Who is Lyusya Stein? “Breasts to protect your home. Lucy Stein. About events on Arbat Square

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Moscow protest rallies and recent municipal elections have shown that young people have moved from pointlessly standing in line for a new pair of Yeezy sneakers to active political action. The average age of those detained in paddy wagons and those on the ballot is inexorably approaching thirty or younger. For some, it’s just a fashion inspired by memes about Navalny, for others it’s a non-obvious way to solve their own everyday problems, for the majority it’s the first step on the path to adult ballot boxes, civil or human rights activities.

While the older generation has stopped believing in better times, the younger generation is looking to the future with moderate optimism. He has his whole life ahead of him to make personal and social changes.

The main character of this material, Lyusya Stein, got her fifteen minutes of fame absolutely by accident - she shot the well-known video of the police detaining a ten-year-old boy on Arbat. She could have used them in different ways, but she chose the most difficult path, going to municipal elections: “This nomination is my civil response to what is happening around... It’s hard for me to live where the police tie up children and throw girls to the ground, and those Those who don’t like it are asked to be deported. I grew up in a family where we were used to speaking up about what was important and doing what we thought was right, and I put myself forward because I think it’s right.”

Many of Lucy's peers were guided by moving beyond the city limits as the first step in "conquering the country." They visited apartments, met and communicated with voters, and spared no effort in telling stories and campaigning. Simultaneously with these “warm”, “lamp” receptions, the program of politicians Gudkov and Katz “uberized” the electoral process by inventing a generator that allowed concerned citizens to search for the names of independent candidates by registration address.

Making forecasts for the future is the most thankless task. Nobody knows how the future careers of these young people will develop and whether they will withstand the thankless, monotonous work of municipal deputies that is not paid for by government contracts, shares in dacha cooperatives and fashionable sneakers.

I would like to say that on the following pages of L’Officiel you will see the ministers of culture, finance, health, the mayor of Moscow or the president of the Russian Federation. But even if this does not happen, then just enjoy these nice politicians of the new formation. When else in modern history will candidates not from the dominant party in the country win, without administrative leverage, and they will all be in their early twenties.

Lucy Stein

21 years old, journalist, municipal deputy of the Basmanny district

“In Georgia, your neighbors in the stairwell are your family, and it’s strange if you don’t know someone from your house. By the way, I also didn’t know my neighbors until I started door-to-door visits.”

Ilya Morozov

27 years old, analyst, municipal deputy of the Basmanny district

“I never wanted to get into politics, but I was tired of watching what was happening around me: from non-functioning storm drains to the state of the courtyards. I am sure that we ourselves must influence the fate of our area, the renovation of houses, the improvement of streets.”

Elena Vereshchagina

23 years old, journalist, municipal deputy in Troitsk, New Moscow

“At meetings with residents, I said that even a young person can understand city issues. I’m glad that the nightly rounds of apartments, a hundred thousand rubles and a lot of worries were not in vain. I would like to meet the expectations of the citizens who voted in the hope of seeing real changes. And who should do them now if not me?”

Victor Kotov

24 years old, bank employee, municipal deputy of the Basmanny district

“I was born and raised in the Basmanny district. No matter how trivial it may sound, I was prompted to decide to run for office by an ordinary everyday incident - my apartment was flooded. I began to figure this out on my own and realized that no one undertakes to solve such problems. And the municipal deputy is just capable of assisting in this.”

Below is an interview with Lyusya Stein.

Tell us about yourself in a few sentences.

I am twenty-one years old, born in Moscow. At sixteen I entered VGIK, the screenwriting and film studies department, and just graduated. From the third or fourth year I transferred to the correspondence department to work in journalism. She worked for the online publication Mel, information services, and RBC. While I was looking for a job, I ended up at Gudkov’s summer headquarters, where it was necessary to organize communication training for candidates for deputies. When the story with the Arbat boy, which I witnessed, happened, unexpected media attention appeared to me, friends said that if I ran for election, it would be funny. We decided to play with it, and I ended up getting involved quite seriously. And so the campaign began.

How did it go?

