The “Scarlet Swan” movement, which decided to organize rallies on March 29 against internet censorship and had just managed to gain popularity on TikTok, has experienced a split, and its main Telegram channel appears to have been hacked. Organizers spoke of provocations by Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the founder of “Male State,” and the emergence of “fake” chats. “Scarlet Swan” appeared just over a week ago but has already gone viral on social media, attracted the attention of law enforcement, and raised many questions: who are its real organizers, how do they position themselves, and what principles do they follow. What is known about the movement is in the material from “Noya-Yevropa.” Rally participants with a banner “Down with censorship!” during a march against state internet policy, Moscow, July 23, 2017. Photo: Ivan Sekretarev / AP / Scanpix / LETA .How “Scarlet Swan” Emerged “Scarlet Swan” is a spontaneous youth movement whose Telegram channel appeared on March 14. Its participants spread videos and information primarily on Telegram and TikTok. Immediately after its creation, “Scarlet Swan” announced the organization of all-Russian street actions on March 29 against internet restrictions, blockages of popular services (Discord, Telegram, YouTube), and, in a broader sense, against censorship in online content, music, and literature. The movement emerged almost simultaneously. According to “Vyorstka,” on March 13, its participants created the chat “Rally 29.03,” which was renamed the next day with the addition of the “Scarlet Swan” symbol. The Telegram channel of the same name also appeared then. Within a few days, the channel's subscriber count exceeded 3,000, and the chat participants numbered over 6,000. The main tool for “Scarlet Swan” agitation is TikTok. According to “Agentstvo” calculations, the movement has published over 50 videos there, some of which were created using artificial intelligence. Some videos announced rallies “against Roskomnadzor, internet and communication blockages,” “Vyorstka” specifies. According to the publication, one such video set to “Lyube” music garnered 3.9 million views. Who is Part of the Movement and How Its Participants Position Themselves As “Vyorstka” found out, the movement's coordinators are teenagers and young people aged 14 to 20. A total of at least 31 volunteers, administrators, and moderators are involved in the organization. Little is known about almost all of them. At the same time, a source for “Agentstvo” stated that “Scarlet Swan” unites over 40 volunteers and a legal department for submitting applications for events. “Vyorstka” journalists noted that among the organizers were former cadets and law academy students, as well as representatives of pro-government structures. According to “Vyorstka,” some activists were part of the “Youth of LDPR” group, participated in “Young Guard” events, and collaborated with the “New People” party. “Vyorstka” managed to contact a young man who claims to have invented the name “Scarlet Swan” and became one of the first organizers of the rallies. The publication did not disclose his name for security reasons but reported that he is under 20 years old. According to him, after receiving threats (he stated that he was offered to record a video with the slogan “Glory to Russia and Akhmat is Strength”), under pressure, he posted a notification with the personal data of other organizers in the chat. Following this, other activists began to receive threats of denunciation to law enforcement agencies. On the evening of March 16, this organizer, according to “Vyorstka,” left the chat after recording a voice message in which he declared support for Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and began to deny the presence of Ukrainians among the movement's leadership. Earlier, participants suspected the creators of ties with Ukraine, “Vyorstka” reported: according to the publication, one of the organizers traveled to Ukraine several times before 2022, and a former moderator received payments in hryvnias. Additionally, “Vyorstka” claims that calls for violence appeared in the movement's chat: a former moderator suggested using Molotov cocktails, a volunteer inquired about carrying weapons, and calls were published to bring pepper spray and go to administrative buildings with weapons. Participants who spread such messages, according to eyewitnesses cited by the publication, often displayed symbols close to the far-right. As journalists stated, all these messages were later deleted, and the chat was temporarily closed. An anonymous source from the project's moderators told “Agentstvo” that “Scarlet Swan” is not an opposition organization: “We are neutral towards it [the war], we do not criticize the current government,” he said. The movement did indeed emphasize that they are not against the current government, are not connected to the topic of the war in Ukraine, and focus solely on the issue of blockages and internet censorship. “We have always stated that the rally is planned exclusively against blockages, not against the government or anything similar,” one of the movement's posts stated. What is Known About the Planned Rallies and Detentions Activists announced that they had submitted applications for rallies in two cities – Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the capital, “Scarlet Swan” initially planned to hold an event on Bolotnaya Square and submitted an application to the Yakimanka district administration. In response, the administration advised the movement's participants to submit documents to the Moscow Government and reminded them that due to the “epidemiological situation,” there is a ban on public events in the city. After this, organizers announced a change of venue to Sakharov Avenue or Pushkinskaya Square. On March 18, security forces carried out the first detentions. For example, as reported by SotaVision, police came to the home of 19-year-old chat administrator Sofya Chepik and took her away (to an unspecified location) for a “preventive conversation,” after which she was released with a “warning about the inadmissibility of violating the law.” Sofya Chepik. Photo: @ostorozhno_novosti / Telegram. Police also went to the home of another movement participant, 20-year-old Moscow resident Stepan Razint, but he was at work at the time, so the activist decided to go to the prosecutor's office himself “to resolve this issue.” It was Stepan Razint who was listed as the rally organizer in the notifications submitted to the mayor's office, the movement stated. Later, “Scarlet Swan” wrote that Razint was “all right” and promised to publish information later, but no results of the conversation with the prosecutor's office were reported. If the rallies are not approved, the movement intends to create a civil organization – an analog of the “Movement of the First,” an “Agentstvo” source said. Dmitry Kisiev, former head of Boris Nadezhdin's campaign headquarters, also announced rallies for March 29. He stated that he knows nothing about “Scarlet Swan” events. According to “Agentstvo,” Kisiev's circle believes that the recently emerged movement may be preparing a provocation, “including with the involvement of special services.” On March 23, the “Scarlet Swan” Telegram channel, apparently, was hacked – calls to financially support the project appeared on it. The organizers accused representatives of Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the founder of the “Male State” movement, of this. It was also reported that some organizers, including Sofya Chepik and Stepan Razint, began creating “clones” of the project. After accusations of creating “fake channels” and “selling out to Pozdnyakov,” none of the chats provided explanations for what happened in the movement or what its organizers plan to do next.
