View source for Lion Versus

{{short description|Russian youth social movement}}
[[File:Lion Versus (Lev Protiv) Russian logo.jpg|thumb|upright|Lion Versus Russian-language logo]]
__NOTOC__
'''Lion Versus''' or '''Lion Against''' ({{lang-ru|Лев Против|translit=Lev Protiv}}; sometimes stylized '''Lion Vs.''') is a Russian youth [[social movement]] opposed to [[smoking]] and [[drinking in public|drinking alcohol in public]]. Lion Versus volunteers hold video-recorded "raids" by visiting public areas such as train stations, parks and public squares, and asking people to stop smoking in [[smoking ban|designated non-smoking areas]]. If the smokers refuse, Lion Versus [[activist]]s spray the smokers' hands with water from [[spray bottle]]s in order to extinguish their [[cigarette]]s.<ref name="Yablokov" /> In anti-[[public intoxication|public-intoxication]] raids, activists patrol public parks and squares, asking people who are drinking [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] to pour the [[alcoholic beverage]]s out in a nearby trash can or drain. If the people approached state the alcohol is not theirs, Lion Versus activists pour it out themselves.<ref name="Shlyonskaya" /><ref name="CBSMedia.ru" />{{sfn|Mareš|Laryš|Holzer|2019|p=162}} Police officers sometimes accompany Lion Versus activists on their raids, writing tickets to offenders.<ref name="Yablokov" /><ref name="Tsnompilantze" />{{sfn|Yudina|Alperovich|2016}} Videos of the raids are posted on Lion Versus's [[YouTube]] channel, publicly shaming smokers and drinkers while gathering online support as well as advertising revenue and donations.<ref name="Gorbach" /> As of January 2019, the channel has over 1.5 million subscribers.{{sfn|YouTube|2019}}

Lion Versus was founded in [[Moscow]] in 2014 by 18-year-old Mikhail "Lev" Lazutin<ref name="Yablokov" /> with other former members of the Russian pedestrian-rights youth movement [[StopXam (organization)|StopXam]], which in turn was a project of former [[Nashi (youth movement)|Nashi]] activists.{{sfn|Gabdulhakov|2018|p=322}} The movement has spread from Moscow to other cities, including [[Bryansk]],<ref name=Bryansk /> [[Sevastopol]],<ref name=Sevastopol /> [[Belgorod]],<ref name=Belgorod /> and [[Pyatigorsk]].<ref name=Pyatigorsk /> In [[Kirov, Kirov Oblast|Kirov]] in 2016, Lion Versus members petitioned local prosecutors to ban [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] from the city, whom they called a "pseudo-religious group&nbsp;... detrimental to society fundamentals of statehood in the Russian Federation."{{sfn|United States Department of State|2017}}<ref name="1istochnik.ru" /><ref name=F18 /> The [[SOVA Center]] has reported that Lion Versus's anti-alcohol raids are "more or less consistently popular".{{sfn|Alperovich|Yudina|2017|p=41}} A 2018 study by the [[Berlin]]-based Centre for East European and International Studies found that 20 per cent of respondents recognized the ''Lev Protiv'' name, making it the second-most recognized Russian youth movement behind StopXam.{{sfn|Krawatzek|Sasse|2018|p=10}}

[[File:Lion Versus (Lev Protiv) English logo.jpg|thumb|upright|Lion Versus's English-language logo|left]]
In December 2018, Lion Versus activists held a raid in which they approached parents in public places who were drinking alcohol or smoking in the presence of their small children and offered to exchange the parents' alcoholic beverages or cigarettes for [[Christmas present]]s for their children.<ref name="YouTube" /> In January 2019, a man smoking in a railway station in Bryansk threatened to shoot Lion Versus activists after they approached him and asked him to stop smoking. A video of the interaction was posted to YouTube and circulated by local media, who reported that the man fled before police were called.<ref name="Bryansk" />