Funny! It consisted of two parts: form and content. The form is what everyone has seen on the Internet: busts, funny statements by the Mikhalkovs, Solovievs, some kind of constant “media doctor”. The content was in the field work - door-to-door visits, hanging campaign materials. Here we faced constant confrontation: we canvassed the area, and after half an hour there was not a single leaflet; specially hired people were working against us. But we were able to overcome all this, because without the content, no one needed my media presence. But it was important to draw attention to the boring topic of municipal elections by what I do on the Internet.

“Moscow is like a boring wife or mother from Russian literature, which at the same time is beloved, dear, and you can’t escape it”

In the Basmanny district, the popular nightclub “Rabitsa” was closed due to police brutality. Can you, as a deputy, influence such situations?

I don't think I can bring the club back. Even if the municipal council of deputies could do this, which I’m not sure about, we have a minority there. But I can collect signatures and create movement in the media. I have two tools: an agenda, where I can introduce some kind of initiative, and a parliamentary request, which I can write to different departments, and they are obliged to answer me.

What else is included in your job responsibilities?

In the near future we will have an extraordinary meeting at which we will be divided into commissions. Let's say the commission for urban planning, land use and improvement. Budget, social, overhaul and so on. There is a commission for informing residents, there is one for culture - I will most likely be included in them. Also regarding the organization of public hearings is communication with residents, which is what we, in fact, initially intended to do. It is possible to hold various events within the area. For example, we have an excellent square opposite the synagogue, where there is a music school. Let's try to come to an agreement with them and organize small local concerts for locals. I don’t like that in Moscow no one knows the neighbors in the stairwell. I was the same until I started going door to door during the campaign. Neighborhood events like these are an opportunity to get to know those who live nearby and develop community and good neighborly relations.

What does it even feel like to win your first election at twenty-one?

I didn't expect our whole team to win, it was one of the most memorable moments in my life. On the air of the Dozhd TV channel, Pavel Lobkov was going to make excuses for our failure, and thought about reporting gloomy forecasts. I see the first results are coming. At first I saw that I had twelve votes and was not even surprised, but it turned out that I had mixed up the line and I had 150, with a large gap from the rest. The mood of the broadcast immediately changed.

There was an uplift when we first learned about the results, but after that it became psychologically difficult. During the campaign, I was tired of the attention that was around me, I was prepared for the fact that people would write which sheep lost, and that’s it, I would go into the shadows. And then it becomes clear that this is just the beginning, and then everything will be five times more intense.

What do you expect from the next five years?

That they will leave me alone and I will be able to do things for the region that are truly worthy of attention. Together with fellow deputies, we plan to launch the “Open Basmanny” platform on the Internet - to connect residents of the district with each other, unite its activists, solve problems together with neighbors, send demands, complaints and requests to us directly. I hope this initiative will spread throughout Moscow.

I have an idea to gather a group of volunteers, because it is impossible to develop the entire area on my own, although I still continue door-to-door visits and get to know the residents. What other deputy has visited apartments before?

“I tweeted a swear word and everyone is talking about it. What difference does it make what I wrote if I do my job well?!”

How do you feel about Moscow in general?

Due to the fact that I lived in Israel for a month, Kremlin propaganda claims that I have citizenship there. In fact, I went to study in the small town of Ariel because I freaked out and decided that I couldn’t live in Moscow anymore. I couldn’t stay there for a long time where nothing was happening and came back. Here a completely new Moscow opened up for me, which I suddenly fell in love with, despite all the shortcomings. This city is like a boring wife or mother from Russian literature, who at the same time is beloved and dear and there is no escape from her.

How do you feel about your millennial generation?

It's hard to talk about an entire generation, but I had an experience from which I can draw a representative conclusion. At one of the rallies, I was locked in a paddy wagon along with fifteen other guys. One was an adult, the rest were my age. I took a selfie, it naturally went viral online, and we were invited to appear on “Echo of Moscow” - seven people from a paddy wagon for a three-hour broadcast. It was an indicative broadcast in the sense that all these random people turned out to be completely adequate and were able to quite accurately express their position.

