The Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM; russian: Авангард красной молодёжи; ''Avangard krasnoy molodyozhi''), acronymed after an AK-47 variant) is a

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

youth group Youth Group is an Australian rock band based in Newtown, New South Wales. Built around the vocals of singer Toby Martin and production of Wayne Connolly, the sound of Youth Group is reminiscent of indie rock artists such as Teenage Fanclub, Pa ...

. Its website describes it as an "independent youth organization, entering the all-Russian public political motion." Its "territory of action" is

, which it insists is still the heart and soul of "the republic of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

." The AKM's

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

is Marxism-Leninism and it forms part of the Left Front, an all alliance of far-left parties. The unofficial leader of the AKM is

Sergei Udaltsov Sergei Stanislavovich Udaltsov (russian: Серге́й Станиславович Удальцов; born 16 February 1977) is a Russian left-wing political activist. He is the unofficial leader of the Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM). In 2011 and 2 ...

(Сергей Удальцов), who has been arrested several times for protesting against

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

's regime. The name of the organization is the

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduced ...

, a model of the well-known Kalashnikov assault rifle family. Its organizational structure uses military terminology:

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

. Most cities will house an "отделение" or squad of AKM, with several squads forming a battalion. Currently battalions exist in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The group entered on to the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

scene by being the indirect subject of a November 2005 '' ZMag'' article dealing with the annual 7 November demonstration commemorating the anniversary of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...

, and also addressing the civil unrest in France. In the article,

Boris Kagarlitsky Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky (russian: Бори́с Ю́льевич Кагарли́цкий; born 29 August 1958) is a Russian Marxist theoretician and sociologist who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union. He is coordinator of ...

of the Institute for Globalization Studies describes the AKM as " heRussian equivalent of heWestern Black Bloc ... surrounded by the police and strictly controlled." Kagarlitsky quotes a young AKM radical as shouting: "We will turn Moscow into

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

!" It is unclear how much support the AKM currently has from other organizations in Russia, or whether it truly plans on becoming a

vanguard party Vanguardism in the context of Leninist revolutionary struggle, relates to a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically "advanced" sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form organi ...

. On 3 March 2007, the AKM took part in the

Saint Petersburg March of the Discontented The Dissenters' March (russian: Марш несогласных) was a series of Russian opposition protests that took place on December 16, 2006 in Moscow, on March 3, 2007 in Saint Petersburg, on March 24 in Nizhny Novgorod, on April 14 for t ...

, one of the biggest demonstrations of the opposition in recent years. It has also organized dozens of smaller rallies, and has participated in many protests including violent clashes with the police. In October 2008, the AKM joined the Left Front.

References

External links

AKM Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanguard Of Red Youth Communist organizations in Russia Far-left politics in Russia Opposition to Vladimir Putin Russian political activists Socialist organizations in Russia Student political organizations Youth organizations based in Russia

See also

References

External links