The Communist Party has tried to subordinate young people to its own, strictly electoralist and bureaucratic vision of the role of the Russian left. The congress also left the RKSM bruised and counting its losses. The final cost may include the departure of as many as a quarter of the members. And one in ten of the 60 regional sections of the Komsomol will have to be rebuilt, in some cases almost from scratch.
Young people deliver leaflets and ring doorbells.
Mingling in public meetings with the pensioners who make up most of the party's voter base, they give the KPRF at least some image of youth and vigour. Consequently, the party in election years is anxious to mobilise young people, organise them, and above all, control them. The next two years will see elections for the lower house of the Russian parliament and for the presidency. In many regions the Komsomol has struggled against KPRF attempts to restrict youth leadership positions to KPRF members. It is often able to decide who will have facilities, premises and employment.