Do you see yourself in politics in the future?

I’m not sure, because for me this is a social activity, not a political one. A municipal deputy does not receive a salary - this is unpaid work. I regret that I do not have an education that matches my current interests. I didn’t become a lawyer or political scientist. I like the genre of political actionism, I would like to develop in it, but given my new position, part of the public is perceived with hostility. Although, in my opinion, I can do anything, the main thing is to fulfill my duties. Now, seeing that I am doing something other than regional tasks, some people react negatively to this. I tweeted a swear word and they keep saying it. Who cares what I tweeted as long as I keep doing my job?

An original way to fight the Moscow renovation was invented by a new opposition p..zzda - a candidate for municipal deputies Lucy Stein.

With the help of action artist Artyom Loskutov, she made a cast of her breasts. Then, with the help of her associates, the candidate went to hang the bust castings - “breast amulets” - on capital buildings identified for demolition.

The action was called “Breasts to protect houses from renovation.” It took place in the Basmanny district, where Stein intends to run. In total, the casts are hung on six houses. Under the strange decorative elements there are inscriptions: “For the protection of your home. Lucy Stein"“You will be torn down, but you hold on. #citizenstein".

- From the emancipation of slaves in the United States in the 19th century to the Resistance movement in Nazi-occupied France, women's breasts symbolized freedom and independence.- said Stein.
- The naked female breast became one of the first totems of magical power. By placing my breasts on the house, I thereby turn to ancient rituals, she added.
- Lucy Stein is doing an incredible campaign. Boobs on houses are really cool. Voters demand bread and circuses, one of her associates wrote on Facebook yesterday.
- I made casts of amulets for my colleague Lucy Stein - she placed them on six houses in the Basmanny district of Moscow, which were demolished due to “renovation”. Lyusya stands up to protect the residents of these houses - she wants to be a municipal deputy. I fully support, wrote on Facebook the repeatedly convicted drug addict Loskutov, known for conducting"Monstrations" in Novosibirsk, separatist vysers and unsuccessful nomination for deputy from PARNAS.

Lyusya Stein herself is known, let me remind you, for her key role in the provocation sewn with white thread “Detention of a child for poetry.” Immediately after this, vigorous activity was launched (with the support of Dmitry Gudkov, Maxim Kats, “Echo of Moscow”, “Rain”, RBC, etc.) to promote a new star of the creative opposition.
- Having become a participant in the incident with the boy, I decided to run for municipal deputies. This nomination is my civil response to what is happening around"Stein said.
Her campaign headquarters is led by a psychologist who conducts communication trainings for bankers and liberal candidates for deputies Andrei Matveev, a close friend of Gudkov Jr. Also seen at the headquarters admiring the burning"Vatnikov" in Odessa, now left from "Open Russia"Polina Nemirovskaya (Stein's neighbor and friend) and even (in recent days) Liza Peskova, the daughter of that same press secretary of Peskov.
Stein is currently busy creating... her own liberal party.

On July 2, Lucy (Lyudmila Petrovna) Stein will turn 21 years old. She is the daughter of the late theater director Pyotr Aleksandrovich Stein, the granddaughter of the Soviet writer and playwright Alexander Petrovich (Pinkhusovich) Stein (Rubinstein), and the cousin of the Soviet-Israeli poet Boris Samuilovich Stein. Lyusina's aunt Tatyana Semyonovna Putievskaya (Mandel) is the widow of actor Igor Vladimirovich Kvasha.

As a child, Lucy played a cameo role in her father's television play based on the work of Lyudmila Ulitskaya "Through Line" Further: VGIK (graduates from the screenwriting and film studies department), attempts to become a model, short-term work at RBC and Radio Liberty, work at the headquarters of Dmitry Gudkov.

Stein is an Israeli citizen. However, no one doubted this.

Elections were held in Moscow on September 10municipal deputies. We won in the Basmanny Districtemployees of Dmitry Gudkov's headquarters, including Lyudmila Stein, who received 1,153 votes. Open Russia spoke with a student of the screenwriting and film studies department of VGIK, who will now defend the interests of millennials in the Council of Deputies.

