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Russia’s gopnik code did not stay in the courtyard. It moved into the Kremlin.

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In this episode, Elvira Bary explains how Russia’s gopnik culture moved from apartment-block courtyards into business, law enforcement, government, propaganda, and the Kremlin itself. Outside Russia, the gopnik is often treated as a meme: tracksuits, sunflower seeds, squatting, crude slang. But inside Russia, this culture meant intimidation, humiliation, loyalty to the gang, contempt for weakness, and the belief that force decides everything. This video traces how the courtyard code formed, how street bullies became respectable, and how the same logic now shapes Russian politics, the war against Ukraine, and the ruling class of a nuclear superpower.

Video Chapters:

00:00 How Russia’s Courtyard Code Hijacked a Nuclear Superpower
03:52 What Makes a Gopnik
07:51 The Courtyard Code
11:40 How the Code Formed
15:30 The Uniform Changes
19:31 When Gopniks Rule

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Transcript
00:00You have probably seen them before. Young Russian men in tracksuits, squatting beside an apartment block, smoking, drinking cheap beer,
00:10and watching everyone who passes as if the courtyard belongs to them.
00:16These are Russian Gopniks. They occupy the opposite end of the country's cultural spectrum, far removed from ballet, classical music,
00:28and literature.
00:28In everyday Russian life, they have always been far more visible and far more numerous than the admirers of high
00:38culture.
00:39Outside Russia, the Gopnik became a meme, added as stripes, sunflower seeds, and crude street slang.
00:47Sometimes, he is portrayed almost affectionately as a ridiculous but harmless symbol of post-Soviet life.
00:55But there was never anything harmless about Gopnik culture.
01:00Because the Gopnik is not just an outfit. He is a code.
01:04Never show weakness.
01:06Strike first.
01:07Humilate your opponent.
01:09Respect only force.
01:11Protect your own people no matter what they have done.
01:14Treat compromises as surrender.
01:17If someone has something you want, take it.
01:21And invent the justification afterward.
01:24Now, imagine that code not in the courtyard beside an apartment block but inside a nuclear superpower.
01:32Gopniks were not simply tough young men trying to look cool.
01:36They terrorized neighborhoods, robbed teenagers, extorted money, humiliated anyone they considered weak,
01:44and forced ordinary people to organize their lives around avoiding them.
01:50They created small zones where law meant nothing and where reputation, aggression, and loyalty to the group mattered more than
01:59anything else.
02:00The real problem is that this culture did not remain in the courtyard.
02:05The man grew older, entered businesses, law enforcement, regional government, and eventually the highest level of power.
02:14The uniform changed.
02:16The track suit became a suit.
02:19The courtyard became an office, a ministry, a television studio, a police station, or the Kremlin.
02:27But many of the old rules survived.
02:30What we are watching in Russian politics today is not merely authoritarianism or corruption.
02:36It is Gopnik culture operating on the scale of a state.
02:42I am Elvira Barry, a writer born in the Soviet Union.
02:45Today I will show you how the Gopniks could move from courtyards into offices, government buildings, and the Kremlin,
02:53and how that courtyard code helped hijack a nuclear superpower.
02:59Here is our roadmap.
03:01What makes a Gopnik?
03:02How and why young men joined this street brotherhood?
03:06The courtyard code.
03:09What unwritten rules Gopniks live by?
03:12How the code formed?
03:14Where this culture came from?
03:16The uniform changes.
03:18How street bullies became respectable.
03:21When Gopniks rule.
03:23How intimidation became political language.
03:26If you'd like to keep getting this kind of insight, please subscribe, like, share, join my think tank,
03:33support through PayPal or Superfanks, or tap Hype Points.
03:37That is how the channel stays independent and keeps doing deeper analysis.
03:43And if you are listening on Spotify, follow the show so the next episode lands in your feed automatically.
03:49Thank you for being here.
03:51Let's begin.
03:53What makes a Gopnik?
03:57The word Gopnik was coined as a pejorative label for a familiar type.
04:02A young man from a poor urban district who built status through aggression, intimidation, and loyalty to his group.
04:10In Great Britain, a similar type is known as chaff.
04:14In some parts of the US, it is hood.
