Since the beginning of a big war against Ukraine, Russia has sought to demonstrate that the world did not turn its back on it and continues to maintain strong ties with Moscow. After all, its aggression has led to an unprecedented international isolation.
To do this, the Kremlin organized the World Youth Festival in Sochi from March 1 to 7, which is planned to be held on the Sirius Federal Territory with the participation of youth (teenagers) and pro-Russian representatives of cultural life. On the one hand, the purpose of such events is propaganda, but not only it.
Following the example of the USSR, Russia is trying to work with foreign youth, in particular with a pronounced “alternative” position (eco-activism, cultural activism, political and social innovators), in order to form a position loyal to the Russian Federation and its leadership.
So-called “volunteers” will be involved in the “festival” from among the participants created by Russian “public organizations”, such as Yug Molodoi (Young South), Movement of the First and others. Moscow has created organizations modeled on the Soviet Komsomol to brainwash the youth.
It is noteworthy that most of the participants of the festival will be from Russia, as well from the occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, citizens of other states loyal to Russia are also expected to participate. Therefore, there will be an active presence of the Russian special services at the events, which will have corresponding consequences. Russian special services can recruit foreign guests and persuade them to cooperate, which is quite a dangerous adventure, because it can cost them not only their careers, but also their lives.
In the conditions of a catastrophic outflow of talents, Russia can steal the developments and technologies of foreign participants. For this country, theft of intellectual property is quite common. With the help of such events as the World Youth Festival, the Russian Federation gets foreign young specialists, business leaders and top managers from the IT sphere on its side in order to gain access to innovative developments, the results of applied research and scientific monitoring in promising areas of development.
In this regard, the states whose citizens still went to the World Youth Festival should take appropriate measures for reliable state protection of their own developments and scientific achievements.