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Yekaterina Mizulina is the daughter of Russian legislature member and senator Yelena Mizulina.

Yelena Mizulina is the head of the Legislature's Committe for Family, Women and Children. She is known for her traditionalist and anti-male legislation, particularly, against those who pays child support and against male parental rights. She even used the term "male lobby" in a way, analoguous to "pedophile lobby". She accused Wikipedia for being a cover for "pedophile lobby". She was also the main proponent of "juvenile justice", the idea that kids should be taken from parents who do not make efforts to educate them in government ideology.

Yekaterina Mizulina, the daughter, is the head of the League for Safe Internet. She is known for initiatives related to Internet censorship, ban of VPN services that allow to access prohibited sites and writing compliants to the police and Investigative Committee regarding "discreditation of Russian army" and "LGBT propaganda" online. She is a staunch supporter of the Russian military involvement in Ukraine.

In her 40s, she never was married and does not have children.

At the same time, Yekaterina Mizulina is immensely popular among the youth. Her appearances at universities always collect full conference halls. Students and pupils stay in long lines for her autographs and to take photos with her and shout her family name together when she appears.

To me this looks quite surreal because she is not a singer or performer. She is a state official in charge of tightening censorship in Internet.

The linked video says the most of her supporters did not reach the voting age yet. She has hundreds of thousnds of followers and young girls make Tik-Tok dedications to her.

On one meeting in Urals Univercity in Yekaterinburg, a guy aked her what she thinks about conscripts being useless in the modern war, to which re responded with insant threatening of him with criminal punishment fo "Discreditation of the Army", and was entirely supported by the whole hall.

So, my question is, what factors contribute to her popularity? To make the answers not being opinion-based, I would be glad for links to external analysis.

Anixx
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    Are there other sources of her popularity? I didn't watch the video but a youtube video of a large crowd is not a very reliable proof for popularity. – quarague Feb 07 '24 at 08:04
  • @quarague the video narrator says she is immensely popular, and this is Russian opposition TV channel banned in Russia. In the comments people tell stories how their own kids went to meetings with Mizulina and stayed for hours to get her autograph. – Anixx Feb 07 '24 at 08:08
  • @quarague the video starts "Yekaterina Mizulina is the chief censor of Russian Internet. She threatens, prohibit, punishes. At the same time, she brings excitement". – Anixx Feb 07 '24 at 08:10
  • She's a meme. – alamar Feb 07 '24 at 08:27
  • First time I see this name, Russian independent press seems not paying much attention to her and the western press also. Hence I am not sure if the popularity is really "immense" – Stančikas Feb 07 '24 at 08:48
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    @Stančikas It's entirely possible for her to have "immense popularity" inside Russia and zero popularity outside of Russia. That western media don't report on her isn't enough to discount the question's premise. As for "Russian independent press", that's apparently where the video in the question came from in the first place. – F1Krazy Feb 07 '24 at 08:53
  • The Russian versions of Meduza and Novaya Gazeta EU do not write much about her. – Stančikas Feb 07 '24 at 08:54
  • And other anti-LGBT, pro-Z figures don't command full halls in Russia these days? Besides, she's pretty... – the gods from engineering Feb 07 '24 at 14:55
  • @Fizz well, if someone is an artist or war hero this could not be surprising. But still I would not expect such popularity from schoolkids and underages. – Anixx Feb 07 '24 at 14:58
  • From what I can tell from the Y/T you linked, a number of girls try to look like her. – the gods from engineering Feb 07 '24 at 15:00
  • @Fizz not only girls but also boys want her autographs or photos with her. The girls not only try to mimick her but alsomake dedications to her. – Anixx Feb 07 '24 at 15:02
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    A lot of school age boys think with their dicks as the saying goes. – the gods from engineering Feb 07 '24 at 15:04
  • @Fizz students as well? She is hugely popular with university students. – Anixx Feb 07 '24 at 15:07
  • I don't think we need a constant stream of edits detailing her entire life story. – F1Krazy Feb 08 '24 at 12:12

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Since you're asking about popularity with youngsters, besides the obvious attempts to look like her in the video you link, who doesn't want a (pretty) "2nd mom" who seems to be fairly understanding too on non-LGBT issues:

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Children increasingly turn to Mizulina with concerns about their school life, bullying, or mental health issues. For her part, Mizulina amplifies these frequently ignored problems and provides a platform for these voices to be heard.

On her Telegram channel she regularly posts videos, photos, and fanart sent to her by young people from all over Russia. “For me, an idol is someone I respect. There are only two such people for me … The first one is, of course, my mum,” says a dark-haired schoolboy in a now-deleted fan video Mizulina posted on social media.

“My mom will always support and give advice. And the same can be said of Yekaterina Mizulina. She is the second person I most respect. She is, so to speak, my second mum.”

the gods from engineering
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  • For any politician you can find a picture of them with someone and the paragraph of text which tells that this politician is great. What kind of proof can you provide that this popularity spawns to more general population (and not just a few people who were forced or paid to tell how great she is)? Beria was also widely popular among everyone whom you could have asked (as people who were stupid enough to disagree didn't live long), until suddenly he was not (oh those totalitarian countries with sudden mood swing) – Salvador Dali Feb 10 '24 at 09:25