Activist Vladislav Bokhan sent out a request to schools in central Russia to hold a patriotic action on behalf of United Russia. This time, the task was to make a ‘Helmet of the Fatherland’ out of foil to demonstrate readiness to defend against radiation from NATO satellites.
Seven schools responded to the request: Bobrovsky Educational Centre ‘Leader’, Krikshanskaya School №3, Kolodezyanskaya School, Novovoronezhskaya School №1, Arkhangelskaya School, as well as Baichurovskaya and Nikolskaya Schools.
The latter two involved children in making the hats, and the teacher of one of them demanded a diploma for participation in the campaign.
Bokhan explained that he was continuing his research into Russia’s fascism, identifying signs of ‘eternal fascism’ as described in Umberto Eco’s treatise. ‘Hats’ illustrated the Russian population’s belief in conspiracy theories, while a previous similar assignment to teachers was to conduct a meaningless ‘Russian Run’ event, with no clear purpose or location, reflecting a willingness to engage in actions for the sake of action.
Earlier, in the framework of similar actions, Bokhan persuaded Russian teachers to draw up lists for sending schoolchildren to re-education camps, to pray to icons of Bandera and Tikhanovskaya, to hold a patriotic action under the slogan ‘One people, one nation, one ruler’ within the framework of the United Russia programme ‘Labour Liberates’, etc.
Bokhan calls his actions a study of the manifestations of fascism in modern Russia: unconditional obedience to superiors, action for action’s sake, and other signs of fascism.