- How did you manage to win these elections?

— What will be your next actions?

— How are you going to attract young people into politics?

— Why did people vote for you?

STAGES OF THE GREAT PATH:

- Having become a participant in the incident with the boy, I decided to run for municipal deputies. This nomination is my civil response to what is happening around"Stein said.
- From the emancipation of slaves in the United States in the 19th century to the Resistance movement in Nazi-occupied France, women's breasts symbolized freedom and independence.- said Stein.
- The naked female breast became one of the first totems of magical power. By placing my breasts on the house, I thereby turn to ancient rituals, she added.
- Lucy Stein is doing an incredible campaign. Boobs on houses are really cool. Voters demand bread and circuses, one of her associates wrote on Facebook.

On July 2, Lyusa (Lyudmila Petrovna) Stein turned 21 years old. She is the daughter of a late theater director Peter Alexandrovich Stein , granddaughter of a Soviet writer and playwright Alexander Petrovich (Pinkhusovich) Stein (Rubinstein) , cousin of the Soviet-Israeli poet Boris Samuilovich Stein . Lyusina's aunt Tatyana Semyonovna Putievskaya (Mandel) is the widow of actor Igor Vladimirovich Kvasha.
As a child, Lucy played a cameo role in her father's television play based on the work of Lyudmila Ulitskaya"Through Line" Next: VGIK (screenplay and film studies department),

Lucy Stein

21 years old, student, employee of Dmitry Gudkov’s headquarters, candidate for municipal deputies

About events on Arbat Square

Now they are saying different things about the boy’s detention. They even accuse you of planned provocation. Can you tell me what you saw?

Unfortunately, many things were distorted. The funny thing is that people accuse me of provoking. They call him an agent of the Kremlin, the Freemasons - in general, whatever they write. They are looking for conspiracy theories in the fact that I worked at Radio Liberty three years ago. Many more doubt that a person could really accidentally walk along Arbat at 7 pm on Friday and have a phone with a camera with him. In fact, I work at Gudkov’s headquarters and that evening I was going to Andrei Matveev’s training. Andrey can confirm that because of the boy I was a little late, and he scolded me. Coming out of the subway, I saw police officers pushing the girl to the ground. A crowd stood in the distance and simply watched. I decided to figure out what was happening and approached the police car.

- Wasn't it scary?

No. I was outraged by what was happening: two healthy police officers - I cannot call them by other words - were pushing a young girl to the ground. I saw the boy later - he was resting his feet on the car so that he would not be taken away. I tried to find out on what basis they put him in the car. The police ignored my questions. The girl, despite being hysterical, was able to briefly explain what was happening. Then I took out my phone and started filming. Thought proof of police misconduct might come in handy. At the same time, I tried to help the girl prevent the boy from being taken away. Therefore, the video turned out very bad, but still collected 150 thousand views.

The car with the boy left after all. I exchanged contacts with the girl and went to work. Having finished my business, I went to the Arbat police station. The girl was already there. But they didn’t let me inside. I was only able to talk to the employees who participated in the arrest in the smoking room. They said that this is a beggarly business, the mafia, everything. And they added that they did everything right. That the boy was an actor and was only pretending to cry, but he actually had no tears. This is not true - I saw the boy up close. I think he was seriously injured. This is where my participation ended. I wrote a post on Facebook, and then you saw everything for yourself.

You also wrote that after all this you decided to run for municipal deputies. Are you planning to build a political career?

Yes, that's right. Of course, there were other reasons for nomination. But after seeing how the child’s rights to freedom of expression were being neglected, I realized that I could no longer be a person who only talks about problems - I want to solve them.

About Me

You are a young, beautiful girl - it is completely unclear why you need to drag yourself to the police department and get elected as a deputy. Can you tell us about yourself?

