Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow’s federal annual expenditures on youth policy have increased by 66% to $850 million this year. In 2025, the federal budget allocation for the “Movement of the First,” one of the largest organizations responsible for the militarization of youth, exceeded the entire federal budget allocation for Kalmykia, which is one of Russia’s poorest regions and dependent on Moscow. Such a splurge is part of Russia’s new cultural policy, which aims to increase the proportion of patriotic (i.e., militarized and ready to fight for Russia) youth to 70%. And it’s working. Since 2022,...
Monitoring Antisemitism Intel
