Russia’s Ya Russkiy Women Slam Dunk the Culture Wars, by Declan Hayes

Unlike Americans, Russians know who’s winning in Ukraine. That knowledge is part of a new national pride and assertiveness among Russians. From Declan Hayes at strategic-culture.org:

Instead of giving these young women vacuous teenage love crushes as most Western rock singers do, Shaman is instilling true pride and confidence in and of themselves.

The chorus of Ya Russkiy, I am Russian, sung here by these beautiful young Russians has, to date, racked up in excess of 8 million views for a number of important reasons that form the core of this article.

First off, the women, whose red ribbons indicate they may be members of the youth wing of the Russian Communist Party, all possess in abundance the beauty, confidence and unbridled comradeship of youth. Coupled with that, there are their varying choices of dress, which tell their own important stories regarding NATO’s failed sanctions policy on Russia. And then there are the lyrics and the heartthrob who sings them.

Though there is much to unpack in this short video clip, let’s begin with Shaman, aka Yaroslav Dronov, the Russian singer-songwriter and music producer, whose good looks and great talent have helped to propel Ya Russkiy into currently being Russia’s most popular song, with this version having 37 million youtube hits so far, not that far behind his earlier “Rise Up” (Russian: Встанем; romanized: Vstanem) hit, which was dedicated to the war heroes of Russia’s Great Patriotic War.

Though Rise Up and Ya Russkiy have broadly similar themes, the latter song is the more pertinent not only to this article but to the young women confidently and majestically singing along to it. Ya Russkiy states, in its catchy little way, that “I am Russian”, happy and proud in my own skin with it and the world can like it or lump it.

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