camp at the Lake Seliger beauty spot many of the 10,000 Nashi activists wore red T-shirts with slogans proclaiming the greatness of Russia or Mr Putin. They start the day with mass exercise, then head off to play volleyball, sail boats or cycle around quiet roads. Such summer camps, which declined after the fall of communism, are now making a comeback under the sponsorship of political groups.
There are lessons outlining Mr Putin's foreign policies or economic initiatives, an army camp shows off Russia's military and a Nashi security service trains to work alongside police. "We have to show how the policies of Putin have worked," Nashi leader Vasily Yakemenko said. Behind him, a puppet-master prepared a show. Later, the Putin puppet would vanquish pro-western presidents in Georgia and Ukraine, the Russian exile Boris Berezovsky and the Other Russia coalition.
Drinking alcohol is banned in the camp, but other activities are encouraged. A display shows why the woolly mammoth died out - not enough sex. Russia is fighting to stop a fall in population as a result of alcohol abuse, AIDS and migration. Alexander Zlatmenkov held hands with his fiancée, Julia. They are both 23, and with 39 other couples will marry at the camp. "It's important for us to set an example and it's fun and interesting," he said. All the Nashi members who spoke were aged between 18 and 23, were at university or had just left and came from lower income families whose parents worked in jobs such as teachers and engineers.
Activists said Nashi gave them pride in themselves and pride in Russia, directed them away from alcohol and drugs and gave them a summer holiday with friends. Most did not consider themselves political. Andrei, 22, was more candid. He said Nashi's aim was political and that previous Nashi members were already making their way through government ranks and pro-Kremlin businesses. "I think this camp is the Russian version of camps now being run in the West," he then said. "That's true, isn't it?"
Unfortunately, there's more at the link.