Deep in the woods on the outskirts of Moscow, a sudden burst of gunfire sends a flock of birds screeching into the sky. A dozen people dressed in military fatigues scale a crumbling, abandoned high-rise with Kalashnikovs strapped to their backs.
This is a “war camp” organized by the ultra-nationalist Eurasian Youth Union, known as ESM, the youth wing of the broader Eurasian movement. Such camps, which are on the rise in Russia, imitate a broader Kremlin policy of “patriotic education” that has seen a marked increase in government funding in recent years.
The ESM camps serve as breeding grounds …read more
Source: Voice of America
