John Brownlee

70,000 Santas On The March

The new Red Army on parade in Moscow, consisting of over 70,000 Kremlin-controlled Santas. Its purpose and appearance had been painstakingly created to appear benign. Few of the 70,000 or so who gathered were older than teenagers and their uniforms were so incongruous as to be unthreatening. Each was dressed as Grandfather Frost or the […]
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The new Red Army on parade in Moscow, consisting of over 70,000 Kremlin-controlled Santas.

Its purpose and appearance had been painstakingly created to appear benign. Few of the 70,000 or so who gathered were older than teenagers and their uniforms were so incongruous as to be unthreatening. Each was dressed as Grandfather Frost or the Snow Maiden, traditional Russian New Year characters.

Yet, according to Russia's liberal democrats, scenes like this are less a display of benevolence than a show of force. For them, Nashi, the Kremlin-backed youth group behind Sunday's parade, is an alarming throwback to the Soviet era.

As the youngsters swayed to the "patriotic karaoke" emanating from the stage, a voice boomed out from the loudspeakers exhorting them to reinvent Russia's lost glory.

The group which organizes it, Nashi, was put together by Vladimir Putin in response to the 2004 Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, which overthrew the Kremlin's corrupt regime. Nashi appeals to memories of Soviet glory to help cement Putin's power. Sound familiar? It should. It's the early days of the Nazi party... with Santas!

Sinister Santas in Moscow March [The Age] (via Boing Boing)