The movement has been criticized as being an "online vigilante movement",<ref name="Gorbach" /> "hooliganism",<ref name="Yablokov" /> overly confrontational or violent,{{sfn|Pochkay|2017|p=137}}<ref name="Staritskaya" /><ref name="MoscowToday" /> and government-run<ref name="Kolokol" />{{sfn|Schwenck|2017}} or "pro-Kremlin&nbsp;... part of a government-led effort to create an army of politically active youth."<ref name="Tsnompilantze" /> In a 2018 interview with ''Life in Russia,'' Lazutkin stated that Lion Versus only posts video of non-compliant public drinkers and smokers, and that Lion Versus's intended audience is not the public drinkers and smokers they confront, but rather their online audience of impressionable young viewers.<ref name="LifeInRussia" /> A 2019 article in ''[[The Independent]]'' described Lion Versus as "skinhead vigilantes". The article alleged that the group received funding from the Russian government, which Lazutin denied.<ref name="Carroll" />

{{clear}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Russia}}
* [[Direct action]]
* [[Futurussia]]
* [[Nashi (youth movement)]]
* [[Nizhny Novgorod International Model UN]]
* [[Oborona]]
* [[PORA (Russian youth group)]]
* [[Provo (movement)]]
* [[Russian Social-Democratic Union of Youth]]
* [[StopXam (organization)]]
* [[Vanguard of Red Youth]]
* [[Walking Together]]
* [[Young Guard of United Russia]]
* [[Young Russia (youth movement)]]

== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist|22em|refs=
<ref name=F18>{{Cite web| last = Arnold| first = Victoria| title = Russia: Enforced Liquidation of Communities Accelerates| accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 22 March 2016| website = Forum 18| url = http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2161| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170310001102/http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2161| archive-date = 10 March 2017| url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name=Bryansk>For Bryansk, see:
* {{Cite news| title = Активиста движения 'Лев против' пригрозили убить в Брянске | trans-title = Activist of the Movement 'Lion Versus' Threatened to Be Killed in Bryansk | work = Брянские новости (Bryansk News)| date = 21 January 2019| accessdate = 23 January 2019| url = https://www.bragazeta.ru/news/2019/01/21/aktivista-dvijeniya-lev-protiv-prigrozili-ubit-v-bryanske/| language = ru| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20190123191221/https://www.bragazeta.ru/news/2019/01/21/aktivista-dvijeniya-lev-protiv-prigrozili-ubit-v-bryanske/| archivedate = 23 January 2019| url-status = live}}
* {{Cite news| title = Активиста движения "Лев против" пообещали застрелить в Брянске | trans-title = Activist of the Movement 'Lion Versus' Promised to Be Shot in Bryansk | work = Bryansk Today| accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 21 January 2019| url = https://bryansktoday.ru/article/89563| language = ru| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20190123191732/https://bryansktoday.ru/article/89563| archivedate = 23 January 2019| url-status = live}}
* {{Cite news| title = Активиста движения "Лев против" пригрозили застрелить в Брянске | trans-title = Activist of the Movement 'Lion Versus' Threatened to Be Shot in Bryansk | work = Bryanskaya Street| accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 21 January 2019| url = https://bryansku.ru/2019/01/21/aktivista-dvizheniya-lev-protiv-prigrozili-zastrelit-v-bryanske/| language = ru| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190123192025/https://bryansku.ru/2019/01/21/aktivista-dvizheniya-lev-protiv-prigrozili-zastrelit-v-bryanske/| archive-date = 23 January 2019| url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="Carroll">{{Cite news|last=Carroll |first=Oliver |date=2019-06-09 |title=Skinhead vigilante gangs attack hipsters on Moscow's streets to "uphold Russia's moral code"|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/moscow-vigilante-gangs-pepper-spray-russia-morals-violence-clean-streets-a8944891.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/moscow-vigilante-gangs-pepper-spray-russia-morals-violence-clean-streets-a8944891.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2020-07-12|work=[[The Independent]]|language=en}}</ref>
