Putin Calls on Youth at ‘International Festival of Youth’ to Build a Just World Together

Yekaterinburg (GNP): Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed 10,000 delegates from 191 countries at the opening ceremony of the International Festival of Youth in Yekaterinburg on September 13, urging young people worldwide to work together towards a fairer global order. The televised address, broadcast to participants gathered in the Urals city, framed the week-long gathering as a platform for young people to shape the direction of a rapidly changing world.

In his remarks, Putin argued that every nation should be free to choose its own path and should have equal access to resources, medicine, food, water, energy, education and emerging technology. He said every person deserved to be judged on their own merits rather than by nationality, wealth or status, and invited those who shared this vision to help build a more open and just world, whether inside Russia or in their own countries.

Putin also reflected on the symbolism of the host city, describing Yekaterinburg as the point where Europe and Asia meet and a longstanding centre of Russia’s industrial and intellectual heritage.

He drew attention to the Russian word “mir”, which carries the dual meaning of peace and world, saying it captures something essential about the character of Russia’s multi-ethnic nation. The president closed his address by invoking the festival’s official motto, encouraging delegates to pursue their ambitions alongside Russia.

The scale of interest in the festival was reflected in its application numbers, with organisers at the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) confirming that more than 113,000 applications were received globally for the event, split evenly between 5,000 Russian citizens and 5,000 international participants, including 1,000 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17.

For the first time in the festival’s history, international applications outnumbered Russian ones by 32,000, a shift that organisers said reflected the event’s growing international profile. Rosmolodezh head Grigory Gurov said the festival exists to give young thinkers from around the world the right conditions to connect, collaborate and launch joint projects.

By the time of the opening ceremony, delegates from 47 countries had already arrived, including early arrivals from Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, Serbia, the Seychelles, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Switzerland, alongside 13 participants from Canada and eight from the United States. Among them was Indonesian delegate Angelicha Cherylene, whose reaction video to her selection drew more than ten million views online; she said the festival offered her a chance to build friendships and connect with peers from other countries while contributing to the future.

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Running until September 17, the festival’s programme is organised around cultural, sporting and knowledge-based tracks, alongside dedicated strands for media representatives and volunteers, with a team-building element designed to give participants a shared sense of community.

Moreover, Supporting this programme, more than 1,000 artworks by young artists are on display across festival venues, over 100 chefs are taking part in gastronomic events, and a Russian Literature Book Fair is showcasing more than 5,000 classical titles translated into every language of the world. An accompanying excursion programme, led by more than 80 guides aged between 13 and 65, is introducing delegates to the history, nature and culture of the Urals region.

Much of the festival’s activity is centred on a 30,000-square-metre exhibition space built with the involvement of 147 organisations, structured around seven thematic areas exploring different spheres of life. World Youth Festival Directorate General Director Dmitry Ivanov said the exhibition was designed as a single platform linking the individual, society and the state.

Organisers also placed emphasis on hospitality, welcoming delegates in the Russian tradition with bread, salt, apples and pears, drawing on this year’s strong fruit harvest in the Urals. The festival’s opening and closing ceremonies, held on September 13 and 16 respectively, feature multimedia performances bringing together generations of participants, including veterans of the original 1980 festival appearing alongside their grandchildren.

Putin said, “If you share these aspirations, let’s change the world together, and we will welcome those who decide to join our projects in Russia.”