A pro-Putin youth movement has revived a campaign to drive out the British Ambassador as part of an apparent renewal of Kremlin attacks on British interests in Russia.

Activists from the Nashi (Ours) organisation staged a protest against Sir Anthony Brenton outside the British Embassy in Moscow yesterday. They demanded his recall and carried placards of his face with the word “loser” stamped on it.

Nashi accused Sir Anthony of giving £1 million to The Other Russia, the opposition movement led by the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, and threatened him with legal action over his attendance of a conference organised by The Other Russia. The group said: “The ambassador is accused of inappropriate use of British funds. An open letter to the British Queen has already been prepared.”

An embassy spokesman dismissed the allegations against Sir Anthony as a stunt. He said that Nashi had distorted a speech he gave at The Other Russia’s conference. In it Sir Anthony stated that the British Government had provided £1 million in funding to civil society groups in Russia.

Nashi activists were used to hound Sir Anthony for six months last year after he attended the opposition conference. Protesters waved placards outside his residence, interrupted public appearances and followed his car.

The harassment ended only when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office protested to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, met leaders of the group and told them to tone down their protests.

Nashi, which was founded in 2005, claims up to 200,000 members and is regarded as the Kremlin’s youth wing. Its anti-Western rhetoric at mass rallies supporting President Putin has become increasingly strident.

Its leader is Vasili Yakemenko, who was named head of the state committee on youth affairs in October, but the real mastermind is thought to be Vladislav Surkov, Mr Putin’s deputy chief of staff and the Kremlin ideologist who coined the term “sovereign democracy” to explain his boss’s authoritarian style.

Critics dub it “Putin Youth” because of its strident nationalism, distinctive red clothing and annual summer camps, which are attended by thousands of activists. Members are obliged to study the Nashi Manifesto, which is filled with references to foreign plots. About 5,000 Nashi supporters were out in Moscow on Monday to give warning that US-backed “thieves and traitors” were plotting to overturn Mr Putin’s election victory.

PRESIDENTIAL POWER

— The United Russia Party of President Putin won 64 per cent of the votes in last weekend’s parliamentary elections. The victory has given the party control of 315 of the 450 seats in the Duma

—The turnout for the election was considerably higher than the last one, with 63 per cent of Russia's 109 million voters taking part

— In some regions, results were suspiciously pro-Putin. In Chechnya, there was 99 per cent turnout, with 99 per cent of those favouring United Russia

Source: Times archive

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