<ref name="Gorbach">{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/denys-gorbach/entrepreneurs-of-political-violence-ukraine-far-right|title=Entrepreneurs of Political Violence: The Varied Interests and Strategies of the Far-Right in Ukraine|last=Gorbach|first=Denys|date=15 October 2018|website=openDemocracy|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229055032/https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/denys-gorbach/entrepreneurs-of-political-violence-ukraine-far-right|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=Sevastopol>{{Cite news| last = Klyueva| first = Ella| title = Вчера: "СтопХам", сегодня: "ЛЕВ ПРОТИВ". Кто еще будет воспитывать севастопольцев? | trans-title = Yesterday: 'StopXam', Today: 'LION VERSUS'. Who Else Will Raise Sevastopol? | work = Informer| accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 3 March 2016| url = http://ruinformer.com/page/vchera-stopham-segodnja-lev-protiv-kto-eshhe-budet-vospityvat-sevastopolcev-video| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170208215340/http://ruinformer.com/page/vchera-stopham-segodnja-lev-protiv-kto-eshhe-budet-vospityvat-sevastopolcev-video| archive-date = 8 February 2017| url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name=Belgorod>{{Cite web| last = Kornev| first = Vladimir| title = Белгородский "Лев против". Как активисты отучают горожан от сигарет и алкоголя на улицах | trans-title = Belgorod 'Lion Versus'. As Activists Disaccustom Citizens from Cigarettes and Alcohol on the Streets | accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 31 October 2015| url = https://fonar.tv/article/2015/10/31/belgorodskiy-lev-protiv-kak-aktivisty-otuchayut-gorozhan-ot-sigaret-i-alkogolya-na-ulicah| language = ru| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160402020846/http://fonar.tv/article/2015/10/31/belgorodskiy-lev-protiv-kak-aktivisty-otuchayut-gorozhan-ot-sigaret-i-alkogolya-na-ulicah| archive-date = 2 April 2016| url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name=Kolokol>{{Cite news| last = Kovalev| first = Dmitry| title = 'Лев против': государственные гопники? |trans-title='Lion Versus': State Gopnik? | work = Kolokol Russia| accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 26 April 2016| url = http://kolokolrussia.ru/vlast/lev-protiv-gosudarstvenne-gopniki| language = ru| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180501085605/http://kolokolrussia.ru/vlast/lev-protiv-gosudarstvenne-gopniki| archive-date = 1 May 2018| url-status = live}} (See also: [[Gopnik]])</ref>
<ref name="LifeInRussia">{{Cite web|work=Life In Russia|title=LifeInRussia - Meeting Lev Lazutin (Lion Versus)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmOknVJ0T0|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name="Shlyonskaya">{{Cite web|url=https://medialeaks.ru/1309xsh-lev-protiv/|title=ЗОЖ-ники подрались с выпивающими в Москве и начали уличную войну. В такой ситуации даже неясно, за кого болеть|last=Shlyonskaya|first=Ksenia|date=13 September 2018|website=MediaLeaks|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229171446/https://medialeaks.ru/1309xsh-lev-protiv/|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=Staritskaya>{{Cite news| last = Staritskaya| first = Anna| title = Караулят у дома, угрожают убить. Мать двоих детей борется с активистами "Льва против" | trans-title = Guard at Home, Is Threatened to Be Killed. Mother of Two Children Struggling with Activists 'Lion Versus' | work = 360° | access-date = 23 January 2019| date = 14 September 2018| url = http://360tv.ru/news/tekst/lev-protiv-soboleva/| language = ru| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190123193205/https://360tv.ru/news/tekst/lev-protiv-soboleva/| archive-date = 23 January 2019| url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="Tsnompilantze">{{Cite web|url=http://themoscowtimes.com/articles/generation-putin-smug-patriotic-and-rebellious-61301|title=Generation Putin: Smug, Patriotic and Rebellious|last=Tsnompilantze|first=Maria|date=30 April 2018|website=The Moscow Times|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229060552/https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/generation-putin-smug-patriotic-and-rebellious-61301|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name="Yablokov">{{Cite web|url=http://themoscowtimes.com/articles/anti-smoking-movement-raids-moscow-train-station-36623|title=Anti-Smoking Movement Raids Moscow Train Station|last=Yablokov|first=Alexei|date=22 June 2014|website=The Moscow Times|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229044352/https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/anti-smoking-movement-raids-moscow-train-station-36623|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=MoscowToday>{{Cite news| last = Yuzupchuk| first = Dmitry| title = Поэт осудил работу борцов с алкоголем "Лев Против" в Долгопрудном | trans-title = Poet Condemns the Work of Alcohol Fighters 'Lion Versus' in Dolgoprudny | work = Подмосковье сегодня (Moscow Today)| access-date = 23 January 2019| date = 14 June 2018| url = https://mosregtoday.ru/soc/poet-osudil-rabotu-borcov-s-alkogolem-lev-protiv-v-dolgoprudnom/| language = ru}}</ref>