04:18The Russian Gopnik is easy to recognize because he wants to be recognized.
04:22He has a uniform, a tracksuit, sneakers, a cap, and often a short haircut.
04:28He is rarely long.
04:31Mostly, he teams up with other young men who look the same.
04:35This seamstress is what catches the eye and sparks curiosity.
04:39One man looking odd is just a man.
04:42Five men dressed alike are a strange tribe.
04:45If you have never met someone like this before,
04:48you will wonder who they are and what this dress means.
04:53That's how Russian Gopniks became a meme for the Western audiences.
04:57In the 2010s, the Slav Squad got into spotlight on the web.
05:01People copied the posts at tourist sites and weddings.
05:05Russian streetwear entered Western fashion.
05:09Designers such as Gusha Rubchinsky turned concrete suburbs, sportswear, and rough young men into an aesthetic.
05:17What had once signaled danger became stylish because it looked raw and authentic.
05:24When I asked my son, who grew up in the US and has never been to Russia,
05:28to describe a goblin, he gave this image.
05:31A poor young man from a rough district who squads near the apartment building entrance,
05:37harasses women, and asks another man to hand over his phone just to have a look.
05:42As someone who grew up in a Soviet neighborhood full of Gopniks,
05:47I can confirm this description is pretty accurate.
05:50But inside Russia, this same image carries a very different meaning.
05:56Not a funny urban subculture, but bullying and fear.
06:01Gopniks would often harass locals and strangers merely passing by on their business.
06:06They rarely attack you straight away.
06:09First, they tested whether you could be pushed.
06:12They might ask for a cigarette, the time, or your phone.
06:17The request itself sounded harmless.
06:19Yes, refusing it could be treated as disrespect.
06:23Accepting it signaled weakness.
06:25Women received a different version of the test.
06:28Comments about their bodies, sexual insults, laughter from the group.
06:33The goal was not hooking up, but control.
06:36The bully wanted to prove that he could enter another person's space
06:40and make that person accept it.
06:42So, what makes a man into a Gopnik?
06:46Not poverty alone.
06:49Most foreign workers in Russia are not Gopniks.
06:53Many work exhausting jobs, take care of their families,
06:57and want nothing to do with street violence.
07:00What makes a Gopnik is a particular way of achieving status
07:04when legitimate routes to status feel closed.
07:08A young man with little money and no path to education or well-paying job
07:14can still feel important in one place, his courtyard.
07:18With a bunch of friends, he can bully neighbors and feel powerful.
07:23That's the goal, while material gain is secondary.
07:28Gopniks are not professional criminals.
07:30When they end up in possession of a valuable item,
07:33such as someone's new iPhone,
07:35they might not even know what to make of it,
07:39whom to sell it to,
07:40how to split the money so everyone agrees it's fair.
07:44All they wanted was the victim's fear and submission
07:48as he handed over his property.
07:51The Courtyard Code
07:55For Gopniks, the courtyard around the apartment building
07:59is their natural habitat.
08:01That's where they hang around and harass people.
08:04So, the Russian word for courtyard,
08:07двор,
08:08became closely associated with Gopniks and their subculture.
08:12The Courtyard Code denotes the unwritten set of rules
08:16by which Gopniks live.
08:18As a child, I had to learn this code because of where we lived.
08:22In the Soviet Union,
08:23most families could not choose a neighborhood
08:26and rent wherever apartment suited them.
08:28Housing was allocated through workspaces and waiting lists.
08:33My father received an apartment where the state decided to give him one.
08:38That was how my family of engineers and book readers
08:42ended up in a factory district with a very different culture.
08:46Many of the children around me came from rough homes.
08:49They used profanities all the time.
08:52Prison songs, criminal slang,
08:55and stories about men who had served time
08:57were part of their background.
08:59The boys absorbed the rules early
09:02and some of the girls enforced them too.
09:06The first rule was do not stand out.
09:09A child who spoke differently,
09:12read too much,
09:13dressed strangely,
09:15or showed unusual ambition
09:16appeared to be making a statement.
09:19He was suggesting that another life existed
09:22and that he might someday escape into it.
09:25In a frustrated group,
09:27this could feel like an insult.
09:29So, the group tested him.