I'm 21, and I'm graduating from the screenwriting and film studies department of VGIK. I was always ashamed to look at what was happening around me and realize that I was doing nothing to improve the situation. That is, even when I walk down the street and see people who live worse than me, I am ashamed of my own inaction. Now many people say that I have been planning my nomination for a long time. This is not true - I worked in journalism for three years. And I recently got a job at the joint headquarters of candidates for municipal deputies Gudkov and Katz. There are many of my peers among the nominees, including 19-year-olds. Their example made me feel more confident.

- Why did you decide to go to Gudkov’s headquarters?

Matveev called me there. I had no experience working in the headquarters; I wanted to take part in the election campaign. I respect Gudkov as a politician and have known Katz for a long time, although we have never communicated closely. It seems to me that what the guys are doing is correct.

- Where do you know such friends?

In fact, I personally do not know everyone from the so-called liberal crowd. I communicate with some people exclusively for work, and with others I am friends. Most acquaintances occur through mutual company. This is not some kind of sect - people with similar views are simply attracted to each other.

- Do you take part in protests?

The last time I went to the “Fed up” rally, which was held by Open Russia. I had free time, and I wrote to Polina Nemirovskaya from the headquarters - by the way, we knew each other even before we got involved in politics. She invited me to take part in the campaigning before the rally. All this was filmed by French reporters. Afterwards they suggested making me the main character of the plot. When I walked out onto the square wearing bright yellow glasses and the same T-shirt with the words “I'm tired” on it, reporters with cameras and microphones approached me. I had never spoken to the press before, so I was a little scared, but I still said everything I wanted. Now they reproach me.

How do you generally deal with caustic comments on social networks?

Yes, there is sexism and anti-Semitism. In fact, I don’t really care what people find on my social networks - they live in the past, and I live in the present and future. Insults will not affect my decision to be a candidate. I don’t think there are people with ideal moral character who cannot be reached. If Gandhi had social networks, people would have found incriminating evidence on him too - for example, a photo with meat.

Now there is an artificial tendency to contrast politics with the life of a modern young man. I do not understand this. For example, this afternoon I was at a training session, now I’m giving you an interview, then I’ll go to a headquarters meeting, and in the evening I’ll play basketball with my friends. There is nothing mutually exclusive here. And it’s strange that people contrast different aspects of life - this does not correspond to the spirit of the times.

Some people think that people like me have no place in politics. On the contrary, I am scared by all these serious politicians in gray suits who are trying to pretend that they have nothing in life but work. I want politics to be alive. Living politics for living people - perhaps this is my main message.

- How do you distract yourself from unpleasant thoughts?

Most of the negativity happens online, so I just close my laptop. If something bothers me, I talk to my parents. We haven't lived together for a long time - they moved to Portugal - but we keep in touch. They are adequate, wise people; after talking with them I feel better and calmer.

- How did they react to your decision to become a municipal deputy?

They support me ideologically, but my mother is very afraid. She cannot perceive what they write to me through the prism of irony, so it is very difficult for her to see it.

- What do you do when you are not involved in politics?

I am an ordinary girl who is finishing university, loves hanging out with friends, going to the movies, reading books, listening to music and playing basketball. Sometimes I take part in modeling shoots - this is also reproached for me. Although I was even reproached for the fact that my grandfather - he died when I was born - was a laureate of two Stalin Prizes. According to some people, this means that I should lustrate my own family. They also say that I don’t know how to spell my last name. It’s as if it’s not Stein, but Stein (“stone” in German). But I also have “Stein” in my international passport (Lusya is the granddaughter of playwright Alexander Stein and the daughter of theater director Pyotr Stein. - Note ed.).

About the election campaign

- Tell us about your election campaign.

In fact, Andrei Matveev came up with everything - we work together, I organize his trainings. Andrey is a psychologist, previously worked in training centers of banks, and conducted trainings in various companies. He even ran for deputy, but withdrew his candidacy - he realized that this was not for him. His role is to be there and support. Without Andrey, I would never have thought about running. My first reaction was: “What? Which candidate am I?” But after discussing it with him, I realized that I was ready. We are currently recruiting a team.

- Which district will you be moving from?