<ref name="YouTube">{{cite web |last=ЛЕВ ПРОТИВ|title=ЛЕВ ПРОТИВ - РЕЙД НА КРАСНОЙ ПЛОЩАДИ ПРОТИВ АЛКОГОЛЯ|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3UIeomvMdI|access-date=30 December 2018|language=ru|publisher=YouTube|date=25 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=Pyatigorsk>{{Cite news| title = Во время первого рейда проекта "Лев против" в Пятигорске водители маршруток подрались с активистами |trans-title = During the First Raid of the Project 'Lion Versus' in Pyatigorsk, Minibus Drivers Had a Fight with Activists | work = Блокнот Ставрополь (Notebook Stavropol)| accessdate = 23 January 2019| date = 6 August 2015| url = http://bloknot-stavropol.ru/news/vo-vremya-pervogo-reyda-proekta-lev-protiv-voditel-614016| language = ru| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150807221511/http://bloknot-stavropol.ru/news/vo-vremya-pervogo-reyda-proekta-lev-protiv-voditel-614016| archive-date = 7 August 2015| url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="CBSMedia.ru">{{Cite web|url=https://cbsmedia.ru/proisshestviya/lev-protiv-protiv-pomoschi-postradavshim/|title=Лев Против. Против помощи пострадавшим|last=Моргуновская|first=Алёна|date=9 October 2018|website=CBSMedia.ru|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229123421/https://cbsmedia.ru/proisshestviya/lev-protiv-protiv-pomoschi-postradavshim/|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
<ref name="1istochnik.ru">{{Cite web|url=https://1istochnik.ru/news/20827|title=Движение "Лев против" взялось за Свидетелей Иеговы в Кирове |trans-title = 'Lion Versus' Movement Takes on Jehovah's Witnesses in Kirov |date=11 March 2016|website=1istochnik.ru|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229171323/https://1istochnik.ru/news/20827|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Alperovich
|first1=Vera
|last2=Yudina
|first2=Natalia
|year=2017
|chapter=Old Problems and New Alliances: Xenophobia and Radical Nationalism in Russia, and Efforts to Counteract Them in 2016
|editor-last=Verkhovsky
|editor-first=Alexander
|title=Xenophobia, Freedom of Conscience and Anti-Extremism in Russia in 2016
|url=https://www.sova-center.ru/files/books/pe17-text.pdf
|url-status=live
|location=Moscow
|publisher=SOVA Center for Information and Analysis
|pages=7–64
|isbn=978-5-98418-041-2
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718050437/https://www.sova-center.ru/files/books/pe17-text.pdf
|archive-date=18 July 2018
|access-date=26 January 2019
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Gabdulhakov
|first=Rashid
|year=2018
|title=Citizen-Led Justice in Post-Communist Russia: From Comrades' Courts to Dotcomrade Vigilantism
|journal=Surveillance & Society
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=314–331
|doi=10.24908/ss.v16i3.6952
|doi-access=free
|issn=1477-7487
}}
* {{cite journal
|last1=Krawatzek
|first1=Félix
|last2=Sasse
|first2=Gwendolyn
|author2-link=Gwendolyn Sasse
|year=2018
|title=Youth in Russia: Outlook on Life and Political Attitudes
|url=https://www.zois-berlin.de/fileadmin/media/Dateien/ZOiS_Reports/ZOiS_Report_1_2018.pdf
|journal=ZOiS Report
|issue=1
|location=Berlin
|publisher=Centre for East European and International Studies
|issn=2512-7233
|access-date=23 January 2019
}}
* {{cite web
|title=Lion Versus YouTube channel
|website=YouTube
|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/lionversusSmoking/
|access-date=2019-01-29
|ref={{harvid|YouTube|2019}}
}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Mareš
|first1=Miroslav
|last2=Laryš
|first2=Martin
|last3=Holzer
|first3=Jan
|year=2019
|title=Militant Right-Wing Extremism in Putin's Russia: Legacies, Forms and Threats
|location=Abingdon, England
|publisher=Routledge
|doi=10.4324/9780429490019
|isbn=978-0-429-95362-0
|s2cid=158097204
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Pochkay
|first=E.&nbsp;P.