09:31The test might begin with laughter or nickname.
09:34Then came demands,
09:36public humiliation,
09:38threats,
09:39or a fight.
09:40The details changed,
09:42but the question stayed the same.
09:45Will you submit
09:46or will you force us to respect you?
09:49The second rule was join a gang to be safe.
09:53This was not unique to my district.
09:55In Kazan,
09:56during the 1970s and 1980s,
09:58territorial youth gangs
10:00divided neighborhoods among themselves.
10:03Local boys were pressured to join
10:05because remaining independent
10:06could make them targets.
10:09Gang membership offered protection,
10:11but it also demanded obedience.
10:14Your street,
10:16your friends,
10:16and sometimes your clothes
10:18announced where you belonged.
10:20The gangs even had a word
10:22for an unaffiliated boy,
10:24Cushpan.
10:25It meant someone outside the Browhood
10:27and person with no group
10:29to beg and avenge him.
10:31That is the courtyard logic
10:33in its purest form.
10:35Formal rules exist somewhere far away.
10:39Real safety comes from belonging
10:41to the people
10:42who can hurt others on your behalf.
10:45There were more rules.
10:47Protect your fellow group members
10:49and side with them
10:50no matter what they've done.
10:52Humilate outsiders
10:53to show your strength.
10:55When an outsider challenges you,
10:57always push back.
10:58It doesn't matter
10:59if their demands are fair or not.
11:02If you give in,
11:03you will look weak.
11:05Children from educated families
11:07found it hard to live by this code.
11:10Sometimes we pushed back
11:11against bullies
11:12when driven to the limit,
11:14but mostly we avoided conflict.
11:17We spent more time at home
11:19and kept quiet at school.
11:21That choice made sense.
11:24Fighting every bully consumes your life.
11:27But when the same choice
11:28is made by thousands of people,
11:31it changes the environment.
11:33This is how the bullies take over
11:36and the toxic culture
11:37reproduces itself.
11:39How the code formed
11:44How did Gopniks come to exist
11:46in Russia in such great numbers?
11:48The answer lies in Soviet history.
11:51That's not when the Gopnik was born,
11:53but when he gained unusual power.
11:57Street hooliganism
11:58already frightened Russian cities
12:00before the revolution.
12:01In early 20th century St. Petersburg,
12:04newspapers described young men
12:06who insulted respectable pedestrians,
12:09started fights,
12:10attacked strangers,
12:11and treated public space as a stage.
12:14The word hooligan,
12:15borrowed from British English,
12:16came to represent everything
12:18the growing city feared.
12:20Class hostility,
12:21drunkenness,
12:22poverty,
12:23and violence
12:23without a clear political purpose.
12:26After 1917,
12:27the social meaning of roughness changed.
12:29The Bolsheviks declared the old elite corrupt.
12:32Aristocrats, priests,
12:34educated professionals,
12:35and much of the old intelligentsia
12:37became politically suspect.
12:39During the Cultural Revolution
12:41of 1928 to 1931,
12:44the party openly promoted class war
12:46inside universities,
12:48science, and the arts.
12:50Its goal was to create
12:51a new proletarian intelligentsia
12:53loyal to the regime.
12:55The state did not officially
12:57praise street robbery
12:58or drunken brawls.
13:00It punished hooliganism,
13:02sometimes harshly,
13:03but it also weakened
13:05the cultural authority
13:06of the people
13:07who had once
13:08defied educated behavior.
13:10Good manners
13:11could be dismissed
13:12as bourgeois theater.
13:14Careful speech
13:15could sound pretentious.
13:18And a rough man
13:19could present himself
13:20as honest precisely
13:22because he was rough.
13:24Mikhail Bulgakov
13:25captured this change
13:26in Heart of a Dog.
13:28Sharikov is ignorant,
13:30aggressive,
13:31and certain that society
13:32owes him a lot.
13:33His lack of education
13:35does not make him modest.
13:37The new system teaches him
13:38that refinement
13:39is exploitation,
13:41and that confident
13:43Bulgarity
13:43is a form of truth.
13:46Later,
13:46in the 1930s,
13:48the Soviet panel system
13:49placed enormous numbers
13:51of people
13:52inside a closed world
13:53with its own hierarchy.
