Russian Brownshirt Nashi Leader To Head State Committee for Youth Affairs

SPTimes
Posted: 2007-10-12 20:37:50

MOSCOW - Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has appointed Vasily Yakemenko, leader of pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi, to head the newly established State Committee for Youth Affairs, the White House press service said Wednesday.

President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of the committee along with changes to the makeup of the Cabinet on Sept. 24, but no one was named to head the committee. Yakemenko, 36, has been at the center of speculation over who would get the post.

Putin's decree gave the committee responsibility for shaping and implementing youth policy, as well as providing it with the authority to "manage state property" and "state services" in the process.

Yakemenko founded his first youth organization, Moving Together, in 2000 and switched his focus to Nashi in 2005.

The movement is best known for organizing rallies of students to proclaim their support for Putin and his policies.