Initially, we thought about Arbatsky, since it was there that my transformation took place - I became a person who is ready to act. Then they wanted to work in the Presnensky district - the situation with the quality of life there raises many questions. But a lot of people come from it, so in the end we settled on Basmanny, where I live. We want to place our headquarters in one of the local clubs: “Rabitsa” or “Gazgolder” - well, who will respond...

- Do you already have a program? What do you offer people? What do you want to change?

Of course, I can start talking about rotten pipes in some area of ​​the city, on the third floor of Eleonora Mikhailovna. But it seems to me that its fate is not decided at the level of housing and communal services and the district. It is being decided at the federal policy level. Municipal elections are where we need to start. I think that for a voter in any district it is not so much important what is in his yard, but rather what is happening in the country. When new people come into politics, new blood is always some kind of inspiration, hope that the system is not yet completely rotten. Therefore, we invite everyone who shares our views to join our team.

- Do you think municipal deputies have enough power to change anything?

Of course, but first you need to find out from potential voters what concerns them, and if they are elected, try to resolve the situation. Don’t create the appearance of activity, wanting to get more money and go to Miami, but really get down to business.

Now Muscovites are very concerned about two topics - the future and current reconstruction of the city within the framework. What do you think about this?

White-green Moscow traumatizes me - I walk the streets and am genuinely irritated. This is categorical impudence. True, I’m not sure that something can be done about this at the municipal level. Renovation is also crazy. Spitting in the faces of residents. We need a renovation of government, not five-story buildings. A municipal deputy could collect signatures and accumulate the forces of dissenting residents. And by doing your job well and gaining the trust of voters, you can subsequently solve global urban problems.

Portrait of Lucy Stein with one of her official campaign hashtags

About youth policy

Speaking in the State Duma, Sasha Spielberg said that our politicians lack the desire to understand what they do not understand...

Our politicians don't get enough of politics. They do anything but their job - they line their pockets and expand their own powers, but do not think about the life of the city or country. The lack of transparency of the political process is already a consequence. Of course, I can now call myself different - honest and principled. But no one will believe me anyway. What kind of politician I am can be better told not by words, but by actions.

- Can you imagine yourself, for example, in the role of mayor?

I can imagine myself as anyone. These are just my first steps: I only know what it means to be a serious politician from the series “House of Cards” and “The Boss”. Of course, I follow the lives of real politicians, but this is an outside view.

- Do you like any of the heroes of the past and present?

I recently read about the reign of Franklin Roosevelt - it was very fascinating. In general, it is difficult to talk about sympathy for politicians - this is, by and large, a dirty matter. I liked the way Barack Obama interacted with people. Roughly speaking, like a kid, he easily talked to Americans and invited them to the Oval Office. You can remember Claire Underwood from House of Cards: she is quite cruel, but I like her temperament and feminine strength. I would like to strive for this myself. There are not many women politicians. Actually, I'm not a feminist. That is, I am against a woman being beaten with a stick in the kitchen, but I do not support extremes, such as the word “author.”

21-year-old Lyusya Stein, a candidate for municipal deputies in the Basmanny district of Moscow, received 1,153 votes. She spoke about this on her Facebook page.

"We won. All three by a wide margin,” she wrote.

It should be clarified that we are talking about two other candidates from Gudkov’s team - Viktor Kotov and Ilya Morozov, who also become deputies.

Let us recall that Lyusya Stein, an employee of Dmitry Gudkov’s headquarters, announced her intention to run for municipal deputies in May 2017, after she was the first to report the detention of a 10-year-old boy reading poems from Hamlet on Arbat Square.

In June of this year, she, together with the artist Artem Loskutov, organized the campaign “Breasts to protect your home.” As part of this action, Lyusya Stein installed plaster casts of her breasts on six houses included in the renovation program.

Note that Lyusya Stein was born in 1996 in Moscow in the family of theater director Pyotr Stein. Her mother is a psychologist, and her grandfather is the famous playwright and winner of two Stalin prizes, Alexander Stein.

Currently, the girl lives alone, as her parents left for Portugal. Lucy Stein is currently a student. The girl also works for Radio Liberty and also films for various publications.