13:56Prison culture
13:57divided people
13:58by rank.
13:59Survival
14:00depended on reputation,
14:02alliances,
14:03and knowing
14:03the unwritten rules.
14:05Those habits
14:05did not remain
14:06behind prison walls.
14:08After Stalin's death
14:09and a massive
14:10rehabilitation campaign,
14:11former prisoners
14:12returned home.
14:13They carried the prison
14:15slang and rituals
14:16with them.
14:17Criminal songs
14:18became popular.
14:19Even people
14:20who had never
14:21served a sentence
14:22learned to understand
14:23a world
14:24where compromise
14:25looked weak
14:25and humiliation
14:26established rank.
14:28By the 1970s,
14:29the state was fighting
14:30a wave of strict violence
14:32it could not explain away.
14:34Soviet propaganda
14:35blamed it
14:35on the influence
14:36of capitalism,
14:38yet the typical
14:39hooligan
14:39had been produced
14:41inside Soviet
14:42industrial life.
14:43He lived
14:43in a crowded housing
14:45and had little
14:46control over his life
14:47or what future
14:48he could build.
14:49Alcohol
14:50offered him
14:51escape
14:51and violence
14:52offered a brief
14:54experience of command.
14:55At the same time,
14:56the state demanded
14:57conformity from everyone.
14:59Citizens
15:00were encouraged
15:01to discipline
15:02one another
15:02through public
15:03criticism
15:04and comrade's courts.
15:06The official message
15:07was contradictory.
15:09Roughness
15:10was celebrated
15:11when it served
15:12class politics
15:13but criminalized
15:15when it disturbed
15:16state order.
15:17that contradiction
15:19never disappeared.
15:20The Soviet state
15:21persecuted
15:22individual hooligans
15:24while preserving
15:25the hierarchy,
15:26humiliation
15:27and prison logic
15:28that kept producing
15:29them.
15:30The uniform changes.
15:34after the Soviet Union
15:36collapsed,
15:37the Kopnik
15:37did not disappear.
15:38On the contrary,
15:40the chaos
15:40of the 1990s
15:41made his particular
15:43skills more valuable.
15:45In a country
15:46where the police
15:47could not reliably
15:48protect property,
15:49courts could not
15:50reinforce contracts
15:52and anyone
15:53who appeared weak
15:53risked becoming prey,
15:55intimidation
15:56became a marketable
15:58service.
15:59Entrepreneurs
16:00needed people
16:01who could
16:02collect debts,
16:03enforce agreements
16:04and frighten
16:05competitors.
16:07And street gangs
16:08already had
16:09their organization,
16:10territorial networks
16:11and reputation
16:12for violence
16:13to provide
16:14those services.
16:16Neighborhood gangs
16:16that once fought
16:17over courtyards
16:18and districts
16:19moved into
16:20protection records
16:21and organized crime
16:22as their members
16:23grew older.
16:24Some later
16:25became businessmen,
16:26administrators
16:27or public figures
16:28while continuing
16:29to rely on
16:30the same old loyalties.
16:32A man
16:33who once controlled
16:34an apartment
16:35block courtyard
16:36could eventually
16:37control a transport
16:38company,
16:39a municipal contract
16:41or even
16:42an entire town.
16:44Evgeny Prigozhin
16:45embodied
16:45the most spectacular
16:47version of that
16:48trajectory.
16:49He spent years
16:50in prison
16:50after convictions
16:51that included
16:52robbery and assault.
16:54After his release,
16:55he entered
16:56the restaurant
16:57business,
16:58developed
16:58close connections
17:00around Vladimir Putin
17:01and became
17:02wealthy through
17:03government catering
17:04contracts.
17:06He later
17:06built the
17:07Wagner Group,
17:08recruited prisoners
17:09into its ranks,
17:11commanded a private
17:12army and
17:13ultimately sent
17:14armed columns
17:15toward Moscow.
17:16His career
17:17looked extraordinary,
17:18but the logic
17:20behind it
17:20was familiar.
17:21Personal loyalty
17:23mattered more
17:24than institutions.
17:25Violence created
17:27authority and
17:28power belonged
17:29to whoever
17:30could gather
17:31the strongest
17:32group around
17:32himself.
