Two Years That Changed the World: Stas Ai Kak Prosto and Participants of the Znanie.Pervye Marathon Discussed Global Historical Changes

On March 5, the Belgorod Pavilion of the World Youth Festival's World Youth City hosted a thorough discussion on the topic "SMO: Two Years That Changed the World". Stanislav Vasilyev, a documentary filmmaker, political observer and blogger, known under the pseudonym Stas Ai Kak Prosto, spoke for the participants of the educational marathon Znanie.Pervye of the Russian Society "Znanie". He shared his vision of military-historical processes and answered challenging questions from many young people.

At the meeting with young people Stanislav Vasilyev tried to reveal a difficult topic: the reasons, the course of the special military operation and its impact on our lives. The blogger noted that attempts to divide our country have been made since 1917, and after World War II, the U.S. launched the era of neocolonialism, the consequences of which the whole world is now facing.

"When the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons, it became clear that a nuclear war would wipe absolutely the entire planet into ashes. Thus begins the era of neocolonialism – economic dependency, suppression of will through psychological and physical special operations. Throughout post-war history, the assassination of politicians who were anti-Communist has been a constant throughout Europe. This was made to discredit the communist parties and to prevent the communists from coming to power democratically. After they ran these operations, the "right" people were appointed. If the operations didn't help, they made a putsch," explained Stanislav Vasiliev.

The blogger admitted that as the special military operation began, he realized its significance – it is part of a worldwide struggle against the politics of neocolonialism.

"I started looking into the situation, reading, watching documentaries. In fact, it is part of a worldwide neocolonial struggle. Russia is fighting the shackles of neocolonial slavery," the columnist emphasized.

Special military operation is a topic that excites many young people, including those from Belarus, Egypt, and Turkmenistan. The marathon participants were interested in the role of the SMO in building a multipolar world, thanked Stas for his movie "Donbass Diary" and wanted to know what had changed in him after his visit to Donbass.

"My whole world has changed. I've talked to a lot of people who are fighting. This is where you see what real life is, you begin to understand the difference between the base and the superstructure. No matter how much we hide in a cloudy world, the clouds dissipate sooner or later and comes the harsh reality that only a country that has its own production and is not dependent on a Western partner is strong. When you start to study both sides of the conflict, you realize: no one is to blame – neither Russians nor Ukrainians. This is what capital wanted, the American military-industrial complex, which needs these wars," says Stanislav Vasiliev.

Another important issue was the fight against fakes and disinformation. It was asked by a girl from Lugansk.

"Disinformation has been everywhere and always. Whether to be involve into this fight, whether to change the minds of your friends and acquaintances is your personal choice. You can change people's minds through content creation and providing facts. I've been able to change people's minds. But in general I think people are smart: you can fool them, but you can't fool them for long. Sooner or later the little sprout of truth will grow into a huge baobab," the blogger explained.

Also, the speakers of the educational marathon Znanie.Pervye on March 5 were Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Ombudsperson for Children's Rights, Denis Pushilin, Head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Yuri Borisov, Director General of the Roscosmos State Corporation, Herman Gref, President, Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, Irina Viner, Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation, President of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, head coach of the Russian national team, Serbian and Russian actor Milos Bikovich, singer and TV presenter Olga Buzova and a lot others.

The lecturers' presentations took place within the track "Saving the Family for Future Generations". The track is dedicated to family values and the importance of family, children's social movements, and talent development from a young age.

The Russian Knowledge Society is the general partner of the educational program of the World Youth Festival, organized by decree of President Vladimir Putin. Znanie.Pervye enlightenment marathon, the flagship project of the Russian Society "Znanie", has become one of the main events in the educational program.

The enlightenment marathon covers six venues of the World Youth City: the WYF International Airport, pavilions "Yamal", "Nizhny Novgorod", "Kazan", "Belgorod", and "Moscow". The tracks of the educational marathon are consonant with the meanings of the Festival: “Responsibility for the fate of the world”, “Multinational unity”, “A world of opportunity for everyone”, “Saving the family for future generations” and “We stand together with Russia”. The most striking presentations of lecturers can be seen on the 24-hour media channel https://russia.znanierussia.ru/tv/Znanie.TV.

Alongside the educational marathon "Znanie.Pervye," within the educational program of the World Youth Festival, the Knowledge Society organized the intellectual tournament "Znanie.Igra" with participants from different countries and the lecture series "Znanie.Kino", where viewers could watch legendary Russian films and discuss them with famous actors and directors. For the Festival participants a multimedia exhibition of the National Photo Contest Znanie.Russia will work, where they will be able to see the main achievements of Russia in the XXI century and immerse themselves in their atmosphere with the help of augmented reality technology. The World Youth Festival shall become a platform for communication between young people from Russia and other countries. After the completion of the events on the Sirius Federal Territory, Russian Knowledge Society will continue the educational line of the World Youth Festival from March 10 to 17 within the framework of the regional program WYF 2024, which will cover all federal districts of our country.

Overview:

The World Youth Festival is held in accordance with the http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202304050024Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin to develop international youth cooperation. At the first meeting of the Organizing Committee chaired by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, it was decided to hold the Festival in the Sirius Federal Territory.

20,000 young leaders in education, science, international cooperation, culture, volunteering, charity, sports, business, media, etc., including 10,000 foreign participants, will take part in the WYF 2024. For the first time in the history of the festival movement, teenagers from 14 to 17 years old had the opportunity to join the event, including 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad. 5,000 volunteers from all regions of Russia, including 228 residents of the LPR, DPR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions be involved in the organization and delivery of the Festival. The organizer of the World Youth Festival is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the operator of the WYF-2024 is the Directorate of the World Youth Festival.

The first federal education marathon was held in May 2021 and became a symbol of the reboot of the Russian Knowledge Society. More than 850 lecturers shared their experience during the marathon.

The Russian Knowledge Society traces its history back to the Soviet public organization founded in 1947 on the initiative of representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia as the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge (since 1963 — the All-Union Knowledge Society, since 1991— the Knowledge of Russia Society). Members of the Society were engaged in popularizing science and lecturing on the achievements of the Soviet economy and industry. In 2016, Knowledge of Russia was transformed into the Russian Knowledge Society. On April 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to restart the Russian Knowledge Society on a modern digital platform in his address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.