ИСТИНА

The paper is based on the research conducted in 2009 – 2011 in 18 regions of Central Russia by the Political Sociology and Psychology Department of Moscow State University. We asked scholars – young boys and girls at 16-17 years – about Russia, its territory and symbols, leaders and heroes, friends and enemies, past and future. The main aim of our study was to reveal the specificity of political representation of the youngest generation of Russians in the context of political identity. The results of our research show, that the young people imagine our country like powerful and reach state with great history and bright future. The most popular historical persons (heroes) are Peter the First, I. Stalin and V. Lenin. Among the real politicians in contemporary Russia they like only V. Putin. The main symbols of Russia for them are hymn, national emblem and tricoloured flag. Young Russians feel themselves as Russians more that older people. They love their native country, proud of its winners in wars and sport. They hope for modernization. We can conclude that the young people in Russia have civil identity.