17:33The same pattern
17:34can appear in
17:35quieter form
17:36inside ordinary
17:37companies and
17:37government offices.
17:39Imagine two people
17:40competing for a
17:41promotion.
17:42One understands
17:43the work and
17:44expects clear
17:45rules.
17:46The other
17:47builds personal
17:47alliances,
17:48humiliates rivals
17:49and treats
17:50criticism as an
17:51attack on his
17:52status.
17:53The first
17:54employee may be
17:54more competent,
17:56but she is
17:56operating inside
17:57the professional
17:58system that no
17:59longer truly
17:59exists.
18:00She can either
18:01enter a struggle
18:02she is poorly
18:03equipped to fight
18:04or leave for
18:05another company
18:06and work
18:07independently.
18:08The aggressor
18:09remains.
18:11Once promoted,
18:12he brings in
18:13people who
18:14resemble him
18:15and removes
18:16those who
18:17might challenge
18:18him.
18:18This is how
18:19negative selection
18:20works, an
18:21institution that
18:22rewards loyalty,
18:24aggression, and
18:24obedience, while
18:25punishing
18:26independence
18:26gradually drives
18:28out its most
18:29competent people.
18:30Over time, the
18:31organization becomes
18:33less professional
18:34but more
18:35internally coercive.
18:37It may perform
18:38badly, yet
18:40everyone inside
18:41understands the
18:42hierarchy and
18:43knows whom
18:44they are expected
18:45to obey.
18:46The enormous
18:47popularity of the
18:482023 television
18:49series The Boy's
18:50World showed how
18:51familiar this
18:52code remains in
18:53modern Russia.
18:54The drama set
18:56among young
18:56gangs in late
18:57Soviet Kazan
18:58became a national
19:00sensation.
19:01Viewers debated
19:02whether it exposed
19:04the brutality of
19:05gang culture
19:05or romanticized
19:07male brotherhood
19:08and violence.
19:09But the
19:10intensity of the
19:11reaction revealed
19:12something more
19:13important.
19:14Millions of
19:15Russians immediately
19:17recognized its
19:18world of
19:18territory, loyalty,
19:20humiliation, revenge,
19:22and submission to
19:22the group.
19:23The courtyard had
19:25never truly
19:25disappeared.
19:26Its rules had
19:28simply moved into
19:29more respectable
19:30buildings.
19:31When Gopnik's
19:32Rule
19:35What happens
19:37when Gopnik's
19:37culture stops
19:38being a subculture
19:40and becomes the
19:41culture of the
19:42ruling class?
19:43The courtyard
19:44code begins to
19:46shape not only
19:47personal behavior
19:48but the way the
19:50state understands
19:50power.
19:51The world is
19:52divided into
19:53insiders and
19:54outsiders,
19:55respected men
19:56and weaklings,
19:57territories one
19:58controls and
19:58territories someone
19:59else has taken.
20:01Formal agreements
20:02matter only while
20:03they are useful.
20:04Compromise is
20:05interpreted as
20:07fear and another
20:08country's independence
20:09can look less like
20:10a legal fact than
20:12a challenge to
20:13one's rank.
20:14This helps
20:15explain the idea
20:16of attacking
20:17Ukraine.
20:18From the
20:18perspective of
20:19the courtyard,
20:21Ukraine was
20:22not treated as
20:23a separate nation
20:24entitled to
20:25make its own
20:26choices.
20:27It was seen as
20:28a former member
20:28of Russia's
20:29sphere that had
20:30begun behaving
20:31independently,
20:32forming
20:33relationships with
20:34outsiders,
20:35and refusing to
20:36recognize Moscow's
20:37authority.
20:38In this mindset,
20:40such behavior
20:40cannot simply be
20:41accepted.
20:42It must be
20:43punished, because
20:44otherwise, everyone
20:45watching may conclude
20:46that the self-declared
20:48leader is no longer
20:50strong enough to
20:50control his own
20:51territory.
20:52The invasion was
20:53therefore not only
20:54about land security
20:55or economics,
20:56it was also about
20:57status.
20:59Ukraine had to be
21:00forced back into
21:01submission, and
21:02Russia had to
21:02demonstrate that
21:03defiance carried a
21:05price.
