__NOTOC__ Lion Versus or Lion Against (russian: Лев Против, translit=Lev Protiv; sometimes stylized Lion Vs.) is a Russian youth

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...

opposed to

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

and drinking alcohol in public. Lion Versus volunteers hold video-recorded "raids" by visiting public areas such as train stations, parks and public squares, and asking people to stop smoking in designated non-smoking areas. If the smokers refuse, Lion Versus

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

s spray the smokers' hands with water from

spray bottle A spray bottle is a bottle that can squirt, spray or mist fluids. History While spray bottles existed long before the middle of the 20th century, they used a rubber bulb which was squeezed to produce the spray; the quickly-moving air siphoned ...

s in order to extinguish their

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

s. In anti- public-intoxication raids, activists patrol public parks and squares, asking people who are drinking

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

to pour the

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

s out in a nearby trash can or drain. If the people approached state the alcohol is not theirs, Lion Versus activists pour it out themselves. Police officers sometimes accompany Lion Versus activists on their raids, writing tickets to offenders. Videos of the raids are posted on Lion Versus's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel, publicly shaming smokers and drinkers while gathering online support as well as advertising revenue and donations. As of January 2019, the channel has over 1.5 million subscribers. Lion Versus was founded in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 2014 by 18-year-old Mikhail "Lev" Lazutin with other former members of the Russian pedestrian-rights youth movement StopXam, which in turn was a project of former Nashi activists. The movement has spread from Moscow to other cities, including

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban layout The location of the settlement was originally ass ...

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...

, and

Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (russian: Пятиго́рск; Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody where there is an international airport and about ...

. In Kirov in 2016, Lion Versus members petitioned local prosecutors to ban

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

from the city, whom they called a "pseudo-religious group ... detrimental to society fundamentals of statehood in the Russian Federation." The

SOVA Center The SOVA Center for Information and Analysis is a Moscow-based nongovernmental organization and think tank conducting sociological research primarily on nationalism and racism in post-Soviet Russia. Currently, SOVA devotes its monitoring, resea ...

has reported that Lion Versus's anti-alcohol raids are "more or less consistently popular". A 2018 study by the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

-based Centre for East European and International Studies found that 20 per cent of respondents recognized the ''Lev Protiv'' name, making it the second-most recognized Russian youth movement behind StopXam. In December 2018, Lion Versus activists held a raid in which they approached parents in public places who were drinking alcohol or smoking in the presence of their small children and offered to exchange the parents' alcoholic beverages or cigarettes for

Christmas present A Christmas gift or Christmas present is a gift given in celebration of Christmas. Christmas gifts are often exchanged on Christmas Eve (December 24), Christmas Day itself (December 25) or on the last day of the twelve-day Christmas season, Twel ...

s for their children. In January 2019, a man smoking in a railway station in Bryansk threatened to shoot Lion Versus activists after they approached him and asked him to stop smoking. A video of the interaction was posted to YouTube and circulated by local media, who reported that the man fled before police were called. The movement has been criticized as being an "online vigilante movement", "hooliganism", overly confrontational or violent, and government-run or "pro-Kremlin ... part of a government-led effort to create an army of politically active youth." In a 2018 interview with ''Life in Russia,'' Lazutkin stated that Lion Versus only posts video of non-compliant public drinkers and smokers, and that Lion Versus's intended audience is not the public drinkers and smokers they confront, but rather their online audience of impressionable young viewers. A 2019 article in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described Lion Versus as "skinhead vigilantes". The article alleged that the group received funding from the Russian government, which Lazutin denied.

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External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2019 2014 establishments in Russia Anti-smoking activists Direct action Nonviolence advocates Organizations based in Moscow Organizations established in 2014 Social movements Youth movements Youth organizations based in Russia Youth-led organizations YouTube

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External links