Russia's New Pioneers

Children, wearing red neckerchiefs, a symbol of the Pioneer Organization, take a pledge during a ceremony for the inauguration of 18 new members at a local school in the southern settlement of Kazminskoye in Stavropol region, Russia, Nov.19, 2015.
Early pro-communist youth movements, which appeared in Russia after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, were reformed into the Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union.
In October 2015, President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a schoolchildren's movement aimed at promoting national values and apparently modeled on the Soviet Union's Young Pioneers organization.
The Russian Schoolchildren's Movement is being established to "perfect state policy in the area of educating the young generation, [and] to support the forming of personalities on the basis of the value system inherent to Russian society," Putin said in a decree posted on the government's official document website.
The decree stated that the new movement was not an attempt to recreate the pioneers, because unlike its Soviet-era predecessor, the new organization would be free from Communist or any other ideology.
Read also: Russia to Get 21st-Century Version of Kids' Pioneers Organization
Early pro-communist youth movements, which appeared in Russia after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, were reformed into the Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union.
In October 2015, President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a schoolchildren's movement aimed at promoting national values and apparently modeled on the Soviet Union's Young Pioneers organization.
The Russian Schoolchildren's Movement is being established to "perfect state policy in the area of educating the young generation, [and] to support the forming of personalities on the basis of the value system inherent to Russian society," Putin said in a decree posted on the government's official document website.
The decree stated that the new movement was not an attempt to recreate the pioneers, because unlike its Soviet-era predecessor, the new organization would be free from Communist or any other ideology.
Read also: Russia to Get 21st-Century Version of Kids' Pioneers Organization
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

A boy, holding a flag and wearing red neckerchief, a symbol of the Pioneer Organization, attends a ceremony for the inauguration.
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

Children, wearing red neckerchiefs, a symbol of the Pioneer Organization, salute during a ceremony for the inauguration.
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

Children, wearing red neckerchiefs, a symbol of the Pioneer Organization, attend a ceremony for the inauguration.
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

People attend a ceremony for the inauguration of new members of the Pioneer Organization, with a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin seen in the background.
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

Children, wearing red neckerchiefs, a symbol of the Pioneer Organization, salute while posing for a picture during a ceremony for the inauguration.
Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters