MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's prime minister appointed the leader of the Nashi pro-Kremlin youth movement, Vasily Yakemenko, as head of the State Committee on Youth Affairs, the government press service said on Wednesday.
Yakemenko, 36, is a graduate of the Moscow State Social University.
In 2000, he founded a national public organization, called Idushchiye Vmeste (Moving Together), dedicated to the politicization of Russia's largely apathetic post-perestroika youth. The group gained notoriety over a campaign to destroy "immoral" books by modern Russian authors such as Vladimir Sorokin.
The movement was the basis on which Nashi, which translates as 'Ours,' was later established.
Nashi was founded on March 1, 2005, and has been accused of including members of Russia's far-right. The group has been involved in activities such as the recent blockade of Estonia's Embassy in Moscow in response to the Estonian government's decision to move a Soviet WWII monument in the country's capital, Tallinn.
Viktor Zubkov also appointed Andrei Krainy, 49, the former head of the Federal Fisheries Agency, as chief of the State Fisheries Committee.
Zubkov also promoted Andrei Dutov from deputy chief of the Federal Industry Agency to head of the agency.
The agency's former chief, Boris Alyoshin, now heads AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest car manufacturer.
