Putin reportedly plans to focus on ‘the youth agenda’ in his coming reelection campaign

Four sources close to the Kremlin tell the newspaper Vedomosti that one of the central themes of Vladimir Putin’s coming reelection campaign will be “the youth agenda,” with a focus on education, early employment, credit programs, the digital economy, and security. To generate “ideological support,” the campaign will also stage several concerts, public forums, and youth festivals.

“Young people might comes to the polls, or they might stay at home. And it’s unclear who gets their votes,” said Valery Fyodorov, the general director of the VTsIOM polling agency.

The Putin administration has contracted VTsIOM to run a large number of sociological surveys on Russia’s youth. Fyodorov told Vedomosti that the Kremlin expects to increase voter turnout among younger Russians.