A banned political movement has united huge amounts of people who refuse to believe in the collapse of the Soviet Union RT The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was a traumatic event and a severe trial for many of its citizens. More than 30 years later, there are still people who refuse to believe it actually happened. The accumulated resentment has resulted in the formation of ‘Citizens of the USSR’ – a radical organization convinced that the Soviet Union continues to legally exist, while considering the government of the Russian Federation to be illegitimate.
These beliefs lead to illegal behavior. The adherents of the movement refuse to pay taxes, don’t comply with Russian laws and don’t want to live according to the principles of a capitalist society. They also don’t pay utility bills or honor previously obtained bank loans. The structure of the organization resembles a sect whose members, under the guise of high ideals, voluntarily cut off ties with their family and hand their property over to the organization.
The movement is recognized as extremist and is banned in the Russian Federation. Some of its members are already behind bars. Nevertheless, the Citizens of the USSR still exists and the Federal Security Service (FSB) continues to discover more of its followers.
“There is no Russian Federation”
“The USSR did not collapse and there are no documents confirming that the USSR ceased to exist. Three people signed a document about the alleged collapse of the USSR. Three people cannot decide for all the republics and for the whole country! Moreover, this paper does not even exist! There is a photo of this document, there is a photocopy, but there is no original document! This matter can only be decided by the people. On March 17, 1991, at the All-Union referendum, 76% of citizens voted in favor of the preservation of the Soviet Union. The USSR did not give a single square centimeter to anyone, not a single republic left the USSR. Consequently, everyone remained in the USSR,” says Alexey Garanin, a resident of a remote part of Russia who considers himself a citizen of a country that disappeared over 30 years ago.
Alexey is dressed in a T-shirt, tracksuit, and baseball cap bearing Soviet symbols and the USSR abbreviation. In his apartment, decorated with a portrait of Joseph Stalin and numerous Soviet coats of arms, he tells a Mash Paradox journalist the details of his “faith.”
For example, Alexey does not recognize the Russian ruble as the official currency and only considers Soviet banknotes to be legitimate. He follows the official exchange rate of the USSR State Bank on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (the bank uses it to calculate international payments on old Soviet loans). The current exchange rate is 55.5 Soviet rubles for $100.
“And all this money is valid across the RSFSR. So 1,000 Soviet rubles is $2,000. That’s a lot of money lying on the table,” he told a journalist, pointing to Soviet banknotes.
RT Alexey Garanin shows Soviet banknotes to a journalist // Mash Paradox YouTube channel Garanin is convinced that unlike the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation does not really exist. And his belief is shared by the movement’s supporters throughout the country. When a Vesti news correspondent asked a woman from Nizhny Tagil, “What about the Russian Federation?”, she said “It does not exist!”
“The Russian Federation has no territory and no people. Who gave it territory? Do any acts exist on the transfer of territory [and] people, did anything like that happen? There is no Russian Federation!” she said.
The woman does not pay utility bills for the same reason – she is a “citizen of the USSR,” not of the Russian Federation, so she is not obliged to comply with Russian laws.
“The Russian Federation is an illegal formation on the territory of the Union of Socialist Republics,” said "Akhmetov," another adherent of the movement.
The USSR didn't collapse?
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