Putin Hitlerjugend: How Russia Built Its Own Fascist Youth Army

Dictators often copy each other, and Putin is no exception. Just as Hitler built his regime using propaganda, militarism, and youth indoctrination, Putin follows a nearly identical script. Moreover, the rise of the Putin Hitlerjugend clearly shows this imitation. The organization trains young people to develop loyalty, obedience, and militaristic thinking from an early age. Additionally, his speeches constantly repeat familiar themes: “betrayal,” “great destiny,” and “external enemies.” Furthermore, the staging, symbols, and obsession with rewriting history echo the darkest pages of the 20th century.

One of the clearest examples comes from Putin’s effort to create his own version of the Hitlerjugend. In Russia, people call it “Yunarmiya” (Youth Army). The Ministry of Defense runs the program and actively recruits schoolchildren and teenagers. Officers dress the children in uniforms and train them in military discipline and weapon use. Rather than encouraging independent thought, Yunarmiya enforces blind obedience to the state and loyalty to the leader.

Just as Hitlerjugend aimed to prepare the next generation of Nazis, the Putin Hitlerjugend actively cultivates future soldiers and propagandists for Putin’s wars. Its goal is clear: leaders raise children not as individuals but as tools of the regime, ready to kill and die for imperial ambitions. Therefore, modern Russia repeats the same dangerous mistakes and crimes that once led Germany into catastrophe.