The Nashi (Ours) youth group marked Russian President Vladimir Putin's 55th birthday in Moscow.
Photo: AP, AP
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Pro-Kremlin Youth Celebrate President's Birthday
About 10,000 members of the Nashi (Ours) movement gathered on Taras Shevchenko Embankment in Moscow yesterday to mark Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday, which was rainy and chilly. Nashi leaders told the crowd, which came from at east 20 regions of Russia, that the president must win in the State Duma elections next month, “and not by some 50 percent.” The crowd carried signs reading “Putin is stability,” “Putin is peace in Chechnya,” “Putin is the Olympics,” “Putin is the stabilization fund” and “Putin is Sakhalin 2” and was entertained by techno remixes of Soviet pop hits.
Nashi leader Vasily Yakemenko, who is also a member of the state committee on youth, declined to speak to journalists at the event. “They complained about the rain and cold in the back rows,” Yakemenko told the crowd from the stage. “But I want to say that I remember the 1990s, when bandits ruled the streets, the country's budget was approved by Americans at the International Monetary Fund and Berezovsky and Khodorkovsky declared war in Chechnya. And I want to say that we cannot allow that to be repeated and the election f the national leader depends on us!”
The Russian Orthodox branch of Nashi ordered prayers for the president's health in all the main churches in Moscow.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 08, 2007
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