Thousands march in latest youth rally for Putin

By James Kilner

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands of young provincial Russians marched to the Kremlin on Thursday to express support for President Vladimir Putin but many said the main attraction was a free trip to the capital.

Outside the Kremlin's red walls around 15,000 youths waving Russian and youth group flags thronged in front of a stage where a young man paced around in front of a sign proclaiming: "Our future with Putin".

"Not all our country believes in a future with him," he told the crowd. "They want an ineffective, weak country. We are for a great, strong country."

Music blared and a video wall projected sunny images of a two-week lakeside summer camp from last summer.

The authorities set up a network of youth groups centered around Nashi to counter any potential repeat in Russia of the revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia in 2003 and 2004.

But now Nashi and other groups have morphed into an army of obedient foot soldiers willing to hound the Kremlin's enemies and project mass support for the government, analysts say.

"One of their main stated aims is to answer any democratic and liberal opposition action with action of their own, to make fun of them," Denis Volkov, an analyst with the Levada centre polling unit, said.

A new group that helps poor and orphaned children called Mishki -- teddy bear in Russian -- also emerged for the first time and immediately asked Putin to be its figurehead.

Nashi have hounded the British ambassador who last year attended an opposition meeting, protested outside the Estonian embassy after Tallinn removed a statue to the Red army and held rallies in the run up to last Sunday's parliamentary election.

Nashi draws its core support from young people in middle and lower income families living in central Russian cities.

And it employs the same techniques to attract recruits as other youth movements -- offering a mix of companionship, belonging, sport and travel.

Plus a touch of glamour. On Wednesday young models paraded along a catwalk in near freezing temperatures wearing Nashi designer streetwear, dresses and bikinis -- all in the group's trademark red and white colors.

"We are here to support Putin create a greater Russia," said Lyuda Rostova, an 18-year-old law student and one of the leaders of a group from Orenburg which is a day's journey from Moscow.

"People who don't agree are wrong."

But while the leaders may be ideological, most of the others are not and even before the end of the rally many had furled up their banners and drifted off to tour Moscow -- for many a first visit to the Russian capital.

(Editing by Stephen Weeks)