|year=2017
|title=Dilettante Journalism as a Way of Self-Actualization
|journal=International Research Journal
|volume=55
|issue=3
|pages=136–139
|doi=10.23670/IRJ.2017.55.020
|doi-access=free
|issn=2227-6017
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Schwenck
|first=Anna
|year=2017
|title=Review of ''Youth Politics in Putin's Russia: Producing Patriots and Entrepreneurs'', by Julie Hemment
|journal=Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research
|volume=9
|issue=3
|pages=135–139
|doi=10.25285/2078-1938-2017-9-3-135-139
|doi-access=free
|issn=2078-1938
}}
* {{cite book
|author=United States Department of State
|author-link=United States Department of State
|year=2017
|chapter=Russia
|chapter-url=https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/269104.pdf
|title=2016 Report on International Religious Freedom
|location=Washington
|publisher=United States Department of State
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206152457/https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/269104.pdf
|archive-date=6 December 2017
|access-date=26 January 2019
}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Yudina
|first1=Natalia
|last2=Alperovich
|first2=Vera
|year=2016
|chapter=The Ultra-Right Movement Under Pressure: Xenophobia and Radical Nationalism in Russia, and Efforts to Counteract Them in 2015
|editor-last=Verkhovsky
|editor-first=Alexander
|title=Xenophobia, Freedom of Conscience and Anti-Extremism in Russia in 2015
|url=https://www.sova-center.ru/files/books/pe16-text.pdf
|url-status=live
|location=Moscow
|publisher=SOVA Center for Information and Analysis
|pages=7–66
|isbn=978-5-98418-038-2
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808011208/http://www.sova-center.ru/files/books/pe16-text.pdf
|archive-date=8 August 2017
|access-date=23 January 2019
}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite news|last=Bargain|first=Héloïse|date=2019-06-15|title=Young Russians Fight Against Drinking in Public|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/06/15/young-russians-fight-against-drinking-in-public-a66019|access-date=2020-07-12|work=[[The Moscow Times]]|language=en}}
* {{cite document
|last=Denisovna
|first=Suslova Kseniya
|year=2017
|title=Political Identity of Members of Social and Political Movements in Modern Russia: The Case of Stop Kham and Lev Protiv
|location=Saint Petersburg
|publisher=Saint Petersburg State University
|hdl=11701/8017
|hdl-access=free
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Favarel-Garrigues
|first=Gilles
|year=2018
|title=Justiciers amateurs et croisades morales en Russie contemporaine
|journal=Revue française de science politique
|language=fr
|volume=68
|issue=4
|pages=651–667
|doi=10.3917/rfsp.684.0651
|issn=0035-2950
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Hemment
|first=Julie
|year=2015
|title=Youth Politics in Putin's Russia: Producing Patriots and Entrepreneurs
|location=Bloomington, Indiana
|publisher=Indiana University Press
|isbn=978-0-253-01781-9
}}
* {{cite news
|last1=Lomakin
|first1=Boris
|last2=Stepanov
|first2=Ivan
|last3=Boytsov
|first3=Maxim
|date=22 October 2018
|title='Лев против' обиделся на критика и подловил его в раздевалке. Заступаться пришел Николай Соболев
|url=https://360tv.ru/news/tekst/lev-protiv-soboleva/
|trans-title='Lion Versus' Offended by a Critic and Caught Him in the Locker Room. Nikolay Sobolev Interceded'
|work=360°
|language=ru
|access-date=23 January 2019
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Matveeva
|first=A.&nbsp;V.
|year=2017
|chapter=Media Activism in Russia: Civil Society on the Internet or Personal Gain?
|editor1-last=Kudrin
|editor1-first=A.&nbsp;L.
|editor2-last=Chernigovskaya
|editor2-first=T.&nbsp;V.
|editor3-last=Allakhverdov
|editor3-first=M.&nbsp;V.
|title=VI Student Smolny Conference Proceedings: Multidisciplinarity in Science and Art; Trends and Opportunities
|url=http://artesliberales.spbu.ru/events/calendar/17_04_21-23events/Conference_Proceedings2017/
|format=PDF
|language=ru
|location=Saint Petersburg
|publisher=Saint Petersburg University Press
|pages=115–116
|isbn=978-5-288-05720-5
|access-date=26 January 2019
}}
* {{cite web
|last1=Shamiev
|first1=Kirill
|last2=Shentseva
|first2=Taya
|date=4 September 2017
|title=The Deep Roots of Russia's Young Protestors
|url=http://intersectionproject.eu/article/politics/deep-roots-russias-young-protestors
|work=Intersection
|location=Warsaw
|publisher=Centre for Polish–Russian Dialogue and Understanding
|access-date=23 January 2019
}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|user=lionversusSmoking|title=Official|suffix=}}

{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

[[Category:2014 establishments in Russia]]
[[Category:Anti-smoking activists]]
[[Category:Direct action]]
[[Category:Nonviolence advocates]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Moscow]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 2014]]
[[Category:Social movements]]
[[Category:Youth movements]]
[[Category:Youth organizations based in Russia]]
[[Category:Youth-led organizations]]
[[Category:YouTube]]