21:06Once the invasion
21:07failed to produce
21:08an easy victory,
21:09the same code
21:09made withdrawal
21:11even more
21:11difficult.
21:12A rational
21:13government can
21:14admit that its
21:15assumptions were
21:17wrong, reduce its
21:18losses, and change
21:20course.
21:21A Gopnik hierarchy
21:22sees that as
21:23humiliation.
21:24There is a Russian
21:26expression that
21:27captures the problem
21:28perfectly.
21:29Перед пацанами
21:30неудобно.
21:32It would be
21:32embarrassing in front
21:34of the boys.
21:35The boys are the
21:37other members of
21:38the ruling
21:38brotherhood.
21:39Generals, security
21:41officials, regional
21:43leaders, propagandists,
21:44and businessmen who
21:45have built their
21:46identities around
21:47strength and
21:48victory.
21:49The leader cannot
21:50simply tell them that
21:52the war was a
21:53mistake.
21:54He would lose not
21:55only political
21:55authority, but rank
21:57within the group.
21:58And every member of
22:00the group has
22:00participated in the
22:02violence, justified it,
22:03or profited from
22:04it.
22:05They are bound
22:06together by loyalty
22:07and shared
22:08responsibility.
22:10That is why the
22:11system can continue
22:12a disastrous war
22:13long after its
22:14original goals have
22:15become unreachable.
22:16The cost of
22:17continuing is paid
22:18largely by people
22:19outside the ruling
22:20class.
22:21The humiliation of
22:23stopping would be
22:24felt by the men
22:25inside it.
22:26Gopnik culture has
22:27also become increasingly
22:28dominant in Russian
22:29public life.
22:30Its aesthetics are
22:32no longer confined to
22:33courtyards and poor
22:34districts.
22:35Aggressive masculinity,
22:37prison slang, military
22:39clothing, crude humor,
22:41patriotic pop songs, and
22:43contempt for
22:44refinement have moved
22:45into television, popular
22:47music, fashion, and
22:48state propaganda.
22:50Vulgarity is presented
22:51as honesty.
22:53Threats are described
22:54as courage.
22:55Education and careful
22:57speech can be mocked as
22:58signs of weakness,
23:00pretension, or
23:01disloyalty.
23:02Meanwhile, the people
23:04who represented other
23:05versions of Russian
23:06culture are pushed
23:07aside.
23:08Independent writers,
23:10musicians, directors,
23:12academics, and
23:12journalists are
23:13branded as foreign
23:15agents, denied
23:16platforms, prosecuted,
23:18or forced into
23:19exile.
23:20Their disappearance
23:21leaves the public
23:23space increasingly
23:24uniform.
23:25The people who
23:26remain learn to
23:27imitate their
23:28approved tone or
23:29stay silent.
23:30The result is not
23:32that every Russian
23:33becomes a
23:33Gopnik.
23:34Millions of people
23:36reject this culture
23:37completely, but they
23:39have fewer institutions,
23:41fewer public voices,
23:42and less power to
23:44shape the country
23:44around them.
23:45As in the courtyard,
23:47the aggressive minority
23:49dominates because
23:49everyone else is
23:51scattered,
23:51intimidated,
23:52or driven away.
23:54Before you go,
23:55I want to ask you
23:56something.
23:58Have you ever watched
23:59a bully rise because
24:01decent people decided
24:02it was safer to stay
24:04quiet, leave, or look
24:05away?
24:06And did that silence
24:07eventually turn him
24:09into the boss?
24:10Please tell me in the
24:11comments.
24:12If this video helped
24:13you understand how
24:14Gopnik culture shaped
24:15modern Russian power,
24:17please like, subscribe,
24:18and share it with one
24:20person who still thinks
24:21Russia's behavior can be
24:22explained by
24:23geopolitics a lot.
24:25And if you want to
24:26support this channel
24:27directly, you can join
24:28my think-thing, leave us
24:30super thanks, support
24:31through PayPal, or tap
24:33high points to help
24:34this episode travel
24:35further.
24:36For those listening on
24:37Spotify, follow the
24:39show so you don't miss
24:40the next one.
24:43See you next time.
24